If you’re searching for the ultimate treat that perfectly balances sweet, salty, crunchy, and chewy, look no further than The Best Chewy Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies. These cookies are loaded with golden shards of homemade hard caramel and deep pools of dark chocolate, all tied together by the rich embrace of brown sugar and a pop of sea salt. They’re a baking adventure that delivers bakery-style flavor and texture, all in one bowl, with no dough chilling required. Get ready to fall in love with your new favorite cookie!
Ingredients You’ll Need
The magic behind The Best Chewy Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies lies in a handful of pantry staples and a few extra-brilliant touches. Each ingredient is chosen to amplify the delicious contrasts—think crispy-edged, gooey-centered cookies with pops of caramel and luscious chocolate in every bite.
- Hard Caramel: Homemade in just five minutes, these golden shards add delightful crunch and bursts of caramel flavor throughout every cookie.
- Light Brown Sugar (1 1/2 cups / 330g, packed): Essential for that rich, chewy texture and subtly deep molasses undertone that elevates the whole cookie.
- Unsalted Butter (16 tbsp / 226g, room temp): The key to a tender, buttery crumb and those irresistible golden edges.
- Granulated Sugar (1/2 cup / 100g): Adds crispness to the edges and balances the deep caramel tones.
- Real Vanilla Extract (1 ½ tbsp / 19g): Deepens the flavor and adds warm, aromatic notes that make these cookies fragrant and inviting.
- Eggs (2 large, room temp): Bind everything together and create that soft, chewy bite we crave in a perfect cookie.
- Baking Powder (1 tsp): Gives the cookies their light lift and thick, bakery-style texture.
- Baking Soda (1 tsp): Ensures the cookies spread just enough for that perfect chewy center.
- Sea Salt (1 tsp + flakes for topping): Essential to balance the sweetness and bring all the flavors to life.
- All-Purpose Flour (3 ¼ cups / 439g): The sturdy backbone of the cookie—measure carefully for best results.
- Dark Chocolate (1 1/2 cups / 255g, coarsely chopped or chips): Brings bitter, intense notes and those glorious puddles of melted chocolate.
- Sea Salt Flakes (optional): Sprinkle on top for an extra hit of flavor and visual sparkle.
How to Make The Best Chewy Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
Step 1: Make the Hard Caramel
Start by making a quick batch of golden hard caramel. Melt sugar in a pan until it turns a deep bronze, then immediately pour onto a lined pan and spread thin. Once cooled and set, chop the caramel into pieces about the size of a chocolate chip. These crunchy shards will melt slightly in the oven, giving each bite a pop of caramel flavor.
Step 2: Prep Your Oven and Pans
Preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C) to make sure your cookies bake evenly and beautifully. Line a few baking sheets with parchment paper so the cookies don’t stick, and have everything ready for easy scooping and cleanup.
Step 3: Cream Together the Butter and Sugars
In your electric stand mixer (or by hand, with elbow grease), cream the brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and real vanilla extract for 4 to 5 minutes. You want the mixture to get light and fluffy—the air whipped in here is what helps create that classic chewy center and crackly top.
Step 4: Add Eggs and Leaveners
Add the eggs one at a time, blending fully after each addition. Then sprinkle in the baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt, mixing just enough to combine. This step ensures even rise and perfectly balanced flavor in every cookie.
Step 5: Fold in the Flour
Sprinkle in the flour, then gently mix until just combined. Stop when you still see a few streaks—it’s better to undermix than overmix. This is the secret to that soft yet sturdy cookie structure!
Step 6: Stir in Chocolate and Caramel
Add your coarsely chopped dark chocolate and the shards of hard caramel. Stir until they’re distributed evenly throughout the dough so every scoop is perfectly packed with gooey chocolate and caramel crunch.
Step 7: Scoop and Bake
Scoop the dough into two-tablespoon rounds, leaving space between each mound for spreading. Bake one sheet at a time in the middle of your oven for about 11 minutes—then use a spatula to gently reshape the cookies into tidy circles and return to the oven for a final minute. They’ll appear slightly underdone when you take them out, and that’s exactly what you want!
Step 8: Cool and Finish
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for ten minutes before transferring to a wire rack. While they’re still warm, sprinkle with a few flakes of sea salt to intensify all those flavors. Once cooled, get ready to enjoy the magic of The Best Chewy Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies.
How to Serve The Best Chewy Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
Garnishes
A generous sprinkle of flaky sea salt on top really brings these cookies alive, but you can also drizzle on a little melted chocolate or caramel if you’re feeling extra decadent. For a pop of color, a few dustings of cocoa powder or a ribbon of edible gold leaf takes your cookies from delicious to show-stopping.
Side Dishes
The Best Chewy Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies pair beautifully with a tall glass of milk, hot chocolate, or even strong cold brew for grown-up snacking. If you’re serving a dessert platter, add fresh berries, candied nuts, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream to complement the sweet-salty richness.
Creative Ways to Present
Stack a half-dozen cookies and tie them with baker’s twine for a gorgeous homemade gift, or serve them warm in a napkin-lined basket for a cozy afternoon treat. For parties, turn your cookies into irresistible ice cream sandwiches—just add a scoop of your favorite gelato between two cookies and freeze until firm.
Make Ahead and Storage
Storing Leftovers
Once baked and cooled, keep The Best Chewy Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies in an airtight container at room temperature, where they’ll stay soft and fabulous for about four days. Tuck in a slice of fresh bread if you want to keep them especially chewy!
Freezing
These cookies freeze incredibly well—simply layer cooled cookies between sheets of wax paper in a freezer-safe container and stash for up to three months. For even fresher bakes, freeze unbaked dough balls, then bake directly from frozen, adding an extra 1-2 minutes to the bake time.
Reheating
To enjoy your cookies warm and gooey, pop them on a baking sheet in a 300°F oven for 4-5 minutes, or microwave on medium for 8-10 seconds. This softens the caramel and gets the chocolate nice and melty again—just like fresh from the oven!
FAQs
Can I substitute store-bought caramel for the homemade hard caramel?
Yes! If you’re in a pinch, you can use soft caramel candies chopped into small pieces. However, the homemade hard caramel gives The Best Chewy Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies their signature crunch and unique toasty flavor.
What kind of chocolate is best for these cookies?
A mix of dark and semi-sweet chocolate gives intense flavor and melty puddles, but any good-quality chocolate chip or chopped bar works well. Just be sure to use enough to get those oozy chocolate pockets in every bite.
Can I make the dough ahead of time?
It’s best to bake The Best Chewy Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies right after mixing the dough for the ultimate chewy texture. You can, however, pre-scoop the dough balls and chill them for a few hours if you need to, just let them come to room temp before baking.
Do I need to use a stand mixer?
Nope! While a stand mixer makes creaming easier, you can absolutely make these cookies with a sturdy spatula and some determination. Just make sure to cream the butter and sugar thoroughly for that light texture.
Why do my cookies look underbaked when I take them out?
That’s actually a good sign! The cookies finish setting as they cool, which gives them their signature chewiness. Pull them from the oven when the edges are just golden and the centers look slightly underdone for the perfect result.
Final Thoughts
I can’t wait for you to experience the chewy, gooey joy that is The Best Chewy Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies. With deep notes of caramel, melty chocolate, and just the right amount of sea salt, these cookies are destined to become a new classic in your kitchen. Gather your ingredients, invite a friend to bake along, and treat yourself to the best cookies ever!
Print
The Best Chewy Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 27 minutes
- Yield: 36 Cookies
- Category: Dessert, Snack
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Crunchy, chewy bits of caramel and puddles of chocolate lace this vanilla-forward chocolate chip cookie! This recipe includes an extra step of making hard caramel, which adds a delightful crunch to the cookies. Enjoy these chewy salted caramel chocolate chip cookies that are easy to make with no dough resting time required.
Ingredients
For the Hard Caramel:
- 1 batch 5-Minute Hard Caramel
For the Cookie Dough:
- 1 1/2 cups (330 g) light brown sugar (packed)
- 16 tablespoons (226 g) unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons (19 g) real vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs (room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 3 ¼ cups (439 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups (255 g) dark chocolate (coarsely chopped or chips)
- Sea salt flakes for the tops (optional)
Instructions
- For the Caramel: Follow the instructions in How to Make Hard Caramel until the liquid sugar starts to turn a golden bronze. Pour onto prepared pan; using a spatula, spread to ¼- to ⅛-inch thickness. Let cool and harden. Once cool, chop into chocolate chip-size pieces. Set aside.
- For the Cookies: Preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C) and line several baking sheets with parchment paper. In an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream your brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter and vanilla on medium speed for about 4 to 5 minutes or until light in color and texture. Add the eggs one at a time, making sure the first is well blended before adding the second. Add in the baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix on medium until everything is well blended, about 1 minute more. Take the bowl out of the mixer. Add the flour and mix until barely blended and you still see streaks of flour. Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure everything is well combined. Add the chocolate and chopped hard caramel and mix until evenly distributed throughout. Scoop 2-tablespoon size dough balls on the prepared cookie sheet leaving 2 inches (5 cm) of space between the cookie dough balls. Bake cookies one sheet at a time in the center of the oven for about 11 minutes. Take out of the oven and use the edge of a silicon spatula to nudge the cookies back into circles. Place back in the oven for 1 minute more. They will look slightly underbaked. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, and then transfer the warm cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt, if using, and serve!
Notes
- Mixer vs Your Arms: I mention an electric mixer in the instruction. However, this perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe is definitely a recipe that can easily be made with a large mixing bowl and spatula. Make sure you really cream your butter and sugar so that you get that awesome light cookie texture. Additionally, you can use a hand mixer if you have one handy!
- Choosing Chocolate for Chocolate Chip Caramel Cookies: I tested this cookie with three different types of chocolate! I used Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chips and Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips.
- What Caramel to Use in Cookies: You’ll make a quick hard caramel that takes minutes to make, no need to go to the store to buy caramels! You also *do not* need a candy thermometer for this caramel.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 150
- Sugar: 12g
- Sodium: 120mg
- Fat: 8g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 18g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 2g
- Cholesterol: 25mg
