Chewy Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies

These chewy salted caramel chocolate chip cookies are the kind of cookie that disappears from the cooling rack before you’ve had a chance to pour yourself a glass of milk.

They’re soft and chewy from the caramel, with deep toffee notes from browned butter, and that hit of flaky salt makes each bite a little more interesting. No fancy mixer tricks here, just a bowl, a whisk, and a few simple steps.

What Makes These Cookies So Good

The browned butter does a lot of the heavy lifting here. It gives the cookies a nutty, almost toffee-like flavor that plain melted butter can’t touch, and it smells incredible while it’s happening.

The caramel bits soften and turn into chewy little ribbons throughout the cookie instead of burning or turning hard. Paired with dark chocolate and a pinch of flaky salt, you get that salty-sweet thing in every bite.

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter: this gets browned, so no need to soften it first.
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar: the molasses keeps the cookies moist and chewy.
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar: helps the edges set with a slight crisp.
• 1 large egg, at room temperature: cold egg can make the dough curdle.
• 2 tsp vanilla extract: rounds out all the caramel and chocolate flavor.
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled: using too much flour makes dry cookies.
• 1 tsp baking soda: gives the cookies lift and a little extra browning.
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt: balanced against all the sweet.
• 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips: or chopped chocolate, for uneven melty pockets.
• 1 cup caramel bits or soft caramels, cut into 1/4-inch pieces: these soften into chewy veins without dissolving.
• flaky sea salt, for sprinkling (such as Maldon): the large crystals stay crunchy on top.

Variations / Substitutions

• Swap the chocolate: milk or white chocolate chips for a sweeter cookie that plays off the salted caramel.
• Add toasted nuts: 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts folded in with the chocolate adds crunch.
• Use butterscotch chips: swap half the chocolate chips for butterscotch for an extra buttery note.
• Dairy-free option: use a plant-based butter stick that browns well, and look for dairy-free soft caramels.

Creamy Chocolate Chip Cheesecake is next on our list if these cookies are your kind of dessert.

How to Make Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies

Step 1: Brown the Butter

Place the 1 cup butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat. Melt it completely, then keep cooking, swirling the pan here and there, until the butter foams up, turns golden, and you see brown specks at the bottom, about 5 to 7 minutes. It should smell nutty and toasty. Immediately pour it into a heatproof bowl, scraping in every brown bit, and let it cool until it’s warm but not hot, about 15 minutes. If you add it to the sugars while it’s steaming, the dough will turn greasy.

The butter goes quiet when the browning finishes, and the milk solids in the bottom look like toasted breadcrumbs. That’s exactly the stage you want. Don’t step away once the foam rises, because it can go from perfectly brown to burnt in seconds.

Step 2: Cream the Browned Butter and Sugars

In a large bowl, whisk together the cooled browned butter, 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, and 1/2 cup granulated sugar. Whisk hard until the mixture looks smooth and a shade lighter, about 2 minutes. You’re not creaming it until fluffy, just blending it all into a uniform slurry.

The brown sugar brings chewiness and moisture, while the white sugar helps the edges set. At this point the mixture will be glossy and a little gritty, and that’s exactly right.

Step 3: Mix in the Egg and Vanilla

Add the 1 large egg and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Whisk until the egg is fully incorporated and the whole thing becomes thick and glossy, about 30 seconds. No streaks of egg white should show.

Because you’re doing this with a whisk and not a mixer, you’ll feel the slick mixture firm up as the egg binds everything. It should look like a thick caramel sauce just before you add the flour.

Step 4: Fold in the Dry Ingredients and Mix-ins

Sprinkle the 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt over the wet mixture. Use a rubber spatula to fold them in until just a few streaks of flour remain. Then add the 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips and 1 cup caramel bits, and keep folding gently until no dry pockets are left and the mix-ins are evenly distributed. The dough will be thick and a little sticky.

Stop folding as soon as the flour disappears. Overworking it now will make the cookies tough. If you’re using chopped soft caramels instead of the baking bits, toss them in a spoonful of flour first so they don’t all sink to the bottom of the bowl.

Step 5: Scoop, Bake, and Salt the Cookies

Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) with a rack in the middle. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop the dough with a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop (or a heaping tablespoon) onto the sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. If you have 30 minutes, slide the trays into the fridge to chill the dough. Bake one sheet at a time for 12 to 14 minutes, rotating halfway through, until the edges are set and lightly golden but the centers still look soft and slightly underdone. The moment the tray comes out of the oven, sprinkle each cookie with a pinch of flaky sea salt.

The cookies puff up in the oven and then settle into chewy, crinkled rounds as they cool. Let them sit on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving them to a wire rack. The caramel will be molten at first, so sliding them too soon can tear the cookies. They firm up beautifully as they cool and taste best at room temperature.

Tips for Chewy, Bakery-Style Cookies

• For the chewiest results, pull the cookies when the centers still look a touch wet. They’ll continue baking on the hot sheet and set up soft.
• If you use soft caramels instead of baking bits, cut them into pea-sized pieces and toss them with a little flour so they don’t clump at the bottom.
• Chilling the dough firms up the butter and caramel, which gives you a thicker cookie with less spread and a deeper caramel taste.
• Flaky salt matters. Add it right after baking while the surface is still soft so the crystals stick, and skip fine table salt for this part.
• Bake one tray at a time on the middle rack for the most even heat, and let the sheet cool between batches so the dough doesn’t start melting before it hits the oven.

Bake times shift a little depending on how big you scoop them.

Storing Salted Caramel Cookies

• Room temperature: keep the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Adding a slice of bread to the container keeps them soft.
• Freeze the dough: scoop the dough onto a parchment-lined tray and freeze until solid. Transfer to a zip-top bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen, adding 1 to 2 minutes to the bake time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I skip browning the butter?

Yes. Melt 1 cup of butter and let it cool, then proceed with the recipe. You’ll lose the toffee depth but the cookies will still be chewy and good.

Why did my caramel bits melt and disappear?

Some caramel bits are meant to soften into ribbons, not hold their shape perfectly. If they fully melted into puddles, your oven might have run hot, or you used soft caramels that melted faster. The dough pockets will still taste like caramel, just less defined.

Do I really need to chill the dough?

No, but it makes a noticeable difference. Chilling reduces spread and gives you a thicker, chewier cookie with a more pronounced brown sugar flavor.

My cookies turned out flat and greasy. What went wrong?

The browned butter might have been too hot when you mixed in the sugars, or the dough didn’t get chilled. Also double-check that you spooned and leveled the flour—too little flour or too-warm butter will cause excess spread.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Total Time 32 minutes mins

Servings: 24 servings

Calories: 210

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
• 1 cup caramel bits or soft caramels, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• flaky sea salt, for sprinkling

Method

 

1. Brown the butter in a saucepan over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes, then pour into a bowl and cool for 15 minutes.
2. Whisk the cooled browned butter with both sugars until smooth, about 2 minutes.
3. Mix in the egg and vanilla until thick and glossy, about 30 seconds.
4. Fold in the flour, baking soda, and fine salt until just combined, then fold in the chocolate chips and caramel bits.
5. Scoop 2-tablespoon portions onto lined baking sheets, chill if desired, then bake at 375°F (190°C) for 12 to 14 minutes. Sprinkle with flaky salt right out of the oven and cool on the sheet for 5 minutes.

Notes

The dough benefits from a 30-minute chill, which is not included in the prep time. If you bake from room-temperature dough, watch the cookies a little earlier because they may spread faster.