Double Chocolate Caramel Cookies with Sea Salt
Light, crispy-edged cookies with soft, fudgy centers, packed with chocolate and caramel flavor and finished with flakes of sea salt.
- Prep
- 20 mins
- Cook
- 10 mins
- Total
- 30 mins
- Makes
- 36 cookies
This Double Chocolate Salted Caramel Cookies recipe makes cookies with crisp edges and a fudgy, soft center. You get rich chocolate and buttery caramel in every bite, with sea salt flakes sprinkled on top. For extra sweetness, drizzle caramel or dulce de leche over the top. They are simple to make, need no chilling before baking at all, and are perfect for cookie lovers who enjoy a sweet and salty pairing in their dessert!
About This Recipe
This double chocolate salted caramel cookie dough is based on my super soft chocolate chip cookies, which have been a big hit on my Instagram and Pinterest.
For this version, I left out the instant vanilla pudding and vegetable shortening, and added unsalted butter, unsweetened cocoa powder, and salt. I also swapped the semi-sweet baking bar for semi-sweet chocolate chips and Ghirardelli caramel-flavored baking chips. If you prefer, you can still use the baking bar!
I made sure the butter was soft, then creamed it well with the brown and granulated sugars before mixing in the eggs, vanilla, and dry ingredients. Last, I gently folded in the chips with a spatula.
Like my chocolate chip cookie recipe, these don't need to chill before baking. That saves you time!
Once the chips were folded in, I scooped the dough right away with a 1 1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop and set the balls about 1 1/2 – 2 inches apart on my cookie sheets. I got three rows of four per sheet, for 36 cookies total. Depending on your cookie sheets and spacing, you may not fit the same amount.
What You'll Need
Here is what goes into these irresistible cookies:
- All-Purpose Flour
- Cocoa Powder, Unsweetened
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Unsalted Butter, softened to room temperature
- Granulated Sugar
- Light Brown Sugar
- Eggs, brought to room temperature
- Vanilla Extract
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
- Caramel-Flavored Chips
- Sea Salt Flakes, for topping the cookies
- Caramel Sauce or Dulce de Leche, for drizzling on top. Optional, but it makes these cookies taste even better!
Helpful Notes Before You Begin
- Cooling time is not counted in the prep or cook times listed for these cookies.
- Ghirardelli makes a caramel chip, and a reader let me know that Hershey makes one too. These can be hard to track down, so if you can't find them, skip them or use another chip, like butterscotch or peanut butter!
- Stir in the chocolate and caramel chips at the end so you do not overmix the dough. I do the same with any other add-ins, like nuts or dried fruit.
- A cookie scoop gives you cookies that are consistent in shape and size every time. I used a 1 1/2 tablespoon scoop.
- You can use dulce de leche in place of caramel sauce. I have made these both ways, and they taste equally good.
- Let the cookies sit on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before moving them to a wire rack. They are very soft at this stage, so use a spatula!
More Cookie Recipes You'll Love
If you make these Double Chocolate Salted Caramel Cookies or any other recipe on my site, please leave a star rating and tell me what you thought in the comments below. Thanks for stopping by!
Double Chocolate Caramel Cookies with Sea Salt
Light, crispy-edged cookies with a fudgy center, rich chocolate and caramel flavor, and a sprinkle of sea salt on top.
- Prep
- 20 mins
- Cook
- 10 mins
- Total
- 30 mins
- Makes
- 36 cookies
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 cup Light Brown Sugar, lightly packed
- 2 Large Eggs, room temperature
- 1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 1/2 cups Semi-Sweet or Milk Chocolate Chips
- 1 cup Caramel Flavored Chips
- Sea Salt Flakes, for sprinkling over top of cookies
- Caramel Sauce or Dulce de Leche, optional, for drizzling over the top of cookies
Method
- Set an oven rack to the 2nd level position (just above center), preheat the oven to 375ºF, and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together. Set it aside.
- With a hand mixer or stand mixer and the paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy.
- Mix in the eggs and vanilla until fully blended, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Turn the mixer to low and slowly add the dry ingredients until just combined. Then fold in the chocolate and caramel chips.
- Drop the dough by the spoonful, spacing the mounds 2 inches apart on the lined sheets. A spoon or cookie scoop works (I used the 1 1/2 tablespoon size).
- Lightly sprinkle sea salt flakes over the tops of the cookies.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes at 375ºF (mine took 10 minutes).
- Take them out of the oven and let them cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then move them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Drizzle each cookie with a little caramel sauce or dulce de leche, if you like.
- Store in an airtight container for up to a week, with a slice of bread tucked in to keep them soft.
Baker’s notes
- Adapted from my Super Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe and the St. Stephen's Family Recipes cookbook.
