If you love caramel and chocolate, these caramel chocolate chip cookies were made for you! Brown butter gives the cookie dough a rich nuttiness that layers beautifully with pockets of soft, gooey caramel and a combination of milk and dark chocolate chips. The result is a caramel cookie with crisp edges, chewy middles and it's nearly impossible to eat just one. One bowl, no mixer, and about 15 minutes of hands-on time. Chill the dough, bake, and top each cookie with extra chocolate chips and caramel as soon as they come out of the oven.
If you love baking with brown butter, be sure to also check out our Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies or browse all of our cookie recipes for more inspiration.
Jump to:
- Quick Look: Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
- ingredients for Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Substitutions and Variations
- how to make caramel chocolate chip cookies
- Notes From My Test Kitchen
- How to Make Brown Butter for Cookies
- Storing Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Caramel chocolate chip cookies faqs
- More Brown Butter cookie recipes
- 📖 Recipe
Quick Look: Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Ready In: 1.5 hours (this includes an hour to chill the cookie dough)
- Makes: 24 cookies
- Calories: 250 kcal per cookie
- Add to Your Shopping List: unsalted butter, soft caramels (Werther's Soft Caramels recommended), milk chocolate chips and dark chocolate chips
- Dietary Info: contains gluten, eggs and dairy
- Baker's Note: Tuck any pieces of caramel into the cookie dough before baking - caramel that is on the outside will melt and spread on the pan rather than staying soft and gooey inside the cookie.
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ingredients for Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
Brown Butter - Brown butter is the secret ingredients in these caramel chocolate chip cookies. Cooking the butter until the milk solids toast and turn golden add a nutty, caramel richness to the cookie dough that you simply can't get from regular melted butter. Instructions for making brown butter are below - it takes about 5 minutes and is absolutely worth the time.
Chocolate Chips - I like to use a combination of milk and dark chocolate chips for this recipe. Feel free to tweak the ratio and create your own mix of milk and dark chocolate.
Caramel - This is where I get particular. You want to use a good quality, soft and chewy caramel for this recipe - I reach for Werther's Soft Caramel every time. Cut each caramel into 4-5 smaller pieces before folding them into the dough. Avoid those circle caramel bits from the baking aisle - they tend to be hard and don't deliver that soft, gooey bite of caramel that makes these cookies so good.
Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Substitutions and Variations
Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies - As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, sprinkle a pinch of flaky sea salt over the tops right after pressing in the extra chocolate and pieces of caramel. The salt elevates the flavors of the chocolate, caramel and brown butter.
Switch Up the Chocolate - This recipe works well with any combination of chocolate. Go all dark chunks for a more intense, less sweet cookie or use all milk chocolate if you want something on the sweeter side.
Use a Different Caramel - Werther's Soft Caramels are my go-to, but any good quality soft caramel will work. You can also try making your own using this Homemade Caramels recipe from Tastes Better From Scratch if you're feeling ambitious.
how to make caramel chocolate chip cookies
Be sure to see the recipe card for the full list of ingredients and detailed recipe instructions.
Combine the brown butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl.
Add the eggs and vanilla to the eggs and sugar. Whisk until light and fluffy. Whisk the salt into the batter.
Fold the flour mixture into the wet ingredients.
Gently fold in the chocolate chips and caramel.
Scoop the cookie dough onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Roll the dough between your hands and tuck in any pieces of caramel that you see sticking out.
Bake cookies for 9-11 minutes @ 350°
Remove cookies from the oven. Add a few chocolate chips and caramel pieces to the top of each cookie.
Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes. Move the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Notes From My Test Kitchen
I'll be honest - this recipe took me a few tries to get exactly right, and the caramel was the trickiest part. I first tried tucking a whole caramel right into the middle of the cookie dough, but decided that I wanted the caramel to be more evenly distributed throughout the cookie. Next I tried mixing the caramel pieces into the cookie dough. When I baked the cookies, the exposed caramel on the outside edges of the dough melted straight onto the pan. Once I started pushing any exposed pieces of caramel into the cookie dough, it all stayed within the edges of the cookie dough.
I always test a batch of cookies without chilling the dough first to see what happens. This dough spread quickly which is why I recommend chilling the cookie dough so that you get those thick, bakery style cookies that we all love.
How to Make Brown Butter for Cookies
- Place butter in a small sauce pan and cook over medium heat until the butter becomes bubbly, fragrant and nutty smelling - swirl and stir as needed.
- Watch closely for small brown bits to begin forming on the bottom of the pan - this will happen around 5 minutes.
- As soon as you begin to see brown bits in the butter, remove the butter from the heat. If you leave the butter in the pan it will continue to brown and could even become burnt.
- Transfer butter to your mixing bowl and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before proceeding with your recipe.
For more tips, troubleshooting, and the science behind why brown butter makes everything better, see my full guide on how to brown butter.
Storing Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
Room Temperature - Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. The caramel stays soft and gooey on day one, so if you can make to save a few for later, that's when they're their best.
Freezing baked cookies - Let cookies cool completely and layer then in a freezer safe container or bag. It's helpful to put layers of parchment between them. Freeze for up to 2 months. Let the cookies come to room temperature before eating, or warm the min the oven at 300° for about 5 minutes.
Freezing cookie dough - Scoop the chilled cookie dough into balls and freeze on a quarter sheet pan until solid. Transfer the frozen cookie dough to a freezer bag or container. Bake directly from frozen at 375° and add 2-3 minutes to the baking time. After baking, add a few caramel pieces and a few extra chocolate chips. Sprinkle with sea salt if you are making salted caramel chocolate chip cookies.
Freezing cookie dough - Scoop the chilled cookie dough into balls and freeze on a baking sheet until solid, then transfer to a freezer bag or container. Bake directly from frozen at 375° and add 2-3 minutes to the baking time.
Caramel chocolate chip cookies faqs
The most likely culprit is is skipping the chill time. I don't recommend this. Cookie also spread (or get really thick) if the flour measurement is off. Use your kitchen scale to measure your flour - for this recipe, use 260g of flour.
The best way to prevent the caramel from melting and leaking out of the cookies is to tuck the pieces of caramel into the cookie dough. After you scoop the cookie dough, use your hands to tuck the caramel into the dough. Roll the dough into a nicely shaped ball and make sure that you see mostly cookie dough and chocolate chips on the outside.
Store bought soft caramels work perfectly for this recipe - no need to make your own unless you want to. I use Werther's Soft Caramels every time and love the results. You can also try making your own using this Homemade Caramels recipe from Tastes Better From Scratch.
More Brown Butter cookie recipes
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Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter browned and cooled
- ¾ cups light brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups (260g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup milk chocolate chips
- ½ cup semi sweet chocolate chips
- ¾ cup soft caramels cut into quarters
- ¼ cup extra caramel pieces and chocolate chips to add to the tops of the cookies
Instructions
For the Brown Butter
- Place butter in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the butter becomes bubbly, fragrant and nutty smelling - swirl and stir as needed
- Watch closely for small brown bits to begin forming on the bottom of the pan - this will happen around 5 minutes
- As soon as you begin to see brown bits in the butter, remove the butter from the heat
- Transfer butter to a large bowl and allow to cool for a few minutes before proceeding with the recipe
For the Cookies
- In a small mixing bowl, combine flour and baking soda. Set aside.
- Add the sugars to the cooled brown butter and mix until nice and fluffy.
- Mix in eggs and vanilla. Whisk again until light and fluffy.
- Whisk in the salt.
- Fold in the dry ingredients.
- Add chocolate and caramel to the cookie dough. Fold gently until the add-ins are all well distributed through the dough.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and cover the finished dough with plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, scoop the dough and arrange the balls of dough on a parchment lined quarter sheet pan. Return to the refrigerator for an additional 30 minutes of chilling time.
- Preheat the oven to 375°. Bake cookies for 9-10 minutes. The edges will be golden brown and the middles should just start to brown lightly.
- Immediately add additional chocolate and caramel to the tops of the cookies. Push down gently so that the chocolate and caramel sink into the cookies a bit.
- For best results, allow cookies to cool on the sheet pan for 5-6 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Cookies can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
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