Crispy Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
These Crispy Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies are nothing short of perfection in a bite. With crispy edges, and a soft gooey center, crunchy caramel and puddles of melted chocolate, you won't be able to have just one.
Ingredients
Crispy Caramel:
- 1 cup white sugar 200g
- 1 tbsp salted butter or more, see Note
- ½ tsp kosher salt
Cookies
- 1 cup salted butter, roughly cut into 2 tbsp pieces (225g)
- ¾ cup brown sugar (150g)
- ¾ cup white sugar (150g)
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 ⅔ cup all-purpose flour (330g)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ½ cup chocolate chips
- ⅔ cup chopped chocolate about 80 grams, plus more for topping
- 1 tbsp flakey sea salt optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Line an additional flat surface with parchment paper (can be another baking sheet, or just parchment on your counter, this is for the caramel).
- Make the brown butter. Add 1 cup butter to a saucepan over medium heat. Once fully melted, the butter will begin to bubble. When bubbling, begin to lightly stir using a spatula. You will notice the butter turning a golden brown at the bottom and smelling more nutty. As soon as the butter stops foaming and bubbling, take off the heat and pour it into the bowl of your stand mixer, using a spatula to scrape all the brown bits into the bowl. Allow to cool while making the caramel.
- Make the caramel. To the same pan, over medium heat, add 1 cup of white sugar, 1 tablespoon of butter (or more, see Note), and ¼ teaspoon of salt. Allow to melt, stirring every 30 seconds or so until all of the ingredients have melted together. The mixture will look clumpy before it gets melted, don’t worry about that. Cook until the mixture is fully smooth and has an amber color, then immediately remove from heat and pour over the parchment paper on a flat surface, using your spatula to spread a little bit. Allow caramel to cool and harden while making the cookies.
- Make the cookies. Now that the butter is already in your stand mixer, add the brown sugar and white sugar to the same bowl of your stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat together for about 3 minutes, until all the ingredients have combined. Add in the eggs and vanilla extract and beat for another 2 minutes until the batter becomes fluffy.
- Turn the mixer off and raise the paddle attachment. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and 1 tsp of kosher salt to the bowl with the wet ingredients. Using the same spatula as before, first gently mix the dry ingredients together on top, then fold it all in together until the mixture is mostly uniform with some white flour still showing.
- By now, the caramel should be hardened. Using a knife, chop up the caramel into small pieces, about the size of the chocolate chips/chunks. The edges may be a little sharp so be cautious (but, I do use my hands to get some pieces smaller). Note that the more butter you have used in the caramel, the less sharp the crispy caramel pieces get. Once all chopped up, set aside a few tablespoons of the chopped crispy caramel to put on top of the cookies.
- Pour the rest of the caramel pieces into the cookie batter. Add the chocolate chips and chopped chocolate chunks into the batter too, and fold in to combine. At this point I will use the paddle attachment again for about 15 seconds until just combined, but you can use a spatula instead as well.
- Using a cookie scoop, roll the dough into balls and place on the sheet tray, I do 6-8 cookies per tray. On top of the cookie, place at least one shard of crispy caramel and one chunk of chopped chocolate per cookie, and a few more if you have.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the outer edges are golden and the center has not yet fully cooked through. Immediately sprinkle with flakey sea salt. The cookies will continue to cook as they rest on the sheet tray out of the oven. Allow to rest on the tray for about 15 minutes, then move to a cookie rack. Serve, or let cool completely.
Video
Notes
Adding 1 tablespoon of butter to the caramel will lead to a crispy crunchy caramel. If you want a more chewy, toffee-like consistency, add 4 tablespoons instead of the 1. You can add any amount between 1-4 for the consistency of your choosing. I have tried all the variations and I prefer results with 1 tablespoon.