Why choose between chocolate and caramel when you can have both? This recipe for caramel stuffed chocolate cookies is dedicated to cookie lovers that crave both salty and sweet, and hate having to choose between chocolate and caramel. Because sometimes in life, I believe that more is more. Salty and sweet are one of my favorite flavor combinations — it’s hopelessly addicting having saltiness to offset your sweet tooth. Some of the best snacks are salty and sweet: chocolate covered pretzels, salted chocolate chip cookies, you get the idea.
Last week, I had a heavy sweet tooth craving which led me to these cookies. They are ridiculously easy to make, coming together in just one bowl. They’re the perfect cookies for Halloween season because each cookie basically includes a piece of caramel candy inside.
These caramel stuffed chocolate cookies are best when eaten straight out of the oven when the caramel is still soft and gooey. Admittedly I ended up burning my fingers going in for the cookies because I could barely wait to get into them. Let me tell you – it was worth it! However these cookies are still delightful at room temperature because the caramel candies used stay soft and supple even at room temperature.
After the first day, I’d recommend popping them in the microwave for 10-15 seconds before eating to get that nice warm gooey center again.
Since these caramel stuffed chocolate cookies are super easy to make, I’d recommend these as a perfect Halloween treat for the kids or for family and friends. The concept is straightforward — we start with a chocolate cookie dough, full of chocolate chunks, and let the dough chill for a couple hours to get the cookie dough firm and malleable. When ready to bake, we roll out the cookie dough into little dough balls that are later stuffed with chocolate covered caramel candy (think Rolos) and bake it for just 10-12 minutes, that’s it!
What Are Good Caramel Substitutes?
This recipe can be easily adapted to different types of candy you’d like to experiment with, like chunks of Snickers, Reese’s, or Milky Ways! Candies that have soft centers tend to work best, not something hard like Jolly Ranchers.
How Long Will These Cookies Keep?
If you store the Salted Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Cookies in an airtight container, they can keep on your counter top for 3 to 5 days. Any longer and I would recommend freezing them in an airtight container or Ziploc baggie that you can later take out and pop in the microwave whenever you have your salty sweet craving.
Salted Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Cookies
Equipment
- 1 baking sheet
- 1 mixing bowl
- 1 ice cream scoop
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 10 tbs unsalted butter softened
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
- 13 rolo candies or other chocolate covered caramels
- 1 tbs flakey sea salt
Instructions
- In a medium bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl beat together butter, brown sugar, and sugar until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes). Mix in egg and vanilla until blended.
- Gradually mix in dry ingredients on low speed until just incorporated, don't over mix. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand. Cover the cookie dough and chill for 2 hours or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and take the dough out of the fridge while the oven is preheating.
- Roll 2-3 tablespoons of cookie dough into a ball. Use an ice cream scoop for consistent measurements. Break the ball in half and place one half on a baking sheet. Press a Rolo into the center of the cookie dough, top with remaining half of the cookie dough ball and press down on top of the Rolo to cover it completely. Repeat with remaining dough and Rolos, placing cookies about 3 inches apart on a baking sheet.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until the tops of the cookies are just set. Sprinkle immediately with sea salt to taste, then allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Serve at room temperature for chewy caramel OR for melty caramel, pop a cookie in the microwave for 8-10 seconds (this is for my microwave, you might need to test with yours to find how many seconds yields a melted caramel center). Store in airtight container.
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