I'm addicted to these cookies.
One of my resolutions for 2019 was to try a new or different cookie recipe each week. Well, I've given it up. I can't stop making (and eating) these Double Chocolate Caramel Chip Cookies, which are perhaps my favorite cookie ever.
They're rich and moist, chocolatey and tender, with tons of sweet caramel chips strewn throughout. They're almost brownie-like, without being cakey like some other chocolate cookies.
I bake them just slightly underdone, so that I can't even remove them from the cookie sheet until they're cooled completely. And even then, they sometimes break apart in my hands.
When I made my first batch of these, I stashed half the dough in the freezer; we baked them two days later and devoured them again. January was a stressful month, and I craved them. So we went to the grocery store and bought 4 more bags of caramel chips!
Their texture and flavor are perfect. They are exactly the chocolate cookie I was hoping for - a one-bowl cookie made with cocoa powder instead of melted chocolate (yay!). I make them by hand instead of with a mixer. A mixer might make it a tiny bit easier, but there's a chance you'd make the dough too fluffy, and besides, you'd need to clean the mixer!
Also, there's no chilling of the dough. Just mix the cookie dough, drop the cookies onto the sheet, and bake!
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Why I Love This Recipe and May Never Try Another Chocolate Cookie Recipe Again
Back in 2010, in the early years of this blog, I tried a recipe for double chocolate cookies, but I really wasn't happy with them. After making this recipe, though, I doubt I'll ever seek out a different double chocolate cookie again!
This recipe originally comes via the Food Charlatan, who adapted it from The Girl Who Ate Everything Cookbook (affiliate link), but I've made a few adjustments.
The recipe originally took Kraft Caramel Bits (affiliate link), which I've never tried (although they do look good), rather than caramel chips. I had caramel chips that I really needed to use up.
I used Ghirardelli Caramel Chips (affiliate link). There's also Hershey Sea Salt Caramel Chips (affiliate link), which I've seen in stores in the past but haven't used. I found all of these caramel add-ins at Target right after Christmas, but I think the chips in particular are seasonal (for holiday baking) as I didn't see them there this week. I know I saw both caramel chips at Shoprite sometime last year, but can't find them there anymore.
Can't find caramel chips? I bet butterscotch chips or white chocolate chips would be fantastic as well.
One of the reasons I love this recipe is that it takes cocoa powder and extra butter instead of melted chocolate. Cocoa powder is more economical than chocolate, and I always have a ton of it around. I also don't like melting chocolate; I avoid it whenever possible.
This recipe originally used a mixer. I didn't want to dirty the extra dishes, so I mixed everything together with a rubber spatula right in the bowl I melted butter in. I love that it's now a one-bowl recipe!!
How to Make Double Chocolate Caramel Chip Cookies
First, melt your butter. This recipe takes 20 tablespoons (or 2 ½ sticks of butter), which is more than many recipes use. This extra butter adds the fat and moisture that you would have gotten from melted chocolate.
You can use a stand or electric mixer here, but honestly, the dough is fine if you mix it by hand. You may have to mix a little extra toward the end, depending on the shape of your bowl. When possible, I mix everything in my 8 cup glass measuring cup (affiliate link) when I have to melt butter. However, the sides are steep, so it takes a little extra mixing to get to the ingredients at the bottom. You should also be able to melt the butter on the stove and mix everything in your pot or pan, but give yourself time for the warm pan to cool down before adding the eggs.
In any case, after the butter's melted, add sugar and brown sugar. Stir together; the sugar will get a little melty, but some butter may not be quite incorporated. (See the yellow of the butter around the edge of the bowl above.)
Make sure the butter isn't too hot, or it will scramble the eggs when you add them. If it's cool enough, add 2 eggs and the vanilla. Mix until combined and you don't see separate strands of egg. You don't want to whisk air into it; you just want everything to be mixed together.
Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and table salt. If you're afraid it won't be mixed together well, mix it in a separate bowl first, or sift it in. (Cocoa in particular may be clumpy.)
Fold the dough together with a rubber spatula until it's just combined. A few streaks of flour and cocoa are okay since you'll be stirring in chips. Just don't stir the dough too vigorously.
Add chocolate chips and caramel chips and stir until just combined.
The recipe originally made large cookies. This worked, but I wanted normal-sized cookies so I could eat more of them. If you make large cookies, chilling the dough is necessary.
For normal-sized cookies like I make, chilling the dough isn't absolutely necessary. However, if it's summer and your kitchen is warm, or your dough seems runny (instead of like looseish brownie batter), you may need to chill it for 15-30 minutes to get it to hold its shape.
That said, the dough does benefit from a 15-30 minute rest at room temperature to firm up (hydrate the flour and cocoa) and keep the first batch of cookies from spreading excessively.
The take-away: you can bake the cookies as soon as you mix them, but they'll be a little prettier and less messy if you give them a rest and preheat your oven when you're done mixing.
Scoop 1 tablespoon measures of dough onto parchment-line or Silpat-lined baking sheets. I use a medium (1.5-tablespoon or #40) cookie scoop (affiliate link); it helps make the cookies evenly sized. You can fit 12 cookies to a normal 11x17 inch baking pan, but I prefer baking 8 at a time to be sure they don't spread into each other.
Bake cookies at 350F for 7-8 minutes. The edges will be set, and the tops of the cookies will no longer look shiny and wet.
Let cool on the parchment on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then remove the parchment to a cooling rack or counter. The cookies are very soft when warm, so let cool completely (about 30 minutes) before removing the cookies.
What to Do with Leftover Cookies
Leftover cookies? What are those?
I'm 95% serious.
I usually only make one sheet of cookies if I'm not taking them somewhere to share. The rest of the dough I scoop onto waxed paper and freeze. I bake them at my leisure, without thawing them, adding 2 minutes to the baking time.
Otherwise, I (and Alex, but mostly me) eat most of them the day I make them. They're soft and tender, rich and chocolatey, with delicious creamy richness from the caramel chips. I adore them.
We stash the remaining cookies in an airtight container and eat them the next day, and they're still perfect. After a couple of days, they're a little more dry and crumbly, but still surprisingly good.
Honestly, these are cookies I don't want to share. Please make them for yourself!
Want more chocolate? Try Fudge Brownies, Hershey's Best Brownies, Fudge-Topped (Berger-Style) Cookies, Fudgy Bourbon Balls (made with or without bourbon, honestly), or Chocolate Stout Cake. For something more warming, try Decadent Hot Chocolate Mix.
Interested in other recipes? I save and share recipes I like or want to try on my Pinterest page - follow me there! You can also check out my Facebook page for more recipes and helpful tips. I'm also happy to try to help troubleshoot my recipes there.
Like this recipe or have questions? Rate it or leave a comment below!
In the past:
One Year Ago: Roasted Chickpeas and Sweet Potatoes with Tahini Sauce
Two Years Ago: Grapefruit Yogurt Cake
Five Years Ago: Gluten-Free Everything Bagels
Six Years Ago: Fig and Honey Scones, Alton Brown's Peanut Butter Pie
Seven Years Ago: Gin Martinis and Gin Rickeys
Eight Years Ago: Power Granola
Nine Years Ago: Roasted Chicken with Balsamic Peppers, S'more Brownies
📖 Recipe
Rich, delicious, tender double chocolate cookies made with cocoa powder (no melted chocolate!) and sweet caramel chips. A one-bowl recipe!
- 20 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 ½ sticks) (282 grams)
- 1 cup granulated sugar (198 grams)
- 1 cup brown sugar (213 grams) (dark or light are both fine)
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (15 grams)
- 2 cups flour (240 grams)
- 1 cup cocoa powder (80 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- ½ cup chocolate chips (85 grams)
- 1 ½ cups caramel chips (255 grams) (I usually add the whole 10oz bag of caramel chips)
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Melt the butter in the microwave or on the stove. In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter in 15 second bursts. (Melting in bursts helps prevent popping and splattering.) Once the butter is mostly melted, switch over to 10 second bursts.
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Add sugar and brown sugar. Stir until combined. The sugar will partially melt; there may be butter that isn't quite incorporated.
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Check to be sure the butter is cool enough to touch. If it is too hot, it will cook the eggs, so let it cool briefly. Once it's cool enough, add the eggs and vanilla. Stir in just until combined, but not too vigorously; you don't want to mix in air.
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Add dry ingredients. If you're worried about them being lumpy (cocoa powder in particular can be lumpy), sift them together first. Then, gently fold the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt mixture into the butter mixture. A few dry streaks are ok since you'll mix in chips. You don't want to overwork the dough.
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Stir in the chocolate and caramel chips.
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Optional: let the dough rest, or chill the dough, for 15-30 minutes to let the flour and cocoa in the dough hydrate. See notes below.
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Scoop 1 ½ tablespoon balls onto a parchment-lined or Silpat-lined baking sheet. [A medium (1.5-tablespoon or #40) cookie scoop works perfectly for this.] Bake at 350F for 7-8 minutes. The cookies will no longer look wet on the top when done.
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Cookies are incredibly soft when they come out of the oven. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then move parchment or Silpat to the counter to cool completely (about 30 minutes) before removing and eating.
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These cookies are their absolute best on the day or day after you bake them, although they are still surprisingly good a few days later. Store baked cookies in an airtight container. Scoop and freeze the remaining dough and bake the cookies fresh when you want them.
I weighed my ingredients; cup/volume measurements are approximate.
These cookies can be made with an electric mixer if desired. If using, be sure not to mix for too long; you don't want a lot of air in these.
In the winter, you can bake these cookies just after mixing. However, they bake/set up better if you let the dough rest for 15-30 minutes while the oven preheats. In warmer summer weather, the cookies might benefit from chilling the dough for 30 minutes.
I baked 1 sheet of cookies at a time; my cookies tend to overbake if I use 2 oven racks and 2 cookie sheets, even if I rotate my pans. You can, however, baked 2 sheets at once if desired. Be sure to turn around the cookie sheets and switch them from top to bottom halfway through the baking time.
These cookies set up incredibly soft. You can bake them an additional minute if desired, but I prefer to let them cool completely so they're still very tender the next day.
Scoop and freeze the remaining dough to bake later. You won't regret it. I make another batch of cookie dough as soon as we've baked our last freezer cookie.
Adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything Cookbook, via the Food Charlatan
Jenn says
These are so good! I usually like cookies hot right out of the oven and I ate one like that but they were so much better after they cooled. Delicious! I will definitely make these again.
Leona Konkel says
So glad you loved them as much as I did!