These chocolate caramel cookies will become your go to, bake multiple times a year recipe. They are perfectly thick, caramel filled cookies that will give you bakery cookie vibes. Cookies need to satisfy a craving, and these hit hard in both the chocolate and caramel categories.
This post uses Bequet Caramels - you can get 25% off your order with discount code HANNAHGRAY25OFF
Bequet caramels costco
Yes. This is THAT caramel you find at Costco. Béquet caramel costco is one of the top searched terms on Google so maybe that brought you here! If you can't find Bequet at your local Costco, you can order directly from their website AND get 25% off!
This recipe uses a shortcut for the caramel - the BEST caramel you could possibly ever find in stores. It's from the company called Béquet Confections, and trust me - they know caramel. I actually met the owner a fews months ago at a candy show and didn't want to try the caramel in front of him (that's how picky I am! I was scared it was going to be bad and I'd have to pretend it didn't suck), but he convinced me and I was blown away. Fun fact: I actually worked on this caramel years and years go, when I was working as a confectionery scientist for a contract manufacturer. I had no idea it was the same caramel until getting to know the owner!
It's safe to say I'm super picky about caramel. Caramel should hold it's shape but be soft enough to bite into, with the main flavor in it to be a deep, rich, caramelized sugar, enhanced by a melt in your mouth butter. I don't want it to be waxy, chewy, gritty, or taste artificial. Bequet has won over 12 award for their caramel and only uses the highest quality ingredients. Check out their ingredient list for the Classic Caramel!
Bequet Classic Caramel: Non-GMO Brown Sugar, Non-GMO Tapioca Syrup, rbST-Free* Heavy Cream, rbST-Free* Butter, Fructose, Milk, Sugar, Natural Flavor
Occasionally you can find a super big bag of Bequet caramels at Costco, but they ship all their varieties directly from their website and you can also purchase bulk boxes of it (hellooooo high end Halloween candy) You can use my discount code (HANNAHGRAY25OFF) for 25% off your order!
Ingredients for chocolate caramel cookies
This recipe has two distinct parts - chocolate chip cookie dough and the caramel filling for cookies. The cookies need to be prepped the day before they are needed.
Chocolate chip cookie dough ingredients
- unsalted butter: Unsalted butter should be used when baking because the “standard” for the amount of salt they can add to butter is between 0.1% to 2.5%, depending on what brand you choose! Using unsalted butter allows you to control the salt level in the cookie. Salt is added to butter to preserve it, so salted butter is not as fresh as unsalted butter on the store shelf.
- white sugar: This sweetens the cookie dough, adds body, and makes it chewy.
- brown sugar: This sweetens the cookie dough, adds body, adds color, and deepens the flavor.
- Salt: Salt balances out the sweetness and improve the overall flavor by deepening the flavors brought out by caramelization and butter.
- baking soda: a leavening agent that helps the cookies rise.
- baking powder: a leavening agent that helps the cookies rise.
- vanilla: Did you know that vanilla actually enhances the chocolate flavor? It also provides a well rounded, timeless, cookie flavor.
- all purpose flour
- black cocoa: I used black cocoa because I wanted these cookies to be super fudgey with a rich chocolate flavor.
- eggs: These should be cold, straight out of the fridge. Eggs add structure, leavening, color, and flavor.
- Coarse confectioners sugar: these give the cookies an amazing crunchy texture without it being too contrasting in your mouth (the sugar dissolves quickly when eating). It also makes the cookies visually look amazing.
See recipe card for quantities.
Caramel filling for cookies ingredients
- Bequet Classic Caramels, unwrapped and frozen solid
Instructions for chocolate caramel cookies
See recipe card for quantities.
High level overview, see video below and recipe card for more details.
- Unwrap caramels and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover and freeze for a minimum of 3 hours.
- Make the cookie dough. After mixing divide it into 9 equal sized balls, covering each one tightly in food grade plastic wrap. Refrigerate for a minimum of 12 hours.
- Line a freezer safe container with parchment paper.
- AFTER 12 HOURS, you'll divide each cookie in half. Make an indent in the cookie to fit the frozen piece of caramel. Put the cookie back together, making sure you cannot see any caramel. The cookie dough will cover the ganache completely. Repeat with all of your cookies.
- Roll each cookie in coarse confectioners sugar.
- Bake in a 350F for 18 minutes, rotating your cookie sheet after 9 minutes.
- After removing from the oven, cool for 2 minutes on cookie sheet before transferring to a wire rack.
Equipment - chocolate caramel cookies
It is important to use the right equipment for this recipe.
- 5 quart planetary mixer: You'll be creaming some of these ingredients for 8 minutes - a hand mixer will not incorporate enough air into the cookie dough.
- kitchen scale: This one is on sale for $9.98 on Amazon! If you don't have one you'll find yourself using it all the time after purchasing.
- medium cookie scoop: Used for both the cookie dough and ganache filling
- oven
- cookie sheet
- parchment paper
- freezer safe container for caramel pieces
- plastic cling wrap for cookie dough balls
The secret to bakery style, thick, non spreading chocolate caramel cookies
A lot of chocolate filled cookie recipes have cookies that spread and flatten, but not these! If you are interested in why cookies spread, and why these stuffed chocolate chip cookies do not spread, keep on reading.
Why do cookies spread & flatten?
1) Expired leavening agents. If your baking soda or baking powder are past their prime, your chocolate chip cookies will likely flatten and spread. Even if the date on the container checks out, it still might not be good. That would be the first place I would start.
How to test if your baking soda is active: Combine ½ cup of hot water, ¼ teaspoon vinegar and ¼ teaspoon of baking soda. When you add the baking soda a reaction should take place immediately. If not, then you need new baking soda.
How to test if your baking powder is active: Add ½ teaspoon of baking powder to ½ cup of hot water. It should bubble immediately. A reaction should take place immediately. If not, then you need new baking powder.
2) Ingredients are too warm.
3) Incorrect oven temperature. If your cookies and other baked goods are not turning out properly, invest in a cheap oven thermometer to check the temperature. If your oven is baking too hot or too cold, then the cookies will not turn out well.
Why do my cookies not spread while baking?
This recipe produces cookies that do not spread while baking. How was that achieved? A lot of recipes will try to use cornstarch to minimize the spread, but I hate the taste and can recognize it from a mile away. This chocolate chip cookie dough does not use cornstarch. Adding ingredients to reduce spread will only get you so far, you need to fix the recipe.
- Decrease the amount of sugar relative to flour.
- Leavening agents: This recipe ample amounts of both baking powder and baking soda.
- Creaming the butter and sugar: When you cream the butter and sugar long enough, you are actually FORCING air into the dough. The air made by the physical reaction (creaming) and the air made by the chemical reaction (leavening agents) is then trapped in it by the flour, keeping the cookie thick with a light bite.
- Use the correct chocolate in the dough (baking chips). Chocolate chips that are made for baking will not spread. If you use chocolate bars, the chocolate will melt too much and form puddles, spreading out some of the cookie dough as it melts down in the oven.
- A high proportion of mix ins (chocolate chips and pecans) thicken the cookie dough.
- Refrigerating the cookie dough cools ingredients, making the butter harder and also allows ample time for the flour to hydrate and form a nice gluten network. Think of the gluten network as a big spider web that expands when filled with water and also traps particles inside of it.
Storage
The portioned cookie dough can be kept wrapped tightly in plastic and refrigerated for up to one week. They can also be frozen after wrapping tightly in plastic wrap for up to six months, but must be brought to refrigeration temperature before filling with ganache.
Ganache can be frozen for six months in a freezer safe container.
Store cookie leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days. If you like warm cookies, briefly rewarming the chocolate filled cookies in the microwave for 10 seconds before eating.
Ultimate chocolate caramel filled cookies
Equipment
- cookie sheets
- kitchen food scale
- medium sized cookie scoop
- food grade plastic cling wrap
- oven
- cooling rack
- freezer safe container
Ingredients
- 113 grams unsalted butter (1 stick)
- 113 grams light brown sugar approx. ½ cup
- 100 grams white sugar approx ½ cup
- 16 grams vanilla extract 1 tablespoon
- 1 teaspoon table salt 6 grams
- 1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 eggs cold, straight from fridge
- 285 grams all purpose flour approx 2.25 cups
- 30 grams black cocoa approx ⅓ cup
Caramel Middle
- 18 pieces Bequet Classic Caramels, Frozen
Sugar sanding
- 200 g coarse confectioners sugar approx 1 cup
Instructions
Start by freezing caramels
- Unwrap caramels and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover.
- Freeze until firm, around 3 hours.
Cookie Dough
- Combine butter, vanilla, brown sugar, white sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachement.
- Mix on low to moisten then increase to medium. Mix on medium speed for 8 minutes, scraping the bowl down after the first four.
- Reduce speed to low. Add eggs one at a time, letting each fully incorporate before adding the next. Return to medium speed for one minute.
- Reduce speed to low. Add in flour and cocoa all at once. Mix just until incorporated.
- Turn off mixer. Divide dough into 9 equal sized balls. This is around 115-120 grams per dough ball.
- Wrap each dough ball in food grade plastic wrap and refrigerate for a 12 hours.
Forming the cookies
- AFTER 12 OR MORE HOURS, heat oven to 350. Make SURE it is 350F before placing cookies inside of it.
- Working one at a time, unwrap a dough ball and divide it in half. Make an indent in the middle of the half and place two pieces of frozen caramel in it. Take the other half of the dough ball and wrap it around the caramel, making sure you do not see any of the caramel.
- Roll cookie dough ball in coarse sugar.
- Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Repeat until each cookie dough ball has a frozen caramel scoop inside. Cookie dough should remain cold and not warm up much before going into the oven.
- Bake the cookies in a 350F oven for 18 minutes, rotating your pan after 9 minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to wire rack.
Storage
- Store cooled cookies in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!