Salted Caramel Cookies Recipe – Sweet, Salty & Irresistible
Our Perfect Salted Caramel Cookies Recipe: Sweet, Salty & Chewy
Is there anything more tempting than a cookie that perfectly marries sweet and salty flavours? Picture this: a golden-baked cookie with satisfyingly crisp edges, a soft, chewy heart, and delightful pockets of molten caramel, all finished with a sparkling hint of sea salt. If this is your idea of cookie perfection, then you have certainly come to the right place. We’ve poured our hearts into creating the definitive salted caramel cookies recipe, and we’re thrilled to share our secrets with you.
This recipe is more than just a set of instructions; it’s a passport to pure indulgence. It’s the ideal companion for a quiet afternoon cuppa, a guaranteed hit at any gathering, or a thoughtful, handcrafted gift for someone dear. The genius is in the interplay of rich, buttery brown sugar dough, luscious caramel, and that final, bright flourish of flaky sea salt. We’ll walk you through each simple step to help you achieve bakery-quality results at home. Let’s begin!
Why You’ll Adore This Recipe
- An Exquisite Balance of Flavours: We’ve fine-tuned this recipe to capture that magical sweet-and-salty harmony. The buttery cookie and sweet caramel are beautifully contrasted by a sprinkle of sea salt, turning it into a truly memorable sweet and salty dessert.
- A Symphony of Textures: Our method is designed to produce cookies with that coveted combination of crisp, golden edges and a wonderfully soft, yielding centre. Each bite offers a delightful journey from a gentle crunch to gooey caramel bliss.
- Bakery-Quality Results Made Easy: Although these cookies look and taste like they belong in a high-end patisserie, the method is refreshingly simple. You don’t need any professional baking skills to make these incredible gourmet cookies.
- Made with Real, Gooey Caramel: We steer clear of artificial flavourings, opting instead for soft, chewy caramel sweets that we chop and mix directly into the dough. As they bake, they transform into glorious, molten pools of caramel.
- Fantastically Make-Ahead Friendly: We know life can be hectic, but that shouldn’t stand in the way of enjoying freshly baked treats. This dough can be prepared in advance and stored in the fridge or freezer, ready for baking whenever the mood takes you.
Ingredients
- 225g (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 200g (1 cup) light brown soft sugar, packed
- 100g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
- 1 large free-range egg, at room temperature
- 1 large free-range egg yolk, at room temperature
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 350g (2 3/4 cups) plain flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp cornflour (cornstarch)
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 170g (about 1 cup) soft caramel sweets, chopped into small pieces
- Flaky sea salt (like Maldon), for sprinkling
How to Make Our Salted Caramel Cookies Recipe
Crafting these heavenly cookies is a surprisingly simple affair. We have organised the process into clear, easy-to-follow stages to guarantee you achieve wonderful results time after time. Let’s bake together!
Step 1: Prepare the Dry Ingredients and Caramels
To begin, let’s get everything in its right place. In a medium bowl, combine the plain flour, bicarbonate of soda, cornflour, and fine sea salt. Whisk them together thoroughly; this not only mixes everything evenly but also aerates the flour, which helps create a more tender cookie. Set this bowl to one side. Now, take your soft caramel sweets and carefully chop them into pieces roughly the size of a pea. If they’re particularly sticky, tossing them in a teaspoon of flour can stop them from sticking together. This is a key step to ensure you get those beautiful pockets of melted caramel.
Step 2: Cream the Butter and Sugars
In a large mixing bowl, using either a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or an electric hand mixer, beat the softened butter with the light brown and caster sugars. Beat them on a medium-high speed for around 2–3 minutes. You’re looking for the mixture to become noticeably lighter in colour, pale, and fluffy in texture. This creaming step is vital as it whips air into the mixture, which is fundamental to the final texture of our sea salt caramel cookies.
Step 3: Add the Wet Ingredients
Pause to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula to ensure everything is incorporated. Turn the mixer to a low speed and add the whole egg, followed by the extra egg yolk and the vanilla extract. Mix just until everything is combined. It’s important not to overbeat here; a few seconds is all it takes. That additional egg yolk is our little secret for an exceptionally rich and chewy result.
Step 4: Combine and Chill the Dough
Add the bowl of dry ingredients to your wet mixture. With the mixer on its lowest setting, mix until the flour is almost fully incorporated—you should stop as soon as the last streaks of flour disappear. Overworking the dough at this stage can develop too much gluten, resulting in tough cookies. Now, using a spatula, gently fold in the chopped caramel pieces. Here comes the most critical part: chilling. Cover the bowl with cling film and place it in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours, though overnight is even better. Chilling solidifies the fat, preventing the cookies from spreading too thinly in the oven, and it also allows the flavours to mature and intensify.
Step 5: Bake to Perfection
Once you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C Fan / Gas Mark 4). Line two large baking trays with baking parchment. Use a spoon or a cookie scoop to portion the chilled dough into balls, each approximately 2 tablespoons in size. Place them onto the prepared trays, making sure to leave a good amount of space between each one to allow for spreading.
Bake for 12–15 minutes. The cookies are done when the edges are a lovely golden brown, but the centres still appear slightly soft and underbaked. This is the secret to getting those perfectly chewy caramel cookies. The moment you take them out of the oven, sprinkle each cookie with a generous pinch of flaky sea salt. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking tray for 5-10 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool down completely.
Top Tips for the Best Cookies
- Bring Ingredients to Room Temperature: For the best results, always ensure your butter and eggs are at room temperature. This helps them emulsify properly, leading to a smooth, uniform dough.
- Never Skip the Chilling Time: We really can’t overstate this! Chilling the dough is an essential step in this recipe. It helps control the spread and deepens the flavour, leading to a far superior cookie.
- Measure Your Flour with Care: The way you measure flour can have a big impact on your baking. We suggest the “spoon and level” technique: fluff up the flour in its bag, spoon it lightly into your measuring cup, and then sweep the excess off with the back of a knife. For ultimate precision, a digital kitchen scale is always your best friend. For more on this, you can visit expert resources like King Arthur Baking.
- Pick the Right Kind of Caramel: Opt for soft, chewy caramels (such as Werther’s Soft Caramels or an equivalent). Hard caramels will not melt correctly during baking and may result in a tough, unpleasant texture.
- Try the “Cookie Scoot” Trick: To get perfectly uniform, round cookies, use a large circular cookie cutter or the rim of a drinking glass that is slightly wider than your baked cookie. Immediately after they come out of the oven, place the cutter over each cookie and gently nudge it in a circular motion. This smooths out any irregular edges for a professional finish.
And if this recipe has sparked your passion for baking, why not try some of our other favourites? Our Apple Cider Whoopie Pies are a delightful autumnal treat, while our wonderfully straightforward Biscoff Rice Krispie Treats are guaranteed to impress.
FAQ
A Sweet and Salty Dessert to Remember
And there you have our complete guide to baking the most divine salted caramel cookies imaginable. With their irresistible chew, gooey caramel surprises, and the perfect salty finish, we’re confident these will quickly earn a permanent spot in your recipe collection. It just goes to show that with high-quality ingredients and a bit of time for chilling, you can create something truly extraordinary in your own kitchen.
We truly hope you adore making and eating this recipe. It’s a wonderful treat to bake for loved ones or to simply enjoy yourself. So, turn on your oven, assemble your ingredients, and prepare for the wonderful aroma that’s about to fill your home.
We’d be delighted to see how your cookies turn out! If you try our recipe, please do leave a comment and a rating below to let us know how you got on. You can also tag us on social media—we always love seeing your fantastic bakes!
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 225g (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 200g (1 cup) light brown soft sugar
- 100g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
- 1 large free-range egg
- 1 large free-range egg yolk
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 350g (2 3/4 cups) plain flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp cornflour (cornstarch)
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 170g (about 1 cup) soft caramel sweets, chopped
- Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the plain flour, bicarbonate of soda, cornflour, and fine sea salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the softened butter, brown sugar, and caster sugar on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes until pale and fluffy.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract until just combined.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients, mixing on low until just incorporated. Use a spatula to fold in the chopped caramel pieces.
- Cover the dough and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, or overnight for best results.
- Preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C Fan). Line two baking trays with baking parchment.
- Scoop the dough into balls (approx. 2 tablespoons each) and place them on the prepared trays, leaving space between them to spread.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the edges are golden but the centres look slightly soft.
- Immediately sprinkle the hot cookies with flaky sea salt. Allow them to cool on the baking tray for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
