Salted Caramel Cookies

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These Salted Caramel Cookies start with giant, bakery style, soft sugar cookies. They’re filled with tons of chewy, salted caramel and topped with flaked sea salt! Such an easy Christmas cookie recipe!

Looking for more Christmas cookie ideas? Try these Gingerdoodle Cookies, or these Brown Sugar Cookies!

A Delicious Twist on the Classic Christmas Sugar Cookie Recipe

Yes, these Salted Caramel Cookies are as absolutely epic as they look!

A gorgeously thick, soft sugar cookie made with two big scoops of cookie dough is baked until *just* done.

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Then we fill each cookie with a few big spoonfuls of salted caramel and sprinkle some flaked sea salt right on top.

Each bite is a mixture of sweet, tender, vanilla sugar cookie with a big hit of sweet, chewy caramel and a salty finishing touch.

They are incredibly delicious and store well to gift to friends/neighbors for holidays — perfect for cookie exchanges!

If you love these Salted Caramel Cookies, I think you will also love these cookies: Salted Caramel Crunch Cookies, Soft Maple Sugar Cookies, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Cookies.

Salted Caramel Cookies with a bite taken out of one and more stacked on a cooling rack.

Salted Caramel Cookie Ingredients

These sugar cookies are a little unusual because they use both vegetable oil and butter in the cookie dough.

The combination makes an excellent soft, tender cookie. These cookies also hold their shape well enough to be filled with the salted caramel.

We use a mixture of light brown sugar and powdered sugar in this cookie recipe.

Brown sugar gives the salted caramel cookie base a great flavor, while the powdered sugar helps with the overall texture.

Salted Caramel Cookies with caramel being drizzled inside.

Salted Caramel filling with Flaked Sea Salt

Our filling for these cookies is very simple and made using store bought caramels, milk/cream and salt.

I have tried many different kinds of caramels over the years, and I personally prefer Werther’s Chewy Caramels over any other common store brands.

These easy Salted Caramel Cookies start with giant, bakery style, soft sugar cookies, filled with tons of chewy, salted caramel and topped with flaked sea salt! #SaltedCaramelCookies #SaltedCaramel #Cookies #Caramel #Dessert #CookieRecipes #CaramelRecipes

We melt them in a bowl with whole milk (you can also use heavy cream or half and half) and stir until smooth.

Then we add a healthy pinch of salt and quickly pour the salted caramel into each cookie.

Lastly, before the caramel starts to firm again, we sprinkle the tops with big flaked sea salt. 

Salted Caramel Cookie dough being pressed into shape with a measuring cup.

How to Shape Salted Caramel Cookies

To create the shape for the pools in the center of the cookies, I like to use the bottom of a small measuring cup.

We roll the Salted Caramel Cookie dough into a large ball, using two heaping tablespoons of dough.

Then set them on your prepared baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Grease the bottom of your small measuring cup, I use a 1/8th dry measuring cup, and press it into the center of the cookie dough as seen above in the photos.

Salted Caramel Cookies stacked on top of each other.

Can I make Salted Caramel Cookies ahead?

Yes! These Salted Caramel Cookies are an excellent make ahead cookie recipe that do not need to be refrigerated.

Once they are cooled, you can store them in an airtight container, on the counter, for up to a week.

They are best in the first few days, but stay delicious if you use the old school bread trick to keep baked goods fresh.

To keep these Salted Caramel Cookies moist, add a slice of bread to the airtight container. Replace the slice of bread every couple of days, as needed.

The cookies will use the moisture from the bread and the bread will become very stale, but the Salted Caramel Cookies will stay moist.

Salted Caramel Cookies on a metal cooling rack.

I just know you are going to love these epic Salted Caramel Cookies and I am excited for you to try them.

They are delicious any day, but they are great for a holiday cookie exchange or make an impression as a homemade gift.

Head on over to Dixie Crystals to get the full recipe I developed for them!

RECIPE: Salted Caramel Cookies

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36 Responses
  1. Becca

    Is the measurement of 10.5 oz for the caramel for one bag (as in it would be 21oz altogether) or for two bags combined?

    These look amazing and I can’t wait to make them!

  2. Jen

    I made these and they were delicious. My only problem was that I couldn’t stack them, they stuck to everything! Any tips on how store them in multiple layers or keep them from sticking to the gift boxes?

  3. Nancy

    Can you make these cookies smaller, one scoop of dough? Does the caramel really take 2 bags at 10.5oz each? Thank you. I’m looking forward to making them for Christmas.

    1. A woman holding a camera standing in front of some shelves.
      Jessica

      You can make them smaller if you choose! They will need less cooking time. And yes, they do take that much caramel if you fill them completely!

  4. Nicki

    Outstanding!  You don’t have ave today to be a master baker and these are excellent!    I made them for a cookie exchange. Admittedly, I did not use the caramel in this recipe, but rather used a six minute microwave recipe.  

  5. Helene

    I tried these last night and really enjoyed them. I had a different type of caramel and I am going to make them with the recommended type this weekend. Thanks for great recipe.

  6. STEPHANIE Pellicer

    These cookies are absolutely delicious! They are addicting. Cant have just one or two. Perfect blend is sweet and salty. I will be adding these to the top of my regular baking list of sweets. Thank you for sharing. :)

  7. Kim

    I tried to make  these for my church bazaar, very easy to make.  Only problem I put the cookies 
    On a plate and then a ziplock gallon sized bag.
    The caramel stuck to the bag.
    Make sure you put cookies in a container where the caramel won’t stick to.   

  8. Scarlet

    I just love salted caramel, by itself, or as an element to a dessert. I like how it is the real star in this cookie recipe and it is so pretty! Great cookies for an exchange or bake sale!

  9. Bethany

    I made these this morning and they turned out incredibly. I used homemade caramel but the cookie itself is delish!! Good job on this one

  10. Jacque Hastert

    The perfect combination of sweet and salty! I love the sweet from the caramel and the addition of sea salt really brings the combo together.

  11. Demeter

    Pretty sure all my friends are going to become my BEST friends after I make these cookies for them. They’re so good!

Welcome!

Jessica
I'm a trial & error, self taught, sugar addict who thankfully learned how to survive in the kitchen! I am also a wife, mama of 3.