Salted Caramel Cookies

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 9 minutes
Total Time 24 minutes
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These quick and easy Salted Caramel Cookies are flavor perfection! Giant, bakery style, sweet sugar cookies are filled with chewy salted caramel and topped with sparkly flaky sea salt. These cookies are great for a Christmas cookie exchange or make a great impression as a homemade gift.

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. 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.

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 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.

Salted Caramel Cookies | Tasty Twist on Christmas Sugar Cookies
5 from 2 votes
Print Pin Recipe
Yield: 18 large cookies

Salted Caramel Cookies

These quick and easy Salted Caramel Cookies are flavor perfection! Giant, bakery style, sweet sugar cookies are filled with chewy salted caramel and topped with sparkly flaky sea salt. These cookies are great for a holiday cookie exchange or make a great impression as a homemade gift.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time9 minutes
Total Time24 minutes

Ingredients

Salted Caramel Filling

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar, set aside.
  • In a larger bowl, beat butter, oil, brown sugar, and powdered sugar until smooth. Add egg, milk and vanilla, beating until well combined.
  • Gradually add dry ingredients into wet ingredients, beating until just combined.
  • Using your hands, roll two heaping tablespoons of dough to create large golf ball side dough ball.
  • Place on prepared cookie sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies. Using a small buttered measuring cup (I use a 1/8 cup measuring cup), gently press in the center of the cookie to create an indent in the center.
  • Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. The cookies will not look cooked all the way, they will stay very light in color, but they are done.
  • Remove from oven and let cookies rest on baking sheet for 5 minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
  • Caramel Filling: In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave caramels and milk for 30 seconds and stir. Continue microwaving in 15-second intervals until completely melted. Add in salt, stir well.
  • Pour or drizzle the caramel into the indents in the cooled cookies. Sprinkle the tops with flaky sea salt before caramel begins to harden.
  • Allow caramel to re-harden before moving cookies. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 1 cookie, Calories: 211kcal, Carbohydrates: 28g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 10g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 25mg, Sodium: 347mg, Potassium: 51mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 12g, Vitamin A: 184IU, Vitamin C: 0.001mg, Calcium: 17mg, Iron: 1mg

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Jessica
For the past 15 years, Jorge & Jessica have loved getting to share their families' favorite recipes with all of you. They live in Florida with their 3 kids.