Salted Caramel & White Chocolate Cookies
Sophisticated, sweet, and scrumptious, my Salted Caramel & White Chocolate Cookies are a showstopping treat that you will be proud to make for your friends, family, or just yourself!
The cookies are drizzled with a decadent caramel sauce that elevates the cookies to a whole new level! Get the recipe for my Easy Caramel Sauce right here!
The cookies are finished with a sprinkling of sea salt. There is a good reason why we often salt caramel. The sweetness of the caramel is balanced by the saltiness of the salt. Also, salt is a flavor enhancer in the culinary world, so the addition of salt on top of these cookies brings out all the delicious flavors of the cookie itself, white chocolate, and caramel.
I chose to use white chocolate in this recipe because its creaminess pairs well with the caramel since there is cream in the caramel sauce. Although semi-sweet and dark chocolate go well with caramel, they are stronger flavors, and I wanted more harmonious flavors rather than competing ones.
As with all my recipes, I use the scientific method to carefully craft them to ensure you get deliciously perfect results every time.
After my first bite of these cookies, I let out a big, “Wow!” I think you will too, so I hope you try this recipe!
Happy Baking!
Ingredients
2 sticks (226 grams or 1 cup) of unsalted butter
2 large eggs
200 grams (1 cup) of white granulated sugar
104 grams (1/2 cup, packed) of light brown sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract
320 (2 1/2 cups) of all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
298 grams (1 3/4 cups) of white chocolate chips
Caramel sauce (Click here for my Easy Caramel Sauce)
Sea salt for sprinkling
Yields 24 cookies
Instructions
Make the caramel sauce. It’s good to make the caramel sauce first, so that it has time to cool and set up to the correct consistency. You can even make it days in advance and keep it refrigerated in an airtight glass container. Click here to get my Easy Caramel Sauce recipe!
Let all ingredients come to room temperature. Cut the butter into small pieces to help it come to room temperature.
Geeky Tip: Ingredients that are all the same temperature incorporate more easily and fully.
Beat the butter until it has a smooth appearance. About 1 minute on medium-high speed.
Geeky Tip: This helps to work some air into the butter that will aid the rise later, and it makes it easier for the sugar to cut into the butter.
Scrape down the bowl.
Add the white sugar into the butter, and cream together until lighter in color and fluffy. About 2-3 minutes on medium-high speed.
Scrape down the bowl.
Geeky Tip: Adding the white sugar before the light brown sugar produces a better result and makes it easier for the white sugar crystals to cut into the butter to create small air pockets that will help generate the rise later.
Add the brown sugar, and cream together until fully incorporated. About 1 minute on medium-high speed.
Geeky Tip: If the brown sugar is packed, break it up with a fork to help it incorporate better.
Scrape down the bowl.
Beat in the eggs until they are incorporated. Occasionally, scrape down the bowl.
Mix in the pure vanilla extract.
Fully whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Geeky Tip: Whisking together all the dry ingredients ensures a homogenous mixture, and it breaks up any clumps in the flour. Also, make sure to keep flour in an airtight container in a cool, dry place to maintain freshness and prevent spoilage.
Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients by thirds, and mix until just incorporated. Don’t overmix.
Geeky Tip: Overmixing will build up the gluten and protein structure in the dough and lead to a tougher and denser cookie.
Gently fold the white chocolate chips into the dough until evenly distributed.
Cover the bowl of dough with plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Geeky Tip: Oven temperatures vary wildly, so get an oven thermometer. When my oven “beeps” to indicate pre-heating is done, it is usually 50-75 degrees below the target temperature. An oven thermometer is the best $5 baking investment you can make!
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
Geeky Tip: I highly recommend using a light-colored aluminum baking sheet. Baking sheets that are dark will conduct more heat and may burn whatever is on them. Just think of wearing a black shirt versus a white shirt on a hot sunny day. Old baking sheets that have dark spots may heat unevenly.
Take the dough out of the refrigerator. Using a #30 cookie scoop (2 tablespoons), make scoops of dough, and evenly space them 2 inches apart on the sheet.
Bake on the oven’s center rack at 350 degrees F. for 12-14 minutes. After baking, place the sheet on a wire rack to cool.
When the cookies have cooled to room temperature, drizzle the caramel sauce over them. Then, sprinkle sea salt on the cookies.
Enjoy!
Storage
To store the cookies, put them in an airtight container with a slice of fresh plain bread. The bread helps to keep the cookies from going stale. They can be stored at room temperature for 3-5 days. They can be frozen for up to 6 months.
Salted Caramel & White Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 sticks (226 grams or 1 cup) of unsalted butter
- 2 large eggs
- 200 grams (1 cup) of white granulated sugar
- 104 grams (1/2 cup, packed) of light brown sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract
- 320 (2 1/2 cups) of all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons of baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 298 grams (1 3/4 cups) of white chocolate chips
- Caramel sauce (Click here for my Easy Caramel Sauce)
- Sea salt for sprinkling
Instructions
- Make the caramel sauce. It’s good to make the caramel sauce first, so that it has time to cool and set up to the correct consistency. You can even make it days in advance and keep it refrigerated in an airtight glass container. Click here to get my Easy Caramel Sauce recipe!
- Let all ingredients come to room temperature. Cut the butter into small pieces to help it come to room temperature.
- Beat the butter until it has a smooth appearance. About 1 minute on medium-high speed. Scrape down the bowl.
- Add the white sugar into the butter, and cream together until lighter in color and fluffy. About 2-3 minutes on medium-high speed. Scrape down the bowl.
- Add the brown sugar, and cream together until fully incorporated. About 1 minute on medium-high speed. Scrape down the bowl.
- Beat in the eggs until they are incorporated. Occasionally, scrape down the bowl.
- Mix in the pure vanilla extract.
- Fully whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients by halves, and mix until just incorporated. Don’t overmix.
- Gently fold the white chocolate chips into the dough until evenly distributed.
- Cover the bowl of dough with plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- Take the dough out of the refrigerator. Using a #30 cookie scoop (2 tablespoons), make scoops of dough, and evenly space them 2 inches apart on the sheet.
- Bake on the oven’s center rack for 12-14 minutes. After baking, place the sheet on a wire rack to cool.
- When the cookies have cooled to room temperature, drizzle the caramel sauce over them. Then, sprinkle sea salt on the cookies.
Notes
To store the cookies, put them in an airtight container with a slice of fresh plain bread. The bread helps to keep the cookies from going stale. They can be stored at room temperature for 3 to 5 days. They can be frozen for up to 6 months.