Monday, February 25, 2019

Salted Caramel Chocolate Cookies



  Ok, I know I've said this before, but I have to say it again. I've never met a salted caramel ANYTHING that I didn't like. There's just simply nothing better than the combination of salty and sweet that you get from the simple addition of salt to a rich creamy gooey caramel. So when I was looking for chocolate desserts and happened to find this one on a blog called Gimme Some Oven, I knew I had to try it. (Full disclosure, I love that name and I wish I had thought of it! haha)
 These cookies taste as rich and delicious as a gooey caramel brownie. And that little pinch of salt over the top just sets everything off in the most perfect way. Enjoy them with a tall glass of ice-cold milk, and you'll be living your best life. I'm not even kidding. Bake up a batch or two, and I PROMISE you'll be a hit!



1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (or dark chocolate cocoa powder)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (11 oz.) bag Kraft caramel bits
1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
coarse sea salt



Preheat oven to 350ºF.
In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir into the butter mixture until well blended. Mix in the caramel bits and chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets. Press each cookie down slightly to flatten, then sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or just until set. Cool slightly on the cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.



Tips:
Very often when baking cookies or a cake, the first step is to beat the butter and sugar together. I always make sure to let it go for much longer than you'd think, just so that it really comes together to make a creamy texture. It's been my experience that letting it go for at least 5 minutes is a complete game changer in all of my baking!
Instead of greasing the cookie sheet, I just lined it with a sheet of parchment paper. It's seriously a cookie baker's best friend. And you don't have to use a new piece every time you go into the oven. You can reuse a sheet many times!
Oh, one other thing...I didn't press mine down to flatten before baking as the recipe directs. TBH, every time I bake cookies they wind up being a little on the flat side, so I was happy that these came out perfectly just by dropping them with a cookie scooper.