Brown Butter Salted Caramel Chocolate Chunk Cookies. Regular pantry staples are elevated to another level to give this cookie a 'fancy with only a little more effort' vibe. Brown butter is stirred in with toasty muscovado sugar to form a perfect cookie dough, and then hard caramel shards and chocolate chunks are folded in to give the perfect amount of chocolate and caramel per bite. Finished with flaky sea salt, this is a super easy yet satisfying baking recipe.
Brown Butter Salted Caramel Cookies
Earlier this year, I spent a long time recipe testing to come up with what I consider to be my perfect chocolate chip cookie. I took a couple of different ‘fomocookie’ recipes, took what I liked from each, then tweaked and tweaked and tweaked until I found something that I considered to be perfect.
I have since learnt, that while that one recipe IS perfect (to me, anyway), there are a whole bunch of iterations of chocolate chip cookie recipes that are also perfect. Changing up the fats used (such as subbing olive oil for olive oil chocolate chip cookies), adding mix-ins such as peanut butter cups, Nutella chunks, or mini eggs, and browning the butter, along with playing around with the egg, sugar, flour and leavening agent ratios, all can give you variations on a perfect cookie.
And today, I learnt that browning the butter, and stirring in chunks of salted caramel into a chocolate chunk filled cookie mixture, also yield a very, very perfect cookie.
Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
When I was making this cookie, I wanted something elevated, and a little fancy, but not something that required crazy ingredients that would leave you with a nearly full bag of something obscure in your cupboard for the next year - the kind of fancy you could achieve with pantry staples. Like when you wear jeans around the house instead of yoga pants kind of fancy. You’ve made a little effort, but didn’t have to go out of your way to achieve it. Just me? Thought so.
I achieved this little bit of fancy by taking ingredients that are already in cookies, and elevating them slightly. I browned the butter, which adds a beautiful toasty note to the cookies, and complimented it with muscovado sugar in the dough. I then made a quick hard caramel, let it set, then bashed it up into chunks.
The caramel chunks were stirred through the mixture, along with some dark chocolate chunks. The caramel is the ultimate bestie for the chocolate chunks - it is chewy and crunchy, adding texture alongside the smooth taste of the chocolate.
These cookies really don’t take a huge amount of extra work, but the few extra steps really do make a huge difference. I also did a bunch of tests and found that the dough can be baked off without a resting period, which means cookies in an instant. The best.
A few wee tips for Brown Butter Salted Caramel Cookies
- I have posted the recipe here in grams because that is how I tested it - lots of people don’t realise, but as little as 50g of flour makes a huge amount of difference when it comes to the texture of your cookie, so weighing your ingredients removes the margin of error that comes with measuring by volume. That, and there are far less dishes to do! I would rather you spend $10 on a scale than on ingredients for a cookie that didn’t work out because you didn’t measure your ingredients properly.
- Don’t be intimidated by the extra steps of browning the butter and making the caramel. They don’t add a huge amount more time, and you can make the caramel while the brown butter cools!
- I like to chop my chocolate so that you have both shards and chunks. You can also use a baking bar here and chop it roughly using a sharp knife.
Why are there two quantities of butter in the recipe?
You will see that there are two different weights of butter called for in the recipe - the starting weight of 225g, and the 175g of brown butter called for in the recipe. When you brown butter you cook off the water, so the starting weight and ending weight are different. The initial quantity of butter accounts for this moisture loss. Measure out 175g of the brown butter to use for your cookie recipe.
How do you store salted caramel cookies?
Store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days. I like to re warm mine slightly before serving or serve with a scoop of ice cream!
Can this cookie dough be frozen?
Because of the caramel in the recipe, this cookie dough does not freeze well. The caramel will go super weird and weepy. You are better off baking them all at once. Alternatively, my egg yolk chocolate chip cookie recipe is smaller batch and also has the caramel!
For more cookie recipes, check out:
- My Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie
- Brown Butter Salted Caramel Chocolate Ganache Tart
- Small Batch Double Chocolate, Olive Oil and Rye Cookies
- Brown Butter Spelt Chocolate Chip Cookies
Made this recipe and love it?
If you made this recipe then I would LOVE for you to leave me a review below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram if you make it!
A note on salt and oven temperature
It is important to note the type of salt that is called for in a recipe. I use Diamond Crystal salt throughout my recipes - if you use a different sort of kosher salt or regular table salt you will need to adjust accordingly as some salt is 'saltier' than others. Morton's salt is twice as salty, so you will need half the quantity. Same goes for a regular table salt. I am working to get gram measurements throughout my recipes for salt but still getting there.
All oven temperatures are conventional unless otherwise stated. If you are baking on fan / convection, you will need to adjust the temperature. An oven thermometer is a great investment to ensure that your oven is the correct temperature.
Using the double / triple function in the recipe card
You will notice that there is a '1X' '2X' '3X' button in my recipe card. This can be used for doubling or tripling a recipe. However, please note that this only doubles the ingredient quantities in the ingredients list and NOT in the method. If there are quantities or pan sizes in the method of the recipe (for example weigh out 150g brown butter), you will need to scale this number manually. It will also not change the baking time in the recipe so you will need to adjust this yourself too. It is always a good idea to read through a recipe fully before doubling it just to check this. If you would like to scale this recipe or convert for another pan size, use my calculator!
Tools and equipment
For a list of my go-to tools and equipment, I have a post you can refer to here.
Why is this recipe in grams?
I post my recipes in grams as it is the most accurate way to bake. Cups are not only inaccurate but they vary in volume worldwide. There is no way for me to provide one cup measure that works for everyone. However, posting in weight fixes this issue. If you would like the recipe in cups you are welcome to convert it yourself via google, but please do not ask me to do it for you as I am not comfortable providing a recipe using a method that I have not tested. Baking with a scale is easy, accurate, and also makes cleanup super simple. Here is the scale that I use if you would like a recommendation! Here's to accurate baking!
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Brown Butter Salted Caramel Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 30 cookies 1x
- Category: cookies
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: american
Description
Brown Butter Salted Caramel Chocolate Chunk Cookies. Regular pantry staples are elevated to another level to give this cookie a 'fancy with only a little more effort' vibe. Brown butter is stirred in with toasty muscovado sugar to form a perfect cookie dough, and then hard caramel shards and chocolate chunks are folded in to give the perfect amount of chocolate and caramel per bite. Finished with flaky sea salt, this is a super easy yet satisfying baking recipe.
Ingredients
- 225g unsalted butter, straight from the fridge
- 200g granulated sugar (for the caramel)
- 150g muscovado sugar
- 60g dark brown sugar
- 100g granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 330g all-purpose flour
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 255g good quality dark chocolate, chopped
- Flaky Sea Salt for Finishing
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350˚f / 180˚c. Line 3-4 baking trays with parchment paper.
- Make the Brown Butter. Place the butter in a medium saucepan, and place over medium heat. Cook until the butter has melted, and then continue to cook, swirling the pan often, until the butter foams and turns golden brown and nutty - this should take 3-4 minutes. Measure out 175g of the brown butter into the bowl of a stand mixer. Allow to cool slightly.
- Make the caramel. Place the 200g granulated sugar into a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Place a silicone mat on a heat resistant surface (I use my counter) or onto a baking tray, and have nearby. Place the sugar in a medium saucepan, and place over medium heat. Heat the sugar, stirring occasionally with a whisk, until all of the sugar has melted (the sugar will clump as you heat, but continue to stir - it will soon smooth out). Continue to cook the caramel until it is amber in colour and just beginning to smoke slightly. Immediately pour onto the prepared silicone mat, and leave to cool while you prepare the cookie dough.
- Make the cookie dough. Place the bowl with the brown butter onto the mixer, and fit with the paddle attachment. Mix the brown butter, muscovado sugar, dark brown sugar, and second measure of granulated sugar on medium speed until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla, then increase the mixer speed to high and beat for 2-3 minutes, until the mixture has lightened in colour and thickened.
- Add the Dry Ingredients. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer off, add to the mixing bowl, then mix on low until just combined. Remove the bowl from the mixer and finish the incorporation of the dry ingredients by hand if needed - scrape down the bowl and ensure that all the mixture at the bottom of the bowl is fully incorporated.
- Add the chocolate and caramel. Add the chopped chocolate to the bowl. Carefully peel the caramel sheet off the silicone mat, and place onto the chopping board. Using a sharp knife, cut into chunks ½” to ¾” or smaller in size - there will be some small shards, and larger pieces. Use caution as the shards will be sharp. Add the caramel shards to the bowl along with the chocolate, and mix briefly to combine.
- Scoop the cookies. Using a two tablespoon scoop, place level scoop fulls of dough onto the prepared baking trays - 8 per tray works well for me, but I like to start with 6 just to make sure there will be enough space. Roll each into a ball and arrange on the trays, leaving ample room for spreading.
- Bake the cookies. Bake the trays one at a time for 11-12 minutes, or until the cookies are puffed up and set around the edges. Remember that they will continue to cook a little once you remove them from the oven. If the cookies have lost their round shape a little in the oven due to the caramel, you can use a round cookie cutter slightly larger than the cookie to nudge it back into a circular shape. Sprinkle each cookie with coarse sea salt, then cool on the tray for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Repeat the baking process with the remaining cookies. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.
Notes
Please note that if you use the 2x button to double the recipe, this only doubles the ingredients list and not the quantities within the method, so you need to weigh out 350g brown butter to use in your cookies.
Keywords: salted caramel, chocolate chip cookie, hard caramel, chocolate chunk cookie, brown butter
Comments
These cookies take some time but they are REALLY good. I did not have muscovado sugar, so I used brown sugar and 3/4 tbs of Blackstrap molasses. I also do not have a kitchen scale (yet!) so I converted the quantities and it still turned out great! They taste like they are from an upscale bakery!
★★★★★
Hiiiii! I am so glad that you loved them! My fave brand of scale is Escali if you needed a recommendation! Thank you so much for the review xx
I am now ruined for all other cookies. These are so tasty and chewy and easy. Some people get put off by the many steps of browning butter and making caramel, but they are so simple to do! I can't find muscovado sugar near me, so I used brown and dark drown sugar and that still super delicious. I will find a propper baking store and get some one day and see the difference.
★★★★★
Ahhh I love this! Dark brown sugar works great in them! 🙂
*update* I have baked these about a dozen times now and everytime get great reviews, but I just got the best one yet. Someone told me they were the best cookie they had ever tried. They loved the way the carmel intercted with the rest of the cookie and they were phenomenal. So thank you Erin for shring such an amazing recipe!
If you have not made these cookies, do it. You will, not regret it! They are now one of my favorite cookies! I added a little bit of espresso powder to my browned butter and it just woke up the cookie as a whole. Very delicate and scrumptious. I will definitely recommend this recipe! Thank you!
★★★★★
Hi! Yayyyy so happy you love! Espresso powder and brown butter are truly best friends - I discovered it after I developed this recipe so I am so happy you added some! Just so, so good! Thank you for the lovely review!
I'm a pretty experienced baker and I haven't has issues with caramel in the past, but this burnt on me long before the sugar was even melted. I wish there has been more specific instructions for that section, because everything was shaping up so nicely.
★★★
Hi! So sorry it didn't work out for you - sometimes if your heat is too high then it will burn but the process is the same for making any dry caramel! I can update the instructions though to make sure this doesn't happen again - which part wasn't specific enough for you?
I’m also confused by the caramel. Do you literally only cook sugar? No water or solvent? And what heat? Medium? Low?
Hi, it's a dry caramel so no water needed. You just cook down the sugar. The recipe says to place over medium heat 🙂
These cookies take some time to make, but they are REALLY good and very rich. I did not have a kitchen scale (I need one), and it still came out great with online conversions and some eyeballing. I also did not have muscovado sugar, so I used brown sugar and blackstrap molasses. I am excited to try out some other recipes from here!
★★★★★
Question I couldn’t find the moscuvado sugar, I have molasses do I just use the molasses and brown sugar or extra brown sugar and molasses.
Thanks so much
Going to make for thanksgiving
Hi! Just more brown sugar is fine! don't add any molasses 🙂
I bought muscovado sugar from Amazon. I’ve not made these yet, but so glad I have all the ingredients!
Yayyyy you're going to love!
This is a 5-star cookie. I took my time and substituted light brown sugar for muscavado. The only change I made to this recipe, aside from the sugar, is that I pressed dark choc chips after baking. Just makes them look yummier! Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe👍
★★★★★
Yay thank you so much for the review!
My go-to cookie recipe! Just so deliciously chewy and salty and chocolatey 😍
★★★★★
Yayyyy! 🙂
Hi Erin!
This recipe calls for 225g of butter, but you say to only put 175g in the mixing bowl - what do I do with the remaining 50g? Can’t find any instructions in the recipe, but might have missed something!
Hi! When you brown butter, you lose some of it as you are cooking off the water in the butter. So you start with 225g butter, then you end up with about 175g Brown butter to use in the recipe. The inital butter quantity in the recipe accounts for that loss in volume when browning. I hope that makes sense!
Just checked the post and I cover this in the notes section of the recipe too 🙂
Hi Erin. I am making dough ahead of time. Would it be possible to make dough, scoop the balls and freeze with this dough or does that get tricky with the caramel?
Thanks,
Hi! I haven't tried it but I thiiiiink it should be ok? 🙂
I've tried it, works great! I flatten the scoops slightly so I can just bake them from frozen, they take about a minute or two longer.
Yayyy thank you so much! This is so helpful!
These cookies are fantastic. Flagging this now so I remember next time, but I think I'll test out light muscovado sugar instead of dark to lighten the appearance of the cookie. Mine came out much darker, I think this was why. I made a quick decision between the two at the market, but will know for next time. I loved receiving your email newsletter--I left Instagram earlier this year to get away from it all, so I appreciate seeing your recipes in my inbox! I hope Pocket is well 🙂
★★★★★
Hiii! Yay yes! You could use dark brown sugar too if you wanted - it's basically a more chill version of muscovado! So glad you love the emails! x
I thought toffee should be made with butter and light brown sugar.This looks marvellous made with just granulated sugar ... can you please explain ?
Hi, toffee generally is made with butter and sugar. This is a hard caramel not a toffee so the recipe is a bit different 🙂
These are my FAVORITE cookies! I make a huge batch all the time and freeze them. My husband and I eat a few whenever we want something sweet, I give them to friends, I make a bunch to take to my family... they are always a hit. I love that the recipe is in grams - I like to get things exact and measuring in weight makes a difference! I learned a lot from the notes as well. Thanks Erin for this wonderful recipe, and all the time and effort you put into creating it and sharing it.
★★★★★
Aw yayyyy we love them too! There's a brown butter small batch situation coming this way very soon too! x
hi! super excited to try these out... i have a few questions!
it’s my first time making caramel and i was wondering roughly how long the sugar should be on the heat! i don’t want to burn anything! also wondering if i should use chocolate chunks or a chopped bar? thanks so much!!
NEW FAVORITE COOKIES!! thank you so much for sharing this recipe! it’s absolutely amazing! these were so delicious!! the caramel & brown butter really made them next level! your detailed instructions were so helpful! i will definitely be making them again soon!!
★★★★★
These cookies are delicious!!!!! such an amazing base that would work well with so many different mix-ins. Breaking the caramel was satisfying, it looked like abstract art at the end aha. Family and friends enjoyed them, I will definitely be making them again!
★★★★★
Yay so happy you loved them! Thank you so much for the lovely review!
Hello! Do you have any recommendations to make these at high altitude? Currently, in Quito, Ecuador at 9350ft in elevation. Thanks!
Hi! I don’t have any experience with high altitude sorry!
I have a question on the caramel. Can you suggest a temperature target? Perhaps describing the desired consistency would be good. From your comments, it looks like you want a hard crack to mix in the dough but I would like to check. My experience with caramel is that I come out too soft or too strong a burnt flavor if I do not use a thermometer.
Hi, it is a hard caramel so provided all the sugar is melted it will be fine. I give a colour guide in the recipe. The quantity is too small to use a thermometer as the probe would have to be too close to the pan base and would give an inaccurate reading. It’s just melted sugar so provided it’s all melted you are going to be fine 🙂
Hi Erin! May I know if I could substitute the eggs in the recipe? Thanks! 🙂
★★★★
Hi there - I don't know sorry as I haven't tried it. Just a note on star ratings - they really affect how my recipes show up in google so I would appreciate if you didn't leave a star rating on my recipe and just asked the question instead if you are planning on marking it down. Thanks so much!
Hey how long do these cookies last for?
★★★★★
A few days stored in an airtight container!
I love brown butter!
★★★★★
We made these cookies and they turned out absolutely amazing! We also stored some in the freezer to save for later, which also turned out just as good when baked! Loved the video and extra recipe tips too. Thanks Erin!
★★★★★
Yay of course!
100% worth the effort. The browned butter and caramel shards were so flipping good.
★★★★★
Hello! Will the dry caramel melt inside the cookie? Can I use soft caramel instead? How many grams should I add?
Hi! Yep it sort of melts! I'm not sure about that sorry as I haven't tried
Hi, just made these cookies and omg they are soooo good! Absolutely delish!!! Fantastic instructions, the extra steps to brown the butter and make the caramel are so easy and definitely worth it. Thank you so much 😀
We loved the flavours of these cookies (brown butter makes everything good), but the caramel shards threw the texture off for us. I even made them half the size the recipe called for. I think next time, I'll make them small again, and maybe do 1.5x the dough so we get a better ratio for our taste. I'm also going to add a bit of espresso powder, like one of the other reviews suggested. Definitely worth the extra effort to make these vs normal chocolate chip cookies
★★★★
I’ve made a few of Erin’s chocolate chip cookie recipes but these are my new favourite - don’t be scared of caramel, it’s all about patience and most certainly worth it!
★★★★★
These cookies are next-level fancy, and very tasty! I got a lovely wee blister making the caramel (oops!) but it was worth it.
★★★★★
These turned out so well! I didn't have the special sugar so just used regular and it was delicious! They were chewy, sweet, with just the right amount of salt on top to off set it.
★★★★★
Ah yay I am so happy to hear you loved !
Hi
May i use milk instead of eggs as i am allergic. I.e. 102-104 ml of milk that replaces the egg measure?
Hi! No please don't use milk, you may be able to use another egg replacer but I haven't tested it sorry
Could you press this into a cookie sheet for a cookie cake? Or would I need to double the recipe? Thanks!
I haven’t tried it sorry so I’m not too sure what sized pan 🙂
Do you have a preference for dark or light muscovado sugar in these cookies?
Nope, both are great, just depends on what flavour you are after!
Oommmgg, these are honestly my family's favorite cookies I've ever made! I make the single batch but use the 1 tbs scoop and get loads of cookies. I live in Germany and struggle to find muscovado sugar, so I just used light brown for both quantities and they were still amazing 👏
★★★★★
So happy to hear!
I just made these and they taste really good but my caramel is still crunchy.. like it didn’t melt. Did I do something wrong?
Hi! No it's a hard caramel - mine melts a little but the chunks are still there! You could have maybe made it a little thick when pouring it out?
These are probably my all time favourite cookie! So yummy! I love that all of your recipes are in grams - it guarantees that things turn out perfectly every time!
★★★★★
Excellent recipe and make perfect cookies! You give such great direction in your method. I have made this recipe 4 times and they have worked so well each time. Thanks Erin 🙂
PS this is one of the most delicious cookie doughs I have ever eaten NOM NOM
★★★★★
So happy you loved them - this is a fave recipe of mine!
I don't think I've EVER made a cookie that people love as much as this one. These are perfection. Once you get used to the extra couple of steps at the start it really doesn't take that long and it makes ALL the difference. I have friends that ask if I have any of these in the freezer on a regular basis, they are addicted.
★★★★★
This will forever be my go-to cookie recipe, I can’t even remember how many times I’ve made these now, they’re THAT good. I usually make them slightly smaller and cook them for slightly less time.
★★★★★
I'm not the biggest fan of caramel but for these cookies I can make an exception! They are very good!
★★★★★
Have made these cookies literally 100 times! A personal, family and friend favorite. Highly recommend.
★★★★★
Hi, I don't have a silicone mat, is there something else I can pour the caramel on to after heating it?
Hi! Yep parchment paper works great!
These look delicious! Does the recipe only make 2 cookies? Also will the caramel get hard if they are not fresh when served?
Hi! No the yield in the recipe is 30 cookies. The caramel does get a little hard!
Soooo good! I immediately froze the cookies portioned out and baked them as needed straight from the freezer. Came out perfect at same temp listed with a minute or two more for bake time. Never made caramel before and was a bit nervous but it came out pretty decent anyway. There were still some lumps of sugar that didn’t dissolve when it got to the right amber color so I left it at that and you can’t tell in the end result at all.
★★★★★
Loved the rich flavour and the crunchy caramel shards in this, super easy recipe to follow too!
★★★★★
Thank you for creating this delicious recipe! The cookies are soooo scrumptious and indulgent. I will definitely be making these to impress my friends or to gift.
Although I was intimidated at first, I enjoyed learning how to make brown butter and hard caramel. In steps 4-5 you repeat the instruction to place the pot with the sugar on the stove; this confused me.
My dough was initially very sticky (I.e. not possible to roll into balls) so I added approx 1/3 cup flour. I am not sure why, as I measured everything exactly, but this worked perfectly.
I used brown sugar + dark instead of the Muscavado sugar.
I have frozen half of the dough for future use.
All in all a lovely recipe! Thank you ☺️
★★★★★
I’ve made these cookies twice and they are gonna be my go-to from now on. They take a good amount of time to make but they are seriously so good, everyone I’ve made them for loves them!
★★★★★
hi there,
these look incredible. can’t wait to
make!! question: could i chill the dough overnight or should they be baked straight after making the dough?
Hi! No they don't have a chill time so you can put them straight in the oven 🙂
Love this recipe! Perfect combination of crunchy/chewy/soft.
The second time making the cookies I added 1tbs espresso powder to the browned butter but it did make the cookies bitter rather than compliment and enhance the chocolate flavour as I was expecting. Can you please advise how much espresso powder you would recommend? Thanks so much 🙂
★★★★★
Hi! Ah yes that's quite a lot, I would do no more than a teaspoon
LOOK NO FURTHER for *THE* perfect cookie 🤩 They’re the perfect combo of soft and crispy. Saved to my phone and I won’t even bother w another cookie recipe if this flavor in the future. 👏🏼 👏🏼 👏🏼
If the homemade caramel detours you, they’ll still be the best cookie ever w Werther's Original Chewy Caramels cut into thirds.
★★★★★