These Crispy Salted Caramel Cookies are crispy and buttery around the edges and filled with a sweet puddle of salted caramel in the middle. The trick to getting salted caramel cookies that are crispy without burning the caramel is to freeze the dough and bake directly from frozen.
There are a few tricks to making crispy cookies rather than soft and chewy cookies, like changing the proportions of some of the ingredients. If I am craving crispy cookies, I love to make these caramel cookies, or for a classic chocolate chip cookie, I make these Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies.
These Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies have crispy edges, but soft chewy centers and are loaded with chocolate chunks, and these Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Cookies are both sweet and salty. Or if you're craving lots of caramel, you can make a caramel mousse, like in this Salted Caramel and White Chocolate Mousse Cake.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
Crispy Cookies: These cookies are thin and crispy around the edges. Freezing the cookies and baking from frozen means that you still get a crispy cookie, without the caramel turning gummy or brittle.
For more on how to make crispy cookies, see my Guide to Crispy, Cakey, and Small Batch Cookies.
Pool of Caramel: Soft caramels are placed in the center of each cookie and melt into a puddle in the middle of the cookie when baked.
Ingredients
Below are the ingredients needed to make Crispy Salted Caramel Cookies.
- Butter: The butter should be softened. If you have not softened the butter ahead of time you can add the butter to the large mixing bowl and microwave at 20% power for 45 seconds. Flip the butter over and microwave for 30 seconds at 20% power, adding 30 seconds as needed until softened.
- Granulated Sugar: For crispier cookies, this recipe uses more granulated sugar than brown sugar.
- Brown Sugar: Adds a touch of color and flavor.
- Egg: Use one large egg.
- Vanilla Extract: Use real vanilla extract, not imitation vanilla. If you bake somewhat regularly consider buying a large bottle of vanilla extract from Costco, which may be more economical.
- Baking Soda: For leavening, only a small amount for crispier cookies.
- Salt: To balance and bring out flavor.
- Flour: Use unbleached all-purpose flour.
- Soft Caramel Candies: Be sure to buy soft caramel candies, not hard candies.
- Sea Salt Flakes: I use Maldon Sea Salt Flakes. A box can be expensive but it will last you a long time.
To learn more about these cookie ingredients, see my Guide to Cookie Ingredients.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Crispy Salted Caramel Cookies
Below are the step-by-step instructions for making Crispy Salted Caramel Cookies.
*Note: The recipe card with instructions, ingredient list, and quantities is included further below these step-by-step photos.
Step 1. Add the softened butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar to a large mixing bowl and combine. This can be done by hand or with a hand-held or stand mixer.
To learn more about the difference between mixing by hand or with a mixer see my Chocolate Chip Cookie Experiment which compared cookies made by hand vs. with a mixer.
Step 2. Add the egg yolk, vanilla, baking soda, and salt and combine.
Step 3. Add the flour and stir to combine. Shape the dough into balls using 2 tablespoons worth of dough.
Shape each caramel into a ball and place the caramels on the top of each cookie, pressing down slightly. Place each cookie on a plate or baking sheet lined with wax paper. Place in the freezer overnight or until frozen solid.
Step 4. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Keep the cookies in the freezer until the oven has fully preheated. Add the cookies, 8 to a cookie sheet, and bake for 10 minutes. Remove and immediately sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
Tips for Crispy Cookies
- The #1 trick for crispy salted caramel cookies is to freeze the dough with the caramels and bake directly from frozen. Freezing the dough makes the cookies crispy and prevents the caramel from getting over-baked, dry, gummy, or brittle.
- For crispier cookies use more granulated sugar and less brown sugar. This recipe calls for ⅔ cup granulated sugar and ¼ cup brown sugar.
- Using only a ¼ tsp baking soda prevents the dough from rising too much so that you get a thinner, crispier cookie.
Other Tips and Notes
- Makes 15 Cookies: This is not a huge batch of cookies, using only ½ cup butter and 1 egg and resulting in 15 cookies. The cookies themselves are a little bigger than a standard drop cookie, and 15 cookies go a long way. Feel free to double this if making it for a crowd.
- Use soft caramels: Be sure not to buy the hard suck-on candies, they won't melt.
- Maldon Sea Salt Flakes are expensive, but well worth it. A single box can last you over two years. It can be used for all sorts of things like on top of Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cafe Cookies and it's great lightly sprinkled on top of pizza, like our favorite Grandma Pie Pizza.
- Freezing the Dough: The dough doesn't have to be frozen overnight, just until it is frozen solid. Really frozen solid. If they are not frozen solid, they will not spread correctly and they will not be crispy. This will take more than a couple of hours. But if you make the dough in the morning, you could easily bake the cookies in the afternoon or evening.
For More Cookie Recipes:
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Crispy Salted Caramel Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 15 soft caramels
- Maldon Sea Salt Flakes
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl add the softened butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar and stir to combine. Add the egg and vanilla and combine. Add the baking soda and salt, stir to combine. Add the flour and stir until incorporated.
- Scoop approximately 2 tbsps of dough and shape it into a round ball. Flatten slightly. Shape a caramel into a round disk and place it on top of the cookie dough, pressing slightly.
- Place each one onto a piece of wax paper on a flat plate or a small cutting board. Cover in plastic wrap and freeze overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Place the cookies, about 8 at a time on a baking sheet and bake directly from frozen. This allows the edges to get crispy without the caramels getting over-baked.
- Bake for 10-11 minutes.
- Remove and immediately sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
Notes
- For Crispy Cookies:
- The #1 trick for crispy salted caramel cookies is to freeze the dough with the caramels and bake directly from frozen. Freezing the dough makes the cookies crispy and prevents the caramel from getting over-baked, dry, gummy, or brittle.
- For crispier cookies use more granulated sugar and less brown sugar. This recipe calls for ⅔ cup granulated sugar and ¼ cup brown sugar.
- Using only a ¼ tsp baking soda prevents the dough from rising too much so that you get a thinner, crispier cookie
- Makes 15 Cookies: This is not a huge batch of cookies, using only ½ cup butter and 1 egg and resulting in 15 cookies. The cookies themselves are a little bigger than a standard drop cookie, and 15 cookies go a long way. Feel free to double this if making it for a crowd.
- Use soft caramels: Be sure not to buy the hard suck-on candies, they won't melt.
- Maldon Sea Salt Flakes are expensive, but well worth it. A single box can last you over two years. It can be used for all sorts of things like on top of Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cafe Cookies and it's great lightly sprinkled on top of pizza, like our favorite Grandma Pie Pizza.
- Freezing the Dough: The dough doesn't have to be frozen overnight, just until it is frozen solid. Really frozen solid. If they are not frozen solid, they will not spread correctly and they will not be crispy. This will take more than a couple of hours. But if you make the dough in the morning, you could easily bake the cookies in the afternoon or evening.
Iris says
Didn't come out too good. Very runny even after freezing
Lauren says
I'm sorry that they didn't come out well, but I very much appreciate the feedback. While I have made these salted caramel cookies many times, I will take another look at the recipe to see if anything needs to be clarified or changed.