Salted Caramel Cookies
Salted caramel cookies made with brown butter, vanilla bean paste and flaky salt….. Are you drooling yet? Salted caramel is one of my favourite flavour combinations, and so you know I had to create a cookie inspired by! This recipe makes 24 hearty cookies that re sure to be a crowd pleaser.
I love these salted caramel cookies because I think a good, bakery style cookie should be crispy on the outside with a soft, chewy centre. That’s my preference at least! And these cookies really are that. The caramel flavour of these cookies comes from the brownied butter – if you’ve had brown butter before then you know! Browning butter toasts the milk proteins in the butter and produces a rich, caramel flavour.
I do not typically create cookie recipes with a required fridge chill time because I think it is unrealistic – I make cookies because they are a quick, easy baked good that is typically ready in less than 30 minutes. However, once in a while I come across a cookie recipe that really, really needs that chill time, and these cookies are one of those more high maintenance types. The trick with these cookies however, and I do think this will make your life a little easier, is that I recommend spooning out the dough and creating your balls of cookie dough before putting them in the fridge. You know when your chill a cookie dough and then you wrestle with the dough to try to get it to form in to a ball when it is chilled solid? Well we are avoiding that with these! Form them in to your perfect shaped balls of cookie dough, stick them on a cookie sheet and in to the fridge for a minimum of a couple hours and up to a day. Remove them when are ready to bake and bake them right away, no need to taunt yourself with waiting for them to come back down to room temperature before baking!
My Baking Recommendation
I do not recommend products very often because I think that we can all make do with the essentials that we likely already have in our kitchens. With that said, let me share one of my favourite baking tools with you. I resisted buying a cookie dough scooper for many years because I don’t like to have tons of appliances or utensils in my kitchen and I convinced myself that a cookie dough scoop couldn’t do anything I couldn’t do. I was soooo wrong! Those perfectly round, equal sized cookies you see online all the time? We have cookie dough scoopers to thank! Any cookie dough scooper will do but I do recommend one that is about 2tbsp in size.
The Recipe
- 1 cup salted butter, browned on the stove top
- 2 eggs, room temp
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste (can sub extract)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt (for dough)
- 2 + 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp flaky salt for topping
Instructions
- Start by grabbing all of the required ingredients and set aside to ensure you are not missing anything.
- The first step of this recipe is to make the brown butter! To make brown butter you add 1 cup of salted butter to a sauce pan on medium heat on the stove. The butter will start to melt completely and then after 3-4 minutes on medium heat, stirring constantly, the butter will start to bubble. Continue to stir constantly and the bubbles will start to reside and you will notice a dark brown butter underneath! This process toasts the milk protein in the butter and creates a caramel-y flavour. Set this butter aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine cooled brown butter, sugar and eggs. Mix thoroughly until combined. Add the vanilla bean paste and give this one more good mix.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda and give this a quick whisk before gradually adding to the wet mixture. Add this to the wet mixture in 3-4 increments until well combined.
- Once the cookie dough is complete, scoop out your cookies using a 2 tbsp sized cookie scoop. Scoop out all of the cookie dough, making about 20-24 cookies, and place these all on a lined baking tray to chill for up to one hour or over night. The longer they have to chill the better – this will give you a crispy outer edge and a soft, chewy interior.
- Once your cookies have chilled for at least an hour it is time to bake! Bake them right out of the fridge, you don’t want to let them come back to room temperature.
- Bake 6-8 cookies on a parchment lined baking tray for 12-14 minutes at 350 degrees Celsius.
- As soon as you remove the cookies from the oven give them a light sprinkle with flaky salt and then let them cool before enjoying!
Salted Caramel Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter browned on the stove top
- 2 eggs room temp
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste can sub extract
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt for dough
- 2 + 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp flaky salt for topping
Instructions
- Start by grabbing all of the required ingredients and set aside to ensure you are not missing anything.
- The first step of this recipe is to make the brown butter! To make brown butter you add 1 cup of salted butter to a sauce pan on medium heat on the stove. The butter will start to melt completely and then after 3-4 minutes on medium heat, stirring constantly, the butter will start to bubble. Continue to stir constantly and the bubbles will start to reside and you will notice a dark brown butter underneath! This process toasts the milk protein in the butter and creates a caramel-y flavour. Set this butter aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine cooled brown butter, sugar and eggs. Mix thoroughly until combined. Add the vanilla bean paste and give this one more good mix.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda and give this a quick whisk before gradually adding to the wet mixture. Add this to the wet mixture in 3-4 increments until well combined.
- Once the cookie dough is complete, scoop out your cookies using a 2 tbsp sized cookie scoop. Scoop out all of the cookie dough, making about 20-24 cookies, and place these all on a lined baking tray to chill for up to one hour or over night. The longer they have to chill the better – this will give you a crispy outer edge and a soft, chewy interior.
- Once your cookies have chilled for at least an hour it is time to bake! Bake them right out of the fridge, you don’t want to let them come back to room temperature.
- Bake 6-8 cookies on a parchment lined baking tray for 12-14 minutes at 350 degrees Celsius.
- As soon as you remove the cookies from the oven give them a light sprinkle with flaky salt and then let them cool before enjoying!
I hope you love these cookies just as much as I do! If you do decide to make these, be sure to tag me on Instagram, I love to see your creations!