Salted Caramel-Stuffed White Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

Get ready to indulge in these decadent and delicious salted caramel-stuffed white chocolate chip cookies that are sure to impress your family, friends, and party guests. The salted caramel balances out the sweetness of the white chocolate, and the soft and chewy texture is the perfect combination. You can enjoy them while still warm and gooey, with the caramel center oozing out with each bite, or let them cool and firm up, making them chewy and even softer the longer they sit. White chocolate and caramel are such a wonderful combination, but make sure to use good quality white chocolate as it creates one of the main flavor profiles in this recipe.

Recipe developer Milena Manolova shows you how easy it is to make homemade caramel. All you need is a food thermometer to achieve the desired caramel consistency. Plus, you can adjust the level of saltiness, so those who really love salted caramel can go overboard if they so please. If you want, you can make a double batch of homemade caramel, using some of it to make something like chocolate-covered salted caramels or caramel candies. If you prefer to use store-bought chewy caramel candies, you definitely can as well to make the whole process a little bit easier.

The ingredients you need to make the caramel are heavy cream, butter, granulated sugar, honey, vanilla extract, and salt. To make the batter for the cookies, you need all-purpose flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, butter, granulated sugar, honey, vanilla extract, and white chocolate. 

To make the caramel, in a saucepan, combine heavy cream and butter. Cook until the butter is melted, about a minute.

Add sugar and honey. Stir often and cook until the mixture reaches 245 F, which should take 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove from the heat. While stirring, add vanilla and salt.

Transfer to a 12x8 inch (or 8x8-inch works too) parchment paper-lined dish. Set aside to cool. (The caramel will set as it cools, which can take up to 2 hours. After 30 to 60 minutes of cooling at room temperature, you can transfer the caramel to the fridge to set faster if desired.)

To make the cookie dough, in a bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the softened butter and ½ cup sugar.

Using the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium to high speed, until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Stop and scrape the sides of the bowl halfway through mixing.

Add ¼ cup honey. Beat for 30 more seconds.

Add the egg and vanilla extract. Beat for 30 seconds.

Add the flour mixture and mix until unincorporated, while stopping and scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.

Mix the chopped white chocolate into the cookie dough.

Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Roll out golf ball-sized cookie dough balls and place them on the baking tray. Keep the cookie dough in the fridge if the caramel hasn't set yet.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Once the caramel has firmed up, take it out of the tray. Using a sharp knife, cut it into about ¾-inch-sized squares.

Press a caramel square into each cookie dough ball.

Roll the cookie dough, making sure the caramel is in the center of the dough.

Making sure each cookie is 2 to 3 inches apart on the baking sheet, bake on the middle rack for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

Optionally garnish the hot cookies with extra chopped white chocolate, then cool and serve.

Although the caramel in this recipe is made in a more untraditional way, you still end up with the perfect caramel consistency as long as you follow the exact directions and don't forget the candy thermometer. Without it, you won't be able to know when exactly to stop cooking the caramel and may end up with hard candy or caramel syrup. The temperature you need to reach for successful caramel should be between 245 F-250 F (soft and chewy texture) — anything over might result in burnt or super hard caramel. Also, using a heavy-bottom saucepan is recommended when making caramel, which prevents the caramel from burning.

Don't rush the process. The caramel will take some time to cook, but if you try turning the heat too high, you might ruin the caramel and end up with burned unpleasant flavor and texture. Stir often to prevent the caramel from burning at the bottom. The mixture will bubble as it cooks which is normal, just be sure that you're using a deep enough pan so that the caramel doesn't bubble over.

There are a few ingredient swaps you can make to customize these cookies to your liking. If you want to make this recipe gluten-free, try using a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend instead of all-purpose. Instead of white chocolate, you can use milk or semi-sweet chocolate, even dark chocolate will pair well with the sweetness of the caramel. If you are not a fan of caramel, try using your favorite nut butter by flattening the cookie dough a bit, then adding a teaspoon of the nut butter to the center and pinching the ends to the center, making sure the filling stays in the center of the boll. Chocolate spreads such as Nutella will work as well. 

You can also swap half of the sugar in the cookie dough with brown sugar, which will make the cookies more chewy and soft. To make the cookies more flat, you can skip the baking powder and reduce the flour, but just make sure that the caramel is packed really tightly into the center of each dough ball so that it doesn't ooze out while baking.