Salted Caramel Cookies Recipe

These salted caramel cookies are soft, thick cookies with a thumbprint of melted caramel in the middle and a few flakes of sea salt on top. The recipe makes 24 cookies in about 50 minutes: the dough bakes at 350°F for 9 to 11 minutes, and the caramel goes in after baking, so it stays smooth and glossy instead of burning.

The caramel is nothing fancy. Thirty soft caramel candies melted with 2 tablespoons of heavy cream give you a pourable center that sets soft, not chewy. Crisp edges, tender middles, a little salt to cut the sweetness.

The Caramel Thumbprint Numbers

• Yield: 24 cookies from 2 tablespoon balls of dough
• Oven: 350°F (175°C), 9 to 11 minutes, until the edges are set and just turning golden
• Caramel center: 30 soft caramels plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream, about 1 teaspoon per cookie
• Time: 20 minutes prep, 10 minutes baking, 20 minutes for the caramel to set
• Keeps: 4 days in an airtight container at room temperature

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A Dough Soft Enough to Dent, Firm Enough to Hold Caramel

Start with butter that is soft but not melted. Press it with a finger and it should give, like the side of your thumb, while still holding its shape. Melted butter makes a dough that spreads flat, and a flat cookie has nowhere to keep the caramel.

The sugars split the work. Light brown sugar holds moisture, so the centers stay chewy for days, and the granulated sugar gives the edges their crispness. Dark brown sugar works, but its molasses flavor starts to compete with the caramel.

Cream the butter and both sugars for 2 to 3 minutes until pale and fluffy, beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla. Measure the flour by spooning it into the cup and leveling it off, or weigh 345 g. Flour scooped straight from the bag packs in more, the dough turns stiff, and the cookies crack around the dent. Stir the dry ingredients in only until you stop seeing streaks of flour.

Turn the oven on before you shape anything. Scoop 2 tablespoon balls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, 2 inches apart, and press a shallow dent into each one with your thumb or the back of a teaspoon.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes. Pull them when the edges are set and just going golden and the middles still look a little underdone. They firm up on the hot tray.

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Why the Caramel Waits Until After the Bake

Caramel spooned into raw dough melts into it in the oven. Some of it sinks, some runs over the side, and the thin edges can scorch. Baking the cookie first gives you a set cup to fill.

The dents puff up as the cookies bake, so press them again with the back of a teaspoon within a minute or two of the tray coming out. At that point the cookies are soft and dent cleanly. Wait until they cool and they crack instead.

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Melting Soft Caramels With Cream

Put the 30 unwrapped caramels and 2 tablespoons of heavy cream in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in 20-second bursts and stir after each one; it takes 1 to 1½ minutes in total. Stop when it is glossy and falls off the spoon in a thick ribbon. Bubbling means it is getting too hot, and overheated caramel sets firm and chewy.

Use soft, chewy caramels here. Hard caramel candies will not melt into a pourable filling. A small saucepan over low heat also works, stirring the whole time, and it is the easier choice for a double batch. If you would rather cook your own, my homemade salted caramels melt the same way once they are cut into pieces.

Spoon about 1 teaspoon into each warm cookie and let it settle into a flat, shiny pool. Give the caramel a minute or two before the flaky salt goes on. It should still be tacky, but not hot enough to dissolve the flakes.

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Kraft vs Werther’s Soft Caramels

Both are fine. Werther’s Soft Caramels melt cleaner and give a glossier top, which matters when the caramel is the whole look of the cookie. Kraft caramels melt a little thicker. With Kraft, add an extra half tablespoon of cream and stir a bit longer, and the center pours just as well.

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When the Caramel Center Misbehaves

• Caramel stiffens in the bowl halfway through: it thickens as it cools. Microwave it for 10 seconds and stir. Only add a teaspoon of cream if it still will not pour.
• Caramel runs over the side: the dent was too shallow or flattened in the oven. Re-press the dents right after baking and fill a little less than a teaspoon.
• Salt flakes melt away: they went on while the caramel was too hot. Wait a minute or two after filling.
• Centers are hard the next day: the caramel boiled in the microwave. Use short bursts and stop as soon as it is smooth.
• Cookies spread flat with no room for caramel: the butter was too warm. If your kitchen is hot, chill the shaped dough balls for 15 minutes before baking.

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Keeping the Caramel Soft for Days

Let the caramel set completely, about 20 minutes, then stack the cookies with parchment between the layers. They keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days, and the caramel stays soft. Want a warm, gooey middle again? Microwave one cookie for 5 to 10 seconds.

For baking ahead, freeze the plain baked cookies before filling. Lay them flat in a zip bag, thaw at room temperature, then melt the caramel and fill them on the day you serve them.

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More Caramel Bakes From My Kitchen

For chocolate with your caramel, bake the salted caramel chocolate cookies, or add nuts with these salted caramel pecan cookies. The caramel stuffed snickerdoodle cookies hide the caramel inside instead of on top, and peanut butter cookies with salted caramel drizzle get theirs as a drizzle.

Out of the cookie jar, the same sweet and salty balance runs through my salted caramel cake and its salted caramel buttercream. For a fruit filling in the same thumbprint shape, try the apple pie cookies.