Salted Chocolate Caramel Cookies are the most delicious chocolate cookies with a caramel surprise baked inside.
October 28th is National Chocolate Day! There are so many ways you can celebrate. You can make chocolate cake, fudgy brownies, hot chocolate or dip your favorite foods in chocolate! I suggest that these Salted Chocolate Caramel Cookies be added to your baking list too. They’re so delicious! Share your chocolate creation on social media today by using the hashtag #NationalChocolateDay, #ChocolateDay and #RecipesForHolidays. Enjoy!
“Chocolate comes from cocoa, which is a tree. That makes it a plant. Chocolate is a salad!”
-Unknown
The History of Chocolate:
Chocolate dates back to 450BC. The Olmecs, a Mesoamerican civilization, were the first to turn the cacao plant into chocolate. They drank it during rituals and used it as medicine too.
In much of history, chocolate was a much-loved beverage that was bitter- not sweet. It was popular with the ancient Mayans too.
There are a couple of different stories about how chocolate reached Europe. One story is that Columbus encountered cacao beans on a trade ship on one of his journeys and brought it back to Spain in 1502. Another story is that explorer Cortes was introduced to chocolate by Montezuma and kept his discovery a secret when he returned to Spain.
In any case, by the late 1500’s Spain began importing chocolate and its popularity spread throughout Europe. Chocolate plantations were worked by thousands of slaves.
Europeans introduced sugar to chocolate, creating the hot chocolate we are more familiar with today.
Because cacao beans and sugar were expensive imports, only those with money could afford to drink chocolate. Hot chocolate was a fashionable drink for rich Europeans throughout the 18th century.
Chocolate bars were invented in the mid 1800’s.
How to make Salted Chocolate Caramel Cookies:
- Make the chocolate cookie dough, which happens to have chocolate chunks in it. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
- Shape the dough into balls, and place the cookie dough balls on a baking sheet. Refrigerate again.
- Mash soft caramels to flatten with the back of a spoon.
- Flatten out a dough ball, add the caramel in the middle, and wrap the dough around the caramel. Move back to the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough and caramels.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, and then let the cookies cool on a cooling rack.
You have the best of both worlds in these cookies. Chocolate chunks throughout and caramel inside. Yum!
If you eat these Salted Chocolate Caramel Cookies while warm, the chocolate and the caramel will both be gooey and wonderful!
This recipe comes from a book by Good Housekeeping: The Best-Ever Cookie Book: 175 Tested ‘Til Perfect Recipes for Crispy, Chewy and Ooey-Gooey Treats. I think the name of this book says it all. It’s a must-have cookie baking book for your cookbook shelf!
Fun Facts About Chocolate:
- Chocolate is made from the fruit of the cacao tree.
- It takes 400 cacao beans to make one pound of chocolate.
- Aztec ruler Montezuma II supposedly drank gallons of chocolate each day for energy and as an aphrodisiac.
- In 1847, British chocolatier J.S. Fry and Sons created the first chocolate bar.
- In 1876, Swiss chocolatier Daniel Peter added dried milk powder to chocolate to create milk chocolate.
- Switzerland is the highest consumer of chocolate per capita.
Salted Chocolate Caramel Cookies
Double chocolate cookies studded with rich, bittersweet chocolate and stuffed with caramel!
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/3 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
- 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (about 2 cups)
- 36 soft caramels, unwrapped
- flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt, then whisk to combine; set aside.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer the combine the butter and sugars until light and fluffy- about 3 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and add eggs one at a time, then vanilla.
- Add the dry ingredients in two parts, alternating with buttermilk and beating until just incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chunks by hand and then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Shape dough into balls (about 2 tablespoons each). Place the balls (about 2 tablespoons each). Place the balls on the prepared baking sheet and refrigerate while preparing the caramels. With the back of a spoon, flatten each caramel into a 3/4-inch-wide disk. Then flatten each dough ball into a disk and wrap it around a flattened caramel; return to the baking sheet and refrigerate.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the chilled dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them 2-inches apart. Sprinkle with sea salt and bake, rotating the positions of the baking sheets halfway through, until set around edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 36 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 227Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 25mgSodium: 122mgCarbohydrates: 28gFiber: 2gSugar: 17gProtein: 4g
Nutritional information was figured using a nutrition calculator. It's not likely to be 100% accurate.