Salted Caramel Brownie Cookies

What better way to beat your midweek slump than baking yourself up a good batch of super simple, quick, and oh so yummy cookies? These salted caramel brownie cookies are gooey with the just the right amount of saltiness and a hard shell of a brownie to conceal it all. If you're a caramel fan, even better!

I got the brownie cookie recipe from my mom's cookbook. I used to make these cookies a lot when I was a kid and started to learn baking because it's one of the least intimidating recipes and always turned out. The cookies are really good with just chocolate chips but I decided to add even more goodness to them: the caramel chunks. So good!

Yield: 12 large cookies

Prep time: 10 min

Cook time: 12 min

Cookies:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup milk

1 1/2 cup flour

1/3 cup cocoa

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

Caramel squares (about 10, can modify to more or less for preference), cut into smaller cubes

1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Make the cookies:

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. In a large mixing bowl combine the first four ingredients together. Then, add the milk and cream together.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the last four ingredients.

4. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and combine. Here, you can add the caramel cubes and the chocolate chips if you're using.

5. Grease or line a baking sheet with parchment paper and drop large spoonful-sized cookie dough balls onto the sheet. Rolls into round balls and flatten slightly with your hands. Sprinkle with salt or sea salt. (See below pictures)

6. Bake for 12 minutes.

7. Remove from oven and lightly tap the pan on a counter top 2-3 times. (See notes)

8. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool 5-10 minutes.

These are enjoyed best when warm when the caramel and chocolate chips are melty and delicious but they would still be amazing room temperature. You can also freeze these babies for up to 3 months if you want to save a little treat for your future self! You won't regret it.

Notes:

1. These cookies have a thicker dough so they don't flatten quite as much, hence, the tapping the sheet on the counter technique. This way, you still get the taste of a brownie but a less dense texture.

2. You can make the caramel squares yourself but I find it hard to get the same texture as the candy one you can buy. With a smoother and more runny texture, it's hard to work the caramel into the batter and get the really good chunks of caramel here and there. Also, if your caramel includes quite a bit of butter, keep in mind that it will melt into the cookies and make them a lot flatter than the ones in the pictures with a different texture and shape.

3. Make sure you leave lots of room on the cookie sheet! I've made the same mistake of overloading my cookie sheets and ending up with a cookie cake many times.

As I mentioned, these are super easy to make so try them out with your kids or for a quick treat for yourself!

Let me know if you try these out! If you post a picture, be sure to tag me!

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Thanks for reading and have a good rest of your week!