I don’t typically crave sweets– give me a loaf of bread over a cake any day! However this weekend, it was cold and I was craving something sweet and salty…and I’ve been more than a little hooked on Starbucks salted caramel mochas (with half the syrup) for a couple of months now. It was way too cold for me to get out and drive to Starbucks, so I improvised and decided to make my own salted caramel concoction.
If found this recipe on GiveMeSomeOven and modified it a bit to compensate for the ingredients I didn’t have on hand. The cookies turned out so great, I had to share them with you!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (I often use finely ground old-fashioned oatmeal in place of flour. It’s easy, just put the oatmeal into a food processor.)
- 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (or dark chocolate cocoa powder)
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- coarse sea salt
- *Jar of Hersehy’s Caramel Sundae Topping
Or…
- 1 (11 oz.) bag Kraft caramel bits
- 1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, combine butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Beat until fluffy. Add flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Mix well.
*I did not add the chocolate chips and caramel chips, but if you’re planing to, mix in the chocolate and caramel chips.
Drop tablespoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet or baking stone.
Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes (I like mine a little gooey).
*If you’re using Hershey’s Caramel Sundae Topping, while the cookies are baking, heat sundae topping in the microwave for 45 seconds.
As soon as the cookies come out, use a teaspoon to drizzle caramel over the hot cookies, then sprinkle coarse sea salt over the top of the cookies.