Go Back
+ servings

Get the Recipe: Caramel Stuffed Brownie Cookies Recipe

These caramel stuffed brownie cookies taste like brownie edge pieces, with crisp edges and gooey centers full of caramel.
No ratings yet

Ingredients

  • 10 ounces (284 grams) dark chocolate (between 60% and 70% cacao), from whole fèves or a high-quality chocolate bar roughly chopped into 1- to 1 ½-inch pieces
  • ½ cup (4.5 ounces or 128 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ Tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 ¼ cups (8.75 ounces or 248 grams) granulated sugar
  • 6 Tablespoons (3 ounces or 85 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 3 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 cup (6 ounces) dark chocolate chips
  • 12 soft and chewy caramel candies (preferably Werther's Original Chewy Caramels — see baker's notes for substitutions)

Equipment

  • a 3-Tablespoon cookie dough scoop

Instructions
 

  • Prep the oven and baking pan. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line three half sheet pans with parchment paper.
  • Melt the chocolate. Place the chocolate in the top pan of a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl set over a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan filled with a few inches of simmering water (be sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water).
    Cook over medium heat, using a heatproof rubber spatula to stir the mixture and scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally, until the chocolate is melted, about 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the pan or bowl from heat, set on a wire rack, and cool slightly while you prep the dry ingredients.
  • Mix the dry ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and kosher salt.
  • Cream the sugar, butter, and the vanilla, then add the eggs. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar, butter, and vanilla. Beat on medium until light, fluffy, and doubled in volume, 3 to 4 minutes, using a rubber spatula to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as necessary. 
    Reduce the mixer to low and add the eggs one at a time, adding the next egg only after the previous one has been fully incorporated, scraping down the bottom and sides of the bowl after each addition.
  • Add the melted chocolate, dry ingredients, and chocolate chips. Slowly pour in the melted chocolate and beat until just combined.
    Gradually add the dry ingredients and beat until just combined. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl once more, and beat on low for an additional 30 seconds.
    Add the chocolate chips all at once and beat on medium-low until the chocolate chips are evenly distributed throughout, about 1 minute.
  • Assemble the cookies. Use a 3-Tablespoon cookie dough scoop to portion the cookie dough into balls, placing them at least 3 inches apart on the prepared sheet pans.
    Press a caramel candy directly in the center of 12 of the cookie dough balls. Press another cookie dough ball directly on top of the caramels, creating a "sandwich" with the caramel in the middle.
    Mold the dough down and around the caramel so that it gets covered completely with cookie dough. Repeat with the remaining cookie dough balls. Note that you're basically making a cookie dough ball that's twice as big as what you scooped—each dough ball should weigh around 2.75 ounces (78 grams).
  • Bake the cookies. Bake one pan at a time for 14 to 16 minutes, or until the edges have set but the centers are still gooey.
    Cool the cookies on the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes, or until the edges and bottoms of the cookies have set and feel firm to the touch.
    Repeat with the remaining cookie dough.
  • Serve and store. Serve warm or at room temperature. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container or zip-top bag at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Notes

  • The recipe instructs you to use 1 ½ Tablespoons of instant hot cocoa mix. Although you can buy individual 1 ½ Tablespoon measures, most teaspoon measuring sets don’t come with one. So if your set doesn’t come with one, go ahead and use 4 and ½ teaspoons (which is equivalent to 1 and ½ Tablespoons).
  • This recipe works best if you have a 3-Tablespoon cookie dough scoop. The 3-tablespoon cookie dough scoop is a major workhorse in my kitchen, and is responsible for the pretty and generous bakery-style cookies you often see on my blog and Instagram. It ensures you get perfectly round cookies that are the same size and shape each time, along with minimizing the mess in the kitchen. You’re going to use your hands to mold and shape these cookies by pressing two cookie dough balls together. It’s pretty important they’re all the same size—if they’re uneven, the caramel leak out and create a giant mess. If you’re a serious baker (or planning on being one), a 3-tablespoon cookie dough scoop is worth it, I promise. Here’s the exact one I use that I apparently bought back in 2013. There’s no stopping that baby!
  • For this recipe, you’ll need to source caramel candies that are both soft and chewy—not the kind that’s hard and more like a lollipop. Those don’t melt properly in the cookies and won’t result in the gooey, molten caramel centers. For these cookies, I used Werther’s Original Chewy Caramels, which is available in the candy aisle of most major supermarkets and pharmacies.
  • In a pinch, you can also substitute other candies. When I was testing this recipe for Weeknight Baking, I baked them with Junior MintsReese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and even marshmallows. All were delicious.
  • I like to melt the chocolate first, then pour it into a liquid measuring cup. Doing so helps it cool quickly and will prevent you from accidentally cooking the eggs when pouring it into the dough. After this step, I also like to prep and measure out the other ingredients (like the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and sugar) to give the chocolate a little extra time to cool.
  • After making the cookie dough, it will seem too soft. But it will firm up VERY quickly and get too hard to scoop. So work quickly and efficiently while the dough is still soft! I mentioned this already, but I really recommend buying a 3-Tablespoon sized cookie dough scoop to help you do the job quickly and efficiently.
  • I like to bake the cookies one pan at a time. I find that doing so makes the best cookies, ensuring that none of them have overly burnt bottoms or raw centers. However, to save time, you can bake two sheet pans at a time. Position a rack in the upper-third position of the oven, and a second one in the lower-third position of the oven. Bake a pan on each rack, swapping their positions half way through the Bake Time.
Did you make this recipe?Please leave a star rating and review in the form below. I appreciate your feedback, and it helps others, too!