Bakery Style Salted Caramel, Walnut, Chocolate Chunk Cookies
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Dear Reader,
Is there anything more comforting than a warm and chewy chocolate chip cookie? This bakey style chocolate chip cookie is one of my favorite cookie recipes, and it’s delicious any time of year! I dressed these cookies up with some chocolate chunks, walnuts, and salty soft caramel. They’re the perfect blend of sweet and salty, with gooey chocolate and chunky sea salt.
I made my own batch of soft caramel for this recipe, the same as in our Caramel Apple recipe. They’re so good!
tips for making perfect chocolate chip cookies:
Cream the butter for at least 5 minutes. For super soft and chewy cookies, the butter needs some air beat into it! For these cookies, I recommend beating the butter and sugars together for 5 to 6 minutes.
Chill the dough. The longer the dough chills for, the better the cookies will taste. This allows them to develop a delicious flavor, and they spread more evenly. Refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days before baking.
Use salted butter. To make perfect chocolate chip cookies, I always recommend using salted butter! This give the cookies the perfect balance of salty and sweet. The salty melted caramels just make this recipe better, too!
Wait until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Perfect cookies have just the right amount of flour. If your dough is too wet, they will turn out differently from a stiffer dough. For the perfect cookie consistency, wait until the flour just pulls away from the sides of the bowl and can be shaped into a ball in your hands without sticking to your fingers.
how to make homemade caramel:
To make the caramel for this recipe, I do offer my Soft Chewy Caramel Recipe. However… it makes a lot of caramel! I don’t recommend using this particular recipe unless you also want homemade caramels to pass around to your friends and family and probably the neighbors, too. If you don’t want to make your own caramel, you can use the little individually packaged ones.
If you do want to make your own caramel, for this recipe you will need to make caramel that is cooked to the soft ball stage or about 235° F (113° C). This creates a wonderful chewy caramel that melts a bit while baking in the cookies but does not fully melt and turn into a brittle candy!
the method:
To make these Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies, you’ll begin by preheating the oven to 375° F (191° C). I like to use parchment paper for these cookies, but you can also just use an ungreased cookie sheet!
The butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar are creamed together for about 6 minutes until its pale in color and very fluffy. The longer you cream the butter and sugars, the better!
Then the eggs and vanilla are beaten in followed by the dry ingredients. You will only add a portion of the chocolate chunks and walnuts to the dough before chilling it for at least 1 hour. I think a 24 hour chilling period is best, but it’s up to you!
the method, continued:
After the chilling period, the cookies need to be shaped. To make these bakery style chocolate chip cookies, you will be scooping a quarter cups worth of dough onto the baking sheet! This recipes makes about 12 to 14 jumbo cookies.
Once the cookies are shaped, press them flat slightly with the palm of your hand. Then, make divots into the tops of the cookies where you want to place the leftover chocolate chunks, walnuts, and chewy caramels.
The cookies are baked for about 14 minutes and then left to sit on the baking sheet for an extra 5 minutes. While the cookies are still warm, sprinkle the melted caramel with flaky sea salt.
final thoughts:
These bakery style chocolate chip cookies are so incredible! They barely lasted a day in my home with lots of hungry mouths craving something sweet. I love the subtle hint of walnut mixed with salted caramel and the brown sugar in the cookie dough. It’s a perfect combination. The chewy caramel and flaky sea salt transform this cookie into something even more delicious. It’s one to try for sure! I hope that you like them.
xoxo Kayla
Bakery Style Salted Caramel, Walnut, Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (232 g) salted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (110 g) brown sugar, packed
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp (10 ml) vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 1/2 cups (325 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chunks (300 g), about 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick
- 1 cup (127 g) chopped walnuts
- About 12-14 soft caramels
- Flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375° F (191° C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set them aside.
- In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter until smooth and add the sugar. Beat the butter and sugar together until lightly colored and creamy looking, about 5 to 6 minutes.
- Add the eggs, incorporating them one at a time, and beating them on medium speed for about 1 full minute. Add the vanilla, baking soda, and salt and mix fully into the dough.
- Add the flour and mix in fully until it is no longer visible in the dough. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix again. Stir in about 1 1/2 cups (225 g) of the chocolate chunks and 3/4 cup (95 g) of the walnuts.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for about 1 hour.
- When the dough has finished chilling, using a cookie scoop or measuring cup that makes about 1/4 cups worth of dough, scrape out balls of dough and drop them onto the cookie sheets about 4-inches (10-cm) apart. There should be about 12 to 14 cookies total. They do not have to be rolled.
- With your finger, make a small divot into the top of the cookie dough. Break the soft caramels into 1/2-inch (1-cm) pieces and roll into balls. Press the caramel balls into the tops of the cookies, about 2 or 3 per cookie. Press the remaining chocolate chunks and walnuts into the tops of the cookies, spreading them evenly amongst them.
- Bake the cookies for 14 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned and the centers are set. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before moving them to a wire cooling rack. Once moved to the cooling rack, sprinkle the tops with flaky sea salt; this is a good time to do so as the caramel is still soft but not warm enough to dissolve the salt.
- Store the cookies in an airtight container on the counter for about 1 week.
Notes
- If you would like to make your own chewy caramels for this recipe, you can find my Caramel Recipe Here.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
500Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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This recipe has been updated as of January 2024.
