These Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Candy Bar Cookies were so fun to make. My elation came from experimenting and making them in a variety of ways…and of course tasting and sharing them with others.

In their previous form, these hailed from the Big E Fair, where Francis, a local “contester” won a blue ribbon with her Grandma’s Favorite Cookies. As an aside here: the Big E is not a state fair technically, but it is a huge and highly regarded fair in the Northeast, and we love great fairs! Anyway. I digress. Back to the cookie!

Salted caramel is pretty much a “sure thing” as a crowd pleaser…and we all loved this one. I’ve adapted the recipe some, but it’s inspired by what the winner Francis made. I also renamed it to Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Candy Bar Cookies. Originally they were titled: Grandma’s Favorite Cookies. The delicious cookie dough has both chocolate chips and chunks of chocolate-caramel candy bars (think Cadbury Caramello).

You top each cookie with a sprinkling of sea salt before you bake it. I finished these with a caramel drizzle. I will never tire of the salty/sweet combo. And when I say never, I mean never!

Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Candy Bar Cookies – Step by Step

See the full recipe below, but for some inspiration, here are the main steps. In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

Separately, mix the dry ingredients (flour, salt, and baking soda) and add them to the wet ingredients.

Then add the chocolate chips and candy bar chunks.

I used a knife to incorporate the candy bar chunks more evenly throughout the dough. It worked great. About now it looks like this.

Spoon out the dough and roll into balls. I did mine about 1 1/2 inch round in size.

Place them on your prepped baking sheet, flatten them slightly with the bottom of a glass. Then add a sprinkling of salt. As a result, all the flavors will really “pop.”

 

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 12-14 minutes, or until a slight brown shows up around the edges. I like a crispier cookie, at least on the outside, so the first time around I put mine in on the longer side. I experimented with another batch and did smaller cookies that ended up tasting like an amped up Chips Ahoy.

Another time I took them out on the early side for my peeps who like their cookies more tender. My final batch I baked the dough into mini muffin tins. Perfect for topping with ice cream.

This was how I served them as dessert to friends who gave them a huge thumbs up. They have already asked when they can come by again for “seconds.” And that pleases me to no end.

-Cyndi

 

p.s. If you love variations on the classic chocolate chip cookie, be sure to also try this Oreo-infused version, here.