salted caramel chip chocolate cookies;

I’m so excited to share these salted caramel chip chocolate cookies with you! Firstly cuz it’s my BIRTHDAY. And that means chocolate is required. Duh. For all of you not born on the best day of the year…these cookies are a perfect way to use any of the baking chips from the flavored baking chip roundup. (Except the icky flavor I don’t recommend. Avoid at all costs.)

But funny story about the salted caramel chips. I was at the store the other day and saw these, and just had to grab them. Made it all the way home and went to pull out the other flavors—just to stare at a second bag of the exact same salted caramel baking chips. I guess I had the same thought another time! Good thing I like these guys and want to find new ways to use them.

I‘ve had a blast playing with flavored baking chips the past few weeks. They’re super fun to experiment with. There are some old favorites, and now salted caramel chip chocolate cookies! Some of the old faves are for the pumpkin spice baking chips, like these pumpkin spice muffins. That recipe has always been a repeat make, and one of my coworkers requests it for her birthday every year. I hope you’ll try it out if you’re able to find pumpkin spice chips!

Now that I think about it, the caramel ones would also go heavenly with a pumpkin muffin. Hmmm…that might need to happen this fall. But now I have to add salted caramel chip chocolate cookies to the list of remakes as well. Because these guys are addictive!

I love me a chocolate cookie. Surprised? I know you’re not. But I really like the sweet and salty punch these salted caramel chips add to the game. They have a really wonderful balance of salt that offsets the sweet caramel flavor. Sometimes salted caramel foods can overdo or underdo the salt factor. But in this recipe for salted caramel chip chocolate cookies, the cookie, sweetness from the caramel, and hint of salt just work together to form one indulgent bite.

If you read my post ranking five different baking chips, you’ll know these were my favorite. But I want this chocolate cookie base to be a staple for you to play with. I don’t like boxing my fellow chocoholics in to specialized ingredients that you may or may not be able to find. I‘m so grateful that this day and age provides so much access to a wide variety of food. But in case you can’t find the salted caramel chips, you could absolutely swap in your favorite baking chip. You’ll just have to update the name though, since salted caramel chip chocolate cookies is a mouthful anyway.

This chocolate cookie is a solid base for whatever flavor combo you’re on the prowl for. Look for other fun flavors! For a readily available option, go for white chocolate chips. For a more exotic option try espresso baking chips or Bailey’s chips if you’re able to find them. (These are both new chip flavors I’ve seen recently, so I might have to do another ranking!) Or of course you could always go for death by chocolate and double down on milk and semisweet morsels. You don’t have to limit yourself to baking chips either. Cut up a bar of orange dark chocolate or raspberry dark chocolate and make your own chunks. You really can’t go wrong.

As for cocoa powder—use what you have on hand. The two options I would suggest: 1) regular cocoa powder, 2) dark chocolate cocoa powder. Both of them work, both will be tasty. But as a fellow chocoholic, let me break down the options.
Dark chocolate cocoa powder is my go-to. I just use the Hershey’s special dark. As a dark chocolate gal myself it’s no surprise this is my favorite. I like how dark it makes the cookies for a pop of contrast with light colored chips. And the depth of chocolate can’t be beat.

I find that regular cocoa powder—while still intensely chocolatey, leans into a milk chocolate vibe for these cookies. A little milder, a little lighter in color, but also more approachable. I find that dark chocolate makes the salted caramel chip chocolate cookies really pop.

If you’re wondering about Dutch processed cocoa powder, I haven’t tried it for this recipe. Dutch processed cocoa powder is less acidic, more earthy in flavor, and milder generally. But because it’s less acidic, it may affect the reaction with baking soda taking place here. If it’s the only thing you have on hand, give it a whirl and leave me a comment how it works! But for tried and true results, go with regular cocoa powder. It’s cheaper anyway.

Honestly, I don’t think it matters if you go with regular or dark cocoa powder. I’ll eat these salted caramel chip chocolate cookies no matter what! Use whatever you have on hand, you won’t regret it.

Secrets to Success:

• Pick your cocoa powder. Regular for a touch lighter color and chocolate flavor, or dark chocolate for a deep color and flavor. Be careful subbing in Dutch processed for this recipe as the lower acidity may affect rising.
• Don’t have caramel chips? Swap in your favorite flavor. Everything is best with chocolate!
• Trust the recipe, and don’t over-bake the salted caramel chip chocolate cookies. They’ll be a little soft coming out of the oven, but let them firm up and you’ll get a delicious chew to your cookies.

Looking for other cookie recipes? Check out these guys:

• You can never go wrong with perfectly chewy chocolate chip cookies.
• Looking for a fun take on a classic? Try these peppermint sugar cookies.
• Check out this recipe for another chocolate cookie, but this time with macadamia nuts, white chocolate, and pumpkin spice chips. These halloween mash cookies won’t disappoint!