Follow me on Twitter!
Follow me on Facebook!
Chocolate Caramel Cookie Bites
Unapologetically inspired by the classic movie theater candy, Milk Duds, these two-bite morsels combine a chocolaty cookie shell with a soft caramel center. Deceptively looking like regular old chocolate cookies, the stream of sweet caramel that flows out when you bite into them is a welcome surprise!
These cookies are ridiculously easy to make. Almost dangerously easy because you will soon find yourself wanting to make them everyday … at least I do! When I decided to make a Milk Dud-inspired cookie, I searched around for an appropriate recipe to use for the chocolate shell. I needed something that would be sturdy enough to hide the soft caramel center, yet soft enough to maintain a cookie-like texture. Deb’s recipe for brownie roll-out cookies looked perfect. Soft, pliable dough that could be easily rolled around a caramel while still providing an intense chocolate flavor.
This recipe is essentially a chocolate sugar cookie but it has such a deep chocolate flavor that the name doesn’t really do it justice. I was tempted to call these beauties Caramel Brownie Bites but my always honest boyfriend/taste-tester extraordinaire informed me that calling them brownies was misleading since they are much closer to the cookie family. So Chocolate Caramel Cookies Bites it is!
The dough will probably seem very dry and crumbly at first. Don’t be alarmed, this is because it is a sugar cookie dough. Once you chill the dough and begin rolling, it should come together. If pieces fall off, don’t hesitate to just press them back into your rolled cookie. Also, I only rolled small portions of the dough at a time (I probably rolled it out in 3 or 4 smaller batches). You want the dough to be between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick. This will allow you to fully cover the caramel with an even amount of cookie. I rolled them in raw sugar to give them an extra sparkle and some crunch to the outside, but this is definitely optional. If you are a fan of salted caramels, you might want to try rolling them in some coarse sea salt before baking. I bet that would be amazing!
If you are ambitious, you could make your own caramels. Still being slightly terrified of candy thermometers and the perils of candy making, I opted for the store bought kind that do not create a danger of third-degree burns/scalding/fires/death. One day I will conquer my fear and make my own caramels! I promise I will! Just not today …
Chocolate Caramel Cookie Bites
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen’s Brownie Roll-Out Cookies3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa*
1 bag of caramels, unwrapped
1/2 cup raw or turbinado sugar (for rolling)Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Whisk dry flour, salt and baking powder in bowl and set aside.
- Mix butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and cocoa in mixer. Gradually add flour mixture, and mix until smooth.
- Wrap dough ball in plastic and chill for at least one hour.
- Roll out cookie dough on floured counter. Cut into roughly 1 1/2 – 2 inch diameter circles or squares (the shape and precision of the cut section doesn’t really matter since you will be wrapping it around the caramel anyway), brushing extra deposits of flour off the top.
- Roll the dough around an unwrapped caramel. Roll the dough back and forth in your hands until it forms a smooth ball.
- Roll the ball in a bowl of raw or turbinado sugar, pressing slightly to coat with sugar.
- Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 10-12 minutes until the cookies are firm.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool.* I used regular old Hershey’s cocoa (I thought it would be most appropriate since Milk Duds are a Hershey’s product) but feel free to substitute a higher quality chocolate if you have it. I’m sure it would just add to the intensity of the chocolate flavor.
Note: These are best served fresh from the oven or slightly reheated (a quick zap in the microwave will do the trick). This warms the caramel up, making it gooey and delicious. Served at room temperature they are still yummy but the caramels are chewier.
Similar Recipes:
Two-Bite Ice Cream Sandwiches
Coconut Almond Macaroons with Dark Chocolate
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Tribute-to-Katharine-Hepburn Brownie Bites
If you enjoyed this recipe, make sure you subscribe to receive free updates byemail or
RSS feed!
|
Email | 
Print | Subscribe
These look fabulous!
Oh.my.goodness these look amazing!
Mmm two of my favorite things: Chocolate and Caramel! Can’t go wrong there!
These look fabulous! I love chocolate and caramel!
Milk Dud cookies? FANtastic!
These looks sooo neat!
How creative! The ooey, gooey caramel is making my mouth water. After years of not having these caramels, I was very surprised at how delicious they were when I picked them up at the grocery store.
Wow, look at all that delicious caramel.
yum!! i will try these!
the oatmeal cookie guy uses rolos candy in his stuffed cookies. they stay gooey warm or cooled
off.
http://oatmealcookie.typepad.com/
Oh my god, those look so freaking good it’s unreal.
I found your reference to these on Dimah’s website, omg, they look fabulous and I will try them … what about buying a bottle of Starbuck’s caramel and using that for filling? I plan to try these tomorrow! Thank you for sharing!
Linda
Kentuckyhideaway.wordpress.com
I make a variation of this recipe. I add a cup of finely chopped pecans in the cookie dough and also mixed with the sugar to roll them in. I also put rolos in the center instead of milk duds or caramel squares. Love this cookie recipe!
Duffy – That sounds fantastic! I’ll have to try it with pecans next time around. I bet it gave them a nice crunch. So glad you liked it!
Oooh, just stumbled onto this page and it’s bookmarked!
I just made these and they are very good, however I made them too thick and there wasn’t enough caramel for the whole cookie. Next time I’ll either make with less dough or more caramel! Thanks for the great recipe!!!
Amazing. Just amazing!
Wow, that looks absolutely delicious! Great post, you did such a nice job presenting the pictures too…I am definitely going to have to try that recipe this weekend! Thanks
Hello Dash of Sash! I had a question on your chocolate caramel cookie bites. My boyfriend is currently in Iraq for an entire year and right now the weather is 120degrees++++. I can’t send him any baked goods that will melt until it becomes winter. I saw these cookies with the caramel in the middle and think these would be an ideal cookie to ship. Do you think they would hold up? They look like a sturdy cookie and with the caramel wrapped in the middle, I think it be prefect by the time he got them. What do you think?
Thanks!
Fallon – I think that this might cookie might actually work for you. It is very sturdy (I mailed a whole batch of them across the country) so long as you make sure to seal the outside chocolate layer very well. The only danger would be that the caramel would melt and leak out a bit. If you are careful to seal the seams up tightly, I think it would probably work. Worst case, he gets some chocolate cookies with some melted caramel! Let me know how to works out!!
haha!! Thanks. I just kept these bookmarked because it looked like a good cookie I could ship to him in Iraq while its 120+ degrees out there!! I like the positive advice and I’m doing to try it out, and will let you know how they turn out when he receives them!
I made these with homemade caramels. DELICIOUS! They kind of flattened out, though, so they were flat chocolate cookies full of caramel goodness. Still worth the time to make them, though.