A leftover half-jar of caramel is what inspired these here cookies, nothing more, nothing less. I had caramel. I had shredded sweetened coconut. I had chocolate chips and all of the makings for chocolate chip cookie dough, as I always do. The caramel was taking up space on the condiment shelf in my fridge and I decided I wanted it gone, so the Caramel Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookie was born.
The sweetened coconut is folded into the cookie dough alongside the chocolate chips. Then, caramel is drizzled on top of the cookies after baking, right on top of a fresh-out-the-oven-sprinkle of additional coconut and chocolate chips. A flavor profile reminiscent of the Samoa cookie (though my self-admitted bias toward homemade cookies suggests these are significantly better), you really can’t go wrong with the caramel-coconut-chocolate combination. The next time you have a jar of caramel on hand, slightly sticky from its first use and taking up space on your fridge door where your newest pickle jar needs to go, just remember, Caramel Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies are here for you.
Coconut Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/4 tsp vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (plus additional for putting on top)
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut (plus additional for putting on top)
- 1/2 cup caramel (I used Mrs. Richardsons)
- Preheat the oven to 350° F and grease cookie sheets with baking spray or line with baking mats.
- With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and the sugars until light and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla, and then add the eggs, one at a time, mixing slowly after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as you mix.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add this mixture into the butter/sugar mixture slowly, stirring well. Then, fold in the chocolate chips and shredded coconut, reserving some of each to place on top of the cookies once they come out of the oven.
- Optional but recommended step: place the cookie dough in the fridge for about 30 minutes to chill the dough. This is helpful if your cookies tend to come out flat; they will not spread as much if the dough is chilled.
- Scoop dough into rounded tablespoons about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets for about smaller cookies. I like to make large cookies by putting about 1/3-1/2 cup of dough for each cookie. If you decide to make them this large, only put about 4 on each cookie sheet.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes (until the edges look slightly crispy). Larger cookies will take 12-15 minutes. Top the warm cookies with the extra chocolate chips and coconut, and then drizzle with the caramel sauce. Allow the cookies to cool for about 10-15 mintues before moving them to a cooling rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
I absolutely loved this recipe! It’s as so good, I made my own caramel sauce and that added to it was great. I would stress: DO NOT ADD SWEETENED COCONUT. Truly there is no need for sweetened coconut, there’s already a ton of sugar in the cookie and it’s sweet enough. Very delicious, I would highly recommend. The people I made these for even liked them better than the girls scout somoas cookies.