You had me at salted caramel!
Do you like salted and sweet snacks? If that is you, this recipe is for you!
As a kid, I used to love caramel, especially during Christmas time. Every year on Christmas Eve, my parents would have all seven of us take our baths, jump into our pajamas, hop into bed and read books together as we waited for the jingle of Santa’s bell. That special jingle meant that Santa had come to our house! We would all rush downstairs and quickly open our presents. Presents first, stockings second.
Yes, stocking time!
I would quickly toss aside the apples, oranges, and walnuts. What kid wants fruit for Christmas? Time to zero in on the real goodies; Hershey’s kisses and, my favorite, the caramel. If I was lucky, I could peel the plastic wrapper off and quickly pop one or two in my mouth before my Mom would see me or one of my siblings wanted them. With 4 other sisters and 2 brothers you learned to eat the good stuff fast or you would soon lose them to one of those greedy larger hands. Since we opened our presents on Christmas Eve, I’d reluctantly drag myself off to bed dreaming about Christmas morning playing with my presents and enjoying a mouth-watering caramel in my mouth.
Over the years, my love for caramel diminished to be replaced for an intense need for dark chocolate. Recently my love of caramel has returned with the discovery of salted caramel. Now you can find salted caramel in coffee drinks, ice cream, cookies and other deserts. The first time I tried a salted caramel chocolate chip cookie for the first time. Heaven!!
Sea salt, caramel and chocolate chips all in one cookie. Genius!
Caramel is traditionally made with milk or cream and butter so that made it off-limits for our teen due to her dairy allergies. One day I realized that she had never had caramel before! There are recipes out there on how to make your own caramels but most of them include nuts. Cara Reed from Fork and Beans has a great recipe that is nut free if you want to learn how to make them yourself!
Dairy-free Caramels
I decided to buy some from JJ’s Sweets Cocomels Sea Salt Caramels which are a bit expensive but worth the money if you do not have time to make your own. Their caramels are made with Coconut Milk and are dairy-free and gluten-free so no worries here. They have four varieties available and you can order a sample pack to try them all.
Please note they are manufactured in a facility that shares space with other companies who produce nut products. JJ Sweet’s uses their own equipment in their processing.
My teen does not have trouble with the Cocomel Caramels so we used them in the recipe below. What a great addition to our usual chocolate chip cookies. These cookies are SO GOOD! Yep, these did not last long in our house. So if you like salty and sweet treats, you should make this today!
Vegan Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
Are you looking for a different chocolate chip cookie recipe? The addition of caramel in this Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe is the perfect addition to the standard chocolate chip cookie. I love the salted caramels which give it the perfect balance of salty and sweet. It’s a win-win combination! Try JJ’s Sweet Cocomels Sea Salt Caramels for...
Ingredients
- 1/2 c Vegan Butter
- 3/4 c Brown Sugar
- 1/2 c Granulated Sugar
- 2 Egg replacer eggs (3 tsp. egg replacer + 2 tbl. Warm Water)
- 1 tbsp. Non-Dairy Milk
- 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
- 2 c All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp. Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp. Sea Salt
- 1 c Non-Dairy Chocolate Chips
- 9 pieces Sea Salt Cocomel Caramels, cut in half
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375° F. Line your baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper. Mix the egg replacer and warm water and let stand for 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl using an electric mixer, cream the butter and both sugars together until well-blended. Add the egg replacer mixture, vanilla and non-dairy milk and mix until blended. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and sea salt ingredients. Add half of your dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, mix well and repeat with the other half. Dough should roll together in a ball. If too flaky, add a bit more non-dairy milk. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Roll 1 tablespoon of cookie dough into a ball. Cut the Cocomel caramels in half and place one half in each rolled cookie dough ball. Smooth some dough over the caramel to close up cookie. Repeat for the remainder of the dough.
- Place on the baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Allow to cool down on the baking sheet for 1-2 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack. These are best served warm but can be eaten at any time.
Leave a Reply