Rich, delicious, tender double chocolate cookies made with cocoa powder (no melted chocolate!) and sweet caramel chips. A one-bowl recipe!
Melt the butter in the microwave or on the stove. In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter in 15 second bursts. (Melting in bursts helps prevent popping and splattering.) Once the butter is mostly melted, switch over to 10 second bursts.
Add sugar and brown sugar. Stir until combined. The sugar will partially melt; there may be butter that isn't quite incorporated.
Check to be sure the butter is cool enough to touch. If it is too hot, it will cook the eggs, so let it cool briefly. Once it's cool enough, add the eggs and vanilla. Stir in just until combined, but not too vigorously; you don't want to mix in air.
Add dry ingredients. If you're worried about them being lumpy (cocoa powder in particular can be lumpy), sift them together first. Then, gently fold the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt mixture into the butter mixture. A few dry streaks are ok since you'll mix in chips. You don't want to overwork the dough.
Stir in the chocolate and caramel chips.
Optional: let the dough rest, or chill the dough, for 15-30 minutes to let the flour and cocoa in the dough hydrate. See notes below.
Scoop 1 ½ tablespoon balls onto a parchment-lined or Silpat-lined baking sheet. [A medium (1.5-tablespoon or #40) cookie scoop works perfectly for this.] Bake at 350F for 7-8 minutes. The cookies will no longer look wet on the top when done.
Cookies are incredibly soft when they come out of the oven. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then move parchment or Silpat to the counter to cool completely (about 30 minutes) before removing and eating.
These cookies are their absolute best on the day or day after you bake them, although they are still surprisingly good a few days later. Store baked cookies in an airtight container. Scoop and freeze the remaining dough and bake the cookies fresh when you want them.
I weighed my ingredients; cup/volume measurements are approximate.
These cookies can be made with an electric mixer if desired. If using, be sure not to mix for too long; you don't want a lot of air in these.
In the winter, you can bake these cookies just after mixing. However, they bake/set up better if you let the dough rest for 15-30 minutes while the oven preheats. In warmer summer weather, the cookies might benefit from chilling the dough for 30 minutes.
I baked 1 sheet of cookies at a time; my cookies tend to overbake if I use 2 oven racks and 2 cookie sheets, even if I rotate my pans. You can, however, baked 2 sheets at once if desired. Be sure to turn around the cookie sheets and switch them from top to bottom halfway through the baking time.
These cookies set up incredibly soft. You can bake them an additional minute if desired, but I prefer to let them cool completely so they're still very tender the next day.
Scoop and freeze the remaining dough to bake later. You won't regret it. I make another batch of cookie dough as soon as we've baked our last freezer cookie.
Adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything Cookbook, via the Food Charlatan