Prepare yourself for an incredibly delicious flavor combination! Peanut Butter Caramel Cookies have sweet and gooey centers.
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Every year on National Peanut Butter Lover's Day in March, I spend a lot of time dreaming about peanut butter treats, like Peanut Butter Coconut Macaroons and Peanut Butter French Toast with Bananas.
And of course, classic peanut butter cookies, the kind that taste so good with a tall glass of cold milk.
How about a classic peanut butter cookie recipe with a twist? Like peanut butter cookies with caramel! The cookies are soft and chewy on the inside, and because they're made with Werther's soft caramels, the caramel center stays soft after baking.
In a nutshell... 🐿️
- What this is: A recipe for soft, chewy cookies that are a dreamy twist on a childhood favorite. Peanut butter cookie dough holds a gooey, melted caramel center. It's a New England-style homebaked cookie that just begs for a tall glass of cold milk.
- You'll love this part: The cookies are straightforward to make, and use super soft caramels you can find at the store. They're perfect for holiday gifts, Christmas cookie exchanges, or to keep in the cookie jar as a treat for yourself.
- How it's made: Make the peanut butter cookie dough, then wrap scoops of the dough around soft caramel candies. Bake the cookies until they're set and add a sprinkle of flaky salt.
Jump to:
Why you'll love these Peanut Butter Caramel Cookies
First off, you'll love these cookies because of the CARAMEL: soft caramel candies in the center of the cookies. And second, because peanut butter and caramel taste AMAZING together. It's a great variation on a classic cookie.
The caramel peanut butter cookies are as easy to make as regular peanut butter cookies. A bit of flaked sea salt over the top pulls the two flavors together.
Do peanut butter and caramel go together?
Did you just ask me if peanut butter and caramel go together?? Heck yeah, they do! Nutty and salty peanuts taste amazing with gooey, super sweet caramel.
As proof, just consider how many classic candy bars pair these two ingredients—such as Take 5, Oh Henry!, and PayDay.
In my cookies, soft peanut butter cookies are exquisite with a center of gooey caramel, and a sprinkle of salt.
🔪 How to make Peanut Butter Caramel Cookies
Ingredients:
- Flour: All-purpose flour is fine to use here, and my go-to brand is King Arthur Baking Company.
- Baking Soda and Powder: These leaveners help the cookies rise and brown.
- Salt: Just a pinch in the cookie dough makes them taste even better.
- Butter: Use good-quality, unsalted butter; brands like Cabot, Kate's, and Kerrygold.
- Sugar and Brown Sugar: A combination of these two sugars gives the cookies sweetness and also caramel notes.
- Eggs: Use large eggs here. Letting your eggs come to room teperature before using them is a pro-baker trick for better blending and more consistent results.
- Vanilla Extract: Use a good brand of pure vanilla extract, like Nielsen-Massey.
- Peanut Butter: Choose a good, creamy peanut butter like Jif or Skippy.
- Soft Caramels: I always use Werther's Soft Caramel Candies. Just make sure the caramels are really soft; you should be able to easily squeeze them between your fingers.
- Flake Sea Salt: This is lovely for a finishing touch and crunch on top of the cookies. Keep some in your pantry to add to the tops of savory pies, too.
Make the dough
Cream together the butter, sugars, eggs, vanilla, and peanut butter. Mix the dry ingredients together, and slowly add them to the peanut butter mixture until you have a uniform cookie dough.
How to get the caramel inside the dough
Use a cookie scoop to scoop out a portion of dough, then tuck the caramel candy inside. Fold the dough around the caramel so that just a little bit peeks out. Place them on a lined baking sheet.
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Bake
Bake the cookies for about 13 minutes. Let them cool for a few minutes on the sheet, then move them to a cooling rack. Add a sprinkle of sea salt.
The result is salted caramel peanut butter cookies—divine!
Ingredients tips:
- Caramels: Don't skimp on the quality of the caramels. (I found out the hard way on this one.) You want the caramels to be soft after baking; rock-hard, cheap caramel cubes will not work. Use a good brand of soft caramels like Werthers.
- Butter: Use unsalted butter in these cookies. (A good idea with baking in general.) That way the cookies don't turn out saltier than you're expecting.
- Peanut butter: I use creamy peanut butter for these cookies. Want to experiment with crunchy peanut butter? Go for it! However, this recipe has not been tested with natural peanut butter, which is more oily, so stick with regular peanut butter.
Peanut Butter Caramel Cookies FAQs
A stand mixer or hand-held mixer, a baking sheet, parchment paper, a spatula, and a cooling rack. To scoop the cookie dough I recommend a cookie scoop like this one.
The Werther's Soft Caramels are cylindrical in shape but they're also—soft! Just squeeze the caramels between your fingers and you'll get a squat shape that you can easily tuck in the cookie dough.
Because of the caramel centers, I don't recommend freezing the baked cookies. However, the peanut butter cookie dough alone will freeze very well. Seal it well in a freezer-proof bag, and store it in the freezer for up to three months. Allow it to thaw in the fridge, then follow the recipe to scoop it and add the caramels.
These cookies are fun to make and so, so delicious. They deserve a place in your recipe box, to make for cookie exchanges, holidays, or any time of the year that you crave a tasty, peanut buttery cookie with a sweet, gooey center.
The Peanut Butter Caramel Cookies recipe is below, but first: a few other treats for you:
💬 Did you make and devour this recipe? Leave a comment below.
📖 Recipe
Peanut Butter Caramel Cookies
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Ingredients
- 3¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup smooth peanut butter (about 9 ounces)
- 40 Werther's Originals soft caramel candies (wrappers removed)
- Flake sea salt (for sprinkling)
Instructions
Make the cookie dough:
- Preheat the oven to 375° F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat mat.
- Mix together the 3¼ cups all-purpose flour, ¾ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon baking powder in a large bowl. Hold this aside.
- Cream together the 1 cup unsalted butter, softened, 1 cup granulated sugar, and 1 cup packed light brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer—cream the butter and sugars for about 5 minutes.
- Mix in one at a time 2 large eggs, room temperature, then add the 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract and mix this in, too. Beat in the 1 cup smooth peanut butter until the mixture is smooth.
- Add the flour mixture to the bowl in two additions, scraping the bowl a couple of times to be sure everything is incorporated.
- Refrigerate the cookie dough for 30 minutes, to firm it up.
Make cookie dough balls with caramel:
- Scoop out a portion of the dough using a 1½ tablespoon-sized cookie scoop.
- Prepare the 40 Werther's Originals soft caramel candies: squeeze each caramel into a little into a ball shape. Then, push the caramel into the dough ball. Fold the dough around the caramel until just a tiny bit of caramel is peeking out.
- Place the caramel cookie dough balls on the baking sheet spaced about two inches apart—the exposed caramel should be pointing straight up.
- (Between batches, cover the bowl with the remaining dough and hold it in the fridge.)
Bake the cookies:
- Bake the cookies for 11 to 13 minutes, until the edges are set. The cookies will be flattened with a pool of caramel in the center. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then move them to a cooling rack.
- Sprinkle a little Flake sea salt over the tops of the cookies.
- Repeat the dough and caramel steps, and the baking until all the cookies are baked.
- Store the cookies in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 4 days. Makes about 39 cookies.
Notes
Tips:
- Don't skimp on the quality of the caramels. (I found out the hard way on this one.) For caramel that's soft after baking use a good brand of soft caramels.
- Werther's Soft Caramels are cylindrical in shape. Squeeze the caramels between your fingers for a squat shape to tuck in the cookie dough.
Nutrition
Kathy says
Hello, I can't get brown sugar where I am (or molasses to make my own). Can I use maple syrup and if so, how would you adjust the recipe? Thanks in advance
Nancy Mock says
Hi Kathy, Because maple syrup is liquid it will affect the texture of the cookies and how they bake up. I think it would be safer for you to just use 2 cups of white sugar instead of one cup white, one cup brown. The cookies may be a little crispier but should still turn out well. Thanks, and let me know how they turn out!