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.
Why you'll love this recipe
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?
Heck yes! Nutty and salty peanuts taste amazing with gooey, super sweet caramel—just consider that many candy bars pair the two, like Take 5, Oh Henry, and PayDay. And in these cookies, soft peanut butter cookies are exquisite with a center of gooey caramel.
🔪 How to make Peanut Butter Caramel Cookies
Ingredients:
- Flour: My go-to brand is King Arthur Flour
- Baking Soda and Powder: These leaveners help the cookies rise and brown
- Salt: Just a pinch
- Butter: Use good-quality, unsalted butter
- Sugar and Brown Sugar: A combination of sweetness and caramel notes
- Eggs: Use large eggs
- Vanilla Extract: Use a good brand of pure vanilla like Nielsen-Massey
- Peanut Butter: Choose a good, creamy peanut butter like Jif
- Soft Caramels: I always use Werther's Soft Caramel Candies
- Flake Sea Salt: This is lovely for a finishing touch and crunch
Step 1: 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.
Step 2: 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.
Step 3: 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, and rock-hard, cheap caramel cubes will not be. Use a good brand of soft caramels.
- 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.
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 cookie temptations for you!
💬 What do you think of these cookies? Leave a comment below!
Peanut Butter Caramel Cookies
Ingredients
- 3¼ cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
- 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 soft caramel candies like Werther's Originals (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 flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. Hold this aside.
- Cream together the softened butter, granulated sugar and 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 the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla extract and mix this in, too. Beat in the 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.
Make cookie dough balls with caramel:
- Scoop out a portion of the dough using a 1½ tablespoon-sized cookie scoop.
- Take an unwrapped caramel, squeeze 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 peeks out.
- Place the caramel cookie dough balls on the baking sheet spaced about two inches apart.
Bake the cookies:
- Bake the cookies for 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.
Kathy
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
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!