The other day, I went to a cookie exchange at my friend Erin’s house. It’s been a tradition for a couple of years now, and I always look forward to seeing the friends I went to school with for 12 years before heading off to college. Not to mention it’s a mother-daughter event, so we all have a great time laughing at all their antics (too much wine) and grimacing when they unblushingly tell all of our embarrassing stories (again, I blame the wine).
Even though I’ve grown up with these girls, I can’t help but want to show off when it comes to bringing the most extravagant cookies and usually like to experiment with a few showcase cookies that can’t help but look and taste delicious!
Please pin the picture below if you’d like to pin this recipe! Thank you! 
For me, life is all about balance and I truly believe that a completely healthy life depends on both your mental sanity and feeling good in your own skin. Yes, I exercise and eat healthy, but I have absolutely no desire to live a life that consists of restricting and overexercising in the name of your health. If I want to eat a cookie, I’m going to eat it. If I want to take a week off from the gym because I’m not feeling too well, I’m going to do so without any regret whatsoever. I know this sounds a little off tangent for a cookie post, but I sometime feel that “healthy living bloggers” get themselves stuck in a negative place when it comes to food and exercise and try to put forth a perfect picture of their life and body image. While Apple of My Eye usually concentrates on healthier recipes, I don’t want to restrict my site to any one genre. How boring would that be?
Anyways, I bring this up because this recipe has sugar. Lots of sugar. And butter. And caramel. And chocolate chips. Get the picture? It’s deliciously indulgent and the perfect recipe for any party where you really want to bring a dessert that has the “WOW” factor to it!
The cookie recipe I use is from Parents Need to Eat Too, and let me tell ya, it’s the best chocolate chip cookie recipe I’ve ever made. I think I’ve baked at least 30 batches of them over the last couple of years and others really just don’t match up to it. This is definitely one of Kyle’s favorite desserts as well! When they’re baked on a plain cookie sheet, they have a slightly crunchy exterior, but still maintain a softer inside. I can’t even explain them. Think joy and kittens and rainbows and Zac Efron all mixed into one cookie. Yup.
And these Deep Dish Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies? Think of everything I described above, but with a oozy-gooey caramel center surrounded by half-baked cookie dough and a more firm cookie crust. Unreal!
There’s one key rule when it comes to the these cookies, though. DON’T OVER BAKE.
I know it’s super tempting to look into the oven, see an underdone cookie, and set the timer for a few more minutes, but you need to resist. Seriously, apply that willpower of yours because these cookies are a million times better when they are soft in the middle and will finish baking outside of the oven as they cool.
And, without further ado, I present to you: Deep Dish Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies!
Dig in!
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Holy. Amazingness. If only I knew how to bake without screwing up a recipe… I may have to enlist my mom to make these for me because I’m literally drooling right now. Yum.
Hahah I’d be happy to come over and bake you up a hot batch 😉
These look so good. I’m thinking about adding them to my New Year’s Eve menu, though cookies are the last thing that I need!!
Let me know how they turn out for you if you do! 😀
These look absolutely amazing and I’m totally with you, sometimes you just need to indulge!
Right?! You need some treats to keep ya sane
These are a MUST try – it combines all of my fav ingredients – carmel and chocolate….yummy
I agree! Those are a few of my favorite ingredients as well :D. You can’t for wrong with them!
Sometimes there’s just no substitute for good old fashioned butter, flour, and sugar. These look incredible, girl!
Thanks, Amanda! Not as incredible as some of the absolutely delicious recipes you post 😀
Joy and kittens and rainbows and Zac Efron…. love it
these look absolutely wonderful!! I’m totally with ya on “healthy living bloggers” – what is life if you don’t indulge a little?
Hahah a pretty good description, right ;)?
First off, love your outlooks on healthy living!! Indulging is NOT a bad thing! Especially when something like these cookies are involved. Seriously, I think I died and went to heaven when I saw your pictures and read your description. And you wouldn’t have to worry about me over baking them because I always under bake cookies… I like them doughy which I know is weird, but honesty I wouldn’t even bake them if I knew I wouldn’t get sick just eating the dough 😛
I completely agree! You need some treats to keep you sane in life :D. Mhmm we have that in common! If I could, I would just eat cookie dough and not bake them at all haha!
Seriously brilliant! After this holiday seasons though I think I should wait a couple weeks before baking again but I am so pinning these so I can remember to make them!
Thanks, Elise! Hahah that crossed my mind as well, but then I realized that I can never have too many cookies ;).
Thanks so much for taking the time to pin the recipe! I really appreciate it 😀
What would life be w/o being okay to indulge from time to time.. or for me, once or twice a week
These look so good! Beautiful pictures as always and I’m definitely pinning that one
Oh, my. There goes the resolutions! These look and sound awesome and I can’t wait to make them. My kids will LOVE them!
Hahah seriously, right?! They’re irresistible and such an easy but impressive dessert to make. Perfect with some vanilla ice cream 😉
Saw these re-tweeted today and decided I’d test it out. Usually that means I think about baking and end up with the same ‘ol slop. I DID make these (but as regular cookies) and OH MY GOSH YOU ARE A GENIUS! Ok, my coworkers are going to love you 😉
Isn’t it the BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe ever? Literally go to heaven whenever I put one into my mouth hahaha ;). SO glad you liked it and I really appreciate you leaving a comment! Totally made my day haha 😀
Christine, These are awesome. Thanks for sharing. Pinned!
Hi Christine,
I saw your photo over at Food Foto Gallery. Congratulations on your win and your stunning photos! So glad to find your blog – so much fantastic inspiration here. Have a great week and enjoy your win!
These look dangerous! I love caramel and chocolate together. Pinned and can’t wait to try them! I found you via SITS Girls FB group today.
Just made these over the weekend for a huge family birthday party. They are wonderful and were a huge hit! Definitely will make them again! Thank you for sharing!
So glad they went over well :)! Thanks for stopping by and letting me know how they turned out!
I have to make cookies for an event coming up. Are these still good a few days after they are made? Or are they better fresh?
I think they would be better made the day of or the night before, but you can give try making them earlier than heating them up in the oven for a bit before serving!
Will use my own cookie recipe with the caramel and a sprinkle of sea salt. Should be pretty tasty…thanks for sharing the idea!
Mhmm that sounds like it will turn out fabulously! No problem!
What a great combo – caramel + chocolate chip. So good the only way to go would be make it deep dish!
I’m curious as to whether or not this would work in mini muffin tins. Perhaps, half the amount of dough & cut the caramel in half? How long would you bake? Looks fabulous!
I definitely think they would! It depends on how small your min-muffin tins are. I have a set that make super tiny ones, so I would probably just fill up the tin to 2/3 the height of the muffin tin. Baking times would probably be around half the normal recipe, but I would test it out by just filling up one of the tins initially and baking it to see how it turns out. That should give you a better idea of how to bake a whole batch :)!
Please help! I’m trying to fill these cookies with my homemade caramels but it’s not working! The caramel are good until they get baked into the cookie! They come out crystallized and grainy! Why is this happening?? Is there a certain type of caramel recipe or procedure I must follow in order to bake them inside of a cookie?? It works just fine with store bought caramels!! Why??? Thanks for your help
Hmmm I’ve never tried using homemade caramels (they sound delicious, though!) so I can’t give you a foolproof answer. Try using the store-bought caramels since they seem to melt into the cookie and don’t get a grainy texture at all! Wish I could give better help, sorry!
i made these yesterday. Followed recipe exactly and used normal size muffin pan. But every single cookie collapsed in the middle so they all had big holes. What did I do wrong or how can I prevent next time? They still tasted fantastic! Just weren’t pretty
Hi Angie!
Hmm, that’s odd. I had a few of my cookies slightly sink in as the caramel melted and took up less space, but none of them collapsed! Maybe you could try chilling the dough beforehand or stuffing them with extra caramel (which is never a bad thing in my opinion hahah!). I’m sorry the first batch wasn’t all that pretty!
If I were to make these cookies into mini cupcakes instead of the standard size, how long do you recommend the bake time to be? They look delicious. I’m planning to make these for our cookie exchange this year.
Hi Mira! Hmmm, I would try baking them for half the time. You might want to do one tester cookie before putting in the whole batch to get a better idea on how long they’ll need!
4.3 from 3 reviews
Deep Dish Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
Print
Prep time
15 mins
Cook time
20 mins
Total time
35 mins
These Deep Dish Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies are fantastically indulgent and stuffed with gooey caramel and half-baked cookie dough.
Author: Christine@ Apple of My Eye
Serves: 20
Ingredients
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter
1½ cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
3 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 12 oz bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
20 caramels
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
In a mixer, cream together the butter and both sugars. Add in the vanilla extract and eggs, beating to combine.
Carefully add the flour mixture into the butter mixture, mixing just till combined.
Gently fold in the chocolate chips.
In a greased muffin pan, add 1½ tablespoons of the cookie dough to the bottom. Add a caramel into the middle and cover with another tablespoon of the dough.
Bake for 18-20 minutes. Do not over bake!
Let cool and enjoy!