I’d like to take a second to address the massacre that occurred on Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut, and the blogging day of silence.
What happened at Sandy Hook was horrific. Just hearing the news and reading the stories sent chills of pain and fear down my spine.. and I’m across the country in the comfort of my own home. I cannot even begin to imagine the palpable fear among the hallways, the seizing terror that coursed through each person in every classroom. My aches are pale in comparison to the pain that must be wracking through every individual affected by this enormous tragedy.
On Saturday, I had planned to post a recipe, but given the tragic incident on Friday, a recipe about bars seemed frivolous and insensitive. I opted to postpone my post on Saturday as a day to send positive thoughts toward Connecticut, and spend time with my family.
Many bloggers have decided to make today, Monday, a day of silence to honor and remember the lives lost on Friday. I whole-heartedly respect this decision. I believe death–even in these gruesome, heartbreaking circumstances–is handled differently by each individual. Some need lots of time to reflect and mourn, others would prefer life to continue on as they learn to heal their wounds day-by-day.
While I have never dealt with a loss of this magnitude, I am the type of person who prefers not to dwell on what happened, but embrace the people who were affected. These children were all loving, innocent souls. To see through their eyes would be seeing the world from a completely pure, imaginative perspective that we seem to lose as adults. A world of wonder and magic. A youthful, silly, happy world. A world of a kid.
So today, I decided to post about cookies. Yes, of course cookies seem stupid compared to innocent lives lost just several days ago, but today’s post isn’t about forgetting about the tragedy, but about embracing that fun, happy-go-lucky wonder and magic kids feel–what kids are.
Kids are goofballs. Kids are silly. Kids push your buttons, ask inquisitive questions, say funny things. Kids are perpetual sugar-eating fiends… and who would probably go crazy for candy inside of cookies. Kids are innocent, beautiful souls who will forever be remembered, and whose souls will forever be embraced.
Kiddies, wherever you are, I hope there are plenty of cookies and candy. Rest in peace.
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With that said, here’s a cookie recipe that’s sure to put a smile on your face and the face of any kid. Deep dish, straight-up chocolate chip cookie dough blankets a creamy square of Ghiradelli caramel-filled chocolate, creating one dreamy, wonderful cookie. It’s soft and plush, with a puffy top and crispy edges, creating an irresistible cookie that definitely pleases. Make them with your kiddo, or channel your inner kiddo, and just smile.
Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Caramel-Filled Cookies *cookie recipe adapted from my Vanilla Bean Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe
- ¾ cup butter, softened
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup white sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips
- 12 Ghiradelli Caramel squares, unwrapped
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a muffin top pan or deep dish cookie pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, soda, cornstarch and salt, and set aside. Meanwhile, in a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugars until creamy, about a minute. Beat in the egg and vanilla to combine.
- Gradually add flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating well after each addition. Once dough has come together, stir the chocolate chips in by hand with a wooden spoon.
- Drop a Tablespoonful of dough into the bottom of each cavity. Gently press it to cover the bottom of each cavity. Top with an unwrapped square. Top the candy with an additional Tablespoonful of dough and gently press the top dough ball to cover and enclose the candy.
- Bake the cookies for approx. 12-15 minutes or until the centers are set and the edges are golden and lightly crisped. Allow the cookies to cool in the pan about 5 minutes before gently removing to wire racks to cool completely. You can loosen them from the pan very carefully with a butter knife.
- **Note: You can also make this recipe without a deep dish cookie pan--just drop heaping Tablespoonfuls of dough 2-3" apart on a greased or silicone-lined cookie sheet.**
These cookies are not only simple to make, but they taste delicious and look so elegant and impressive. The gooey caramel oozes out of each brown sugary bite, mixing harmoniously with the melty chocolate chips. If you’re feeling feisty, you can certainly try adding different flavored chocolates, like mint or raspberry, to change up the flavors!
Happy Tuesday,
xo, Hayley
Fabulous cookies, Hayley!
These cookies could not possibly get any better! Pinning 🙂
Hayley, I think these look like total comfort cookies. I love them 🙂
OMG. These are amazing!
Yeah, so I feel like a butt because I just got the memo on the day of blogger silence now… two hours after I posted and sent out my latest blog post 🙁 But the thought of making these puts a smile back on my face – so mission accomplished Hayley. PS – my latest blog post is your Oreo moon pies, which are another awesome cookie to make with kiddos.
I’m a huge fan of stuffed cookies. I mean I’m a huge fan of plain cookies too, but when you stuff them they are out of control good. I love that you put caramel chocolate in the middle. AH! Can it get any better than that?!
I love that you made these in a muffin pan!! Such an awesome idea to get that “deep dish” feel! Oh and those caramel chocolate squares in the middle…I’m drooling here!
This was a beautifully written post, Hayley!!! I appreciate everyone’s need for silence, but I think remembering the childlike wonder is a great way to honor them too!
My inner kid needs these candy filled cookies for sure!!!
These cookies look so delicious! Can it get any better than a caramel stuffed cookie? I don’t think so.
I took the weekend to spend with my kids, to just listen to them laugh and argue and push my buttons. I think it’s going to be weeks, maybe months before I start getting irritated by the arguing and the button pushing and the dirty socks left in the middle of the floor. I think these cookies would be a wonderful way to welcome them home from school today. Caramel stuffed, yes, they are totally worth it!
Want. Now.
These.look.outrageous! Love that they have Ghirardelli caramel squares inside!
I’m fully convinced that there are cookies in heaven.
I’ve been totally unplugged the last few days–just spending time with my family and feeling so grateful, but so, so sad. LOVE these cookies, though – the Ghirardelli caramel squares are a genius touch!
I could totally take comfort in a few of these babies! Great job, lady!!!
I saw these all over Pinterest today! Love the Ghiradelli caramel in them 🙂
yum!!! LOVE the chocolate ghiradelli shoved inside these deep dish babies – what a great way to make cookies, i love thick, ooey gooey cookies!
you’re the queen of stuffing cookies hayley. 🙂 I love how thick these are! Ooey gooey and literally dripping with awesomesauce. haha i’m a nerd.
I cannot wait to make these cookies..My grown sons, and grandsons are going to love them. Thanks
Carole–you’re so welcome! Thanks for your comment 🙂
GORGEOUS! Love using muffin top pans for things other than muffin tops! Beautiful shots too!
These are cookie perfection. Looove!
Love making cookies in my whoopie pie pan or muffin tin – guaranteed to not spread and all turn out exactly uniform. And the caramel in these – with the buttery dough and chocolate, heavenly!
Holy melty goodness overload with these cookies Hayley!
Thank you Mercedes! They’re super melty when warm and I like ’em just like that!
These cookies are awesome, but one word of caution; they’re HUGE.
A lot bigger than my usual cookie.
But I’m not complaining 😉
They’re a wonderful treat to bake up!
Haha they ARE quite large–but that hasn’t stopped me from chowing down 🙂 you could always make them smaller and wrap one Tablespoon of dough around a Rolo. It’s a smaller cookie but the same effect!
I’m going to have to get me one of those muffin top/whoppie pie pans, because these look delicious! And I love how thick they are! Ok I’m drooling now 🙂
Just made these–very good!! I used mini chocolate chips, which I am glad because I would imagine it is tougher to flatten out the dough with bigger chunks. The batter was thicker than expected, but the finished product turned out GREAT! Thanks~
Can you make these in a muffin tin?
Hi Sheila! Yes, you certainly could! Just make sure you grease the heck out of that muffin tin 🙂
My husband and I made these tonight for a bake sale tomorrow and am sorry to say that they sunk in the middle and I couldn’t get them out of the pans. Tasted great but went to the bake sale empty handed. I have no idea what went wrong.
Karen — so sorry to hear they got stuck for you 🙁 without being there I’m not sure what went wrong either, and I’m assuming you greased the pans really well? Other than that, I’m not sure–sorry about that!
I was flipping through pinterest looking for something easy to make for a little play date this weekend and a party I am having soon, when I saw these cookies and had to stop. What 1st grader or kindergartener wouldn’t LOVE these? As I strolled down the page I got to the opening blog about Newtown Ct. Your words touched me deeply. You see I am a mom from Newtown, Ct. I have a 1st grader. Mine child attends one of the other elementary schools we have in town, but he lost many of his play date, preschool friends that day. Many dear friends of mine, lost their children. To see your post, today (just 5 months later) brought tears to my eyes, and filled my heart full of comfort to know that someone honored our town and our babies, even if it was just by posting a kid loving recipe. Thank you. From myself, from our town, Thank You! We are still living this nightmare daily. Baby steps forward, but the healing, if at all possible, is so far away. It’s important for us, here in Newtown, to know that others, outside of our small town, remember what happened that day. And won’t forget our lost babies.
I really think it sounds great
I made these tonight, are they supposed to look like a muffin when they come out? Very good though, will make them again, I am a caramel lover! 🙂
Thanks for sharing this recipe. These look incredible!
I made these today for my husband who is coming home from a 10 month deployment…. epic fail… They turned in to hollow muffin shaped sticky mess. Waste of time and money… and I’m no beginning baker!! HORRIBLE!!!!!!! From the crumbly dough to the sticky mess of a “cookie”… DO NOT DO IT!!! Now I have no sweet snack for my husband 🙁
Julia, so sorry to hear about the cookie fail! 🙁 bummer. Unfortunately without having been there, I can’t help you troubleshoot what could have gone wrong, but I’ll look into my recipe to make sure it wasn’t something on my end.
I have looked at the recipe for the Deep Dish Caramel Filled Cookies, but I’m not sure I understand how to make them, ie. instructions are to drop a Tablespoonful of dough into the bottom of each cavity. But am I dropping the dough on a cookie sheet and then filling or using a muffin tin? I wasn’t clear.
Thanks
Rhonda
Hi Rhonda! You’ll just drop the cookie dough straight into the cavity of either a muffin top pan or a deep dish cookie pan, then proceed with the filling instructions. If you don’t have either one of those pans, you could try dropping the dough into greased muffin tins! They’ll be more like cookie cups but still yummy!
I made these last night but used a caramilk chocolate bar instead as I couldn’t find the caramels you used and they turned out amazing! When they were still gooey and warm I put one in a bowl with some ice cream on top and it was so delicious. Such an easy recipe, thanks so much for the sweet treat!
Ooh, that caramilk bar sounds SO good in these!!
I still don’t understand how to make these – do you put them in muffin tins or a cookie sheet? The recipe doesn’t seem to be explicit. Could someone advise me.
Thanks so much
Rhonda
Hi Rhonda, to make these cookies “deep dish” you should bake them in a deep dish cookie pan/whoopie pie pan. You can find these pans, usually with shallow round cavities, at Michael’s, Walmart, Target, etc. If you don’t have one, you are welcome to use a liberally greased muffin tin instead. And if you’d rather not, you can also use a regular cookie sheet — just make sure the dough is covering the caramel candy inside, and maybe reduce the bake time a minute or two.
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to my email re the Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Caramel Filled Cookies. I will purchase the Whoopie pie pans and make these as they look so delicious.
Happy Baking
Rhonda
I’m a little confused on the directions. You state to bake the Ghiradelli squares unwrapped, so bake them in their plast wrap?!! I am sure that isn’t what you mean? Please clarify. THanks, Julie
Nevermind! I’m an idiot! Unwrapped means unwrapped. I work graveyard and have a brand new baby, I believe I am delirious! Sorry for your time.
Haha nah, it’s totally okay! You’re not an idiot at all, and I’m glad you figured it out because the wrapping baked inside would have been terrible, lol. These cookies are going to be an awesome pick me up in between graveyard shifts and baby feedings!
These cookies were awesome!
I just made these and they came out INCREDIBLY! Thanks for the great recipe!
Hi, just wanted to let you know that I’ll be featuring this recipe on my blog this Saturday as a part of my weekly series, Saturday Night Share. Thank you for a wonderful recipe that may just add back those 2 pounds I just lost 🙂
Awesome, thanks so much Nicole!! (And pssst, they’re worth the 2 pounds!) 🙂
I normally don’t read what a blogger writes – I just want the darn recipe. Today I read your post and it brought tears to my eyes…beautifully written and heartfelt. Thank you for that and thank you for the yummy looking recipe!
Thank you Peggy!
I normally don’t read what the blogger writes about themselves – I just want the darn recipe! Today I read your post and it brought tears to my eyes. I, too, cannot imagine the horror those children and teachers went through, especially the little innocent children…your words were beautifully written and heartfelt. Thank you for that and thank you for the yummy looking recipe!
I didn’t have a muffin topper pan so I used a muffin tin. They taste great but they sunk in the middle A LOT. So they look kind of ugly but my family will eat them. If you know what caused the sinking, LMK. Thanks for the yummy recipe!
These are awesome. I actually made them in mini muffin tins. I didn’t have the right caramel so I used the square caramels and cut them smaller. Baked them for about 10-11 minutes. Thanks for the great recipe!
These look fabulous! I’d love for you to join the Pinworthy Projects party! http://www.atkinsondrive.com/pinworthy-projects-link-party-12/
Just made these, they look delicious and smell so good! Can’t wait to eat one 🙂 They were so easy to make and the recipe tells you exactly what you’ll get, 12 muffin sized stuffed cookies.. fabulous! I had to use pieces of kit kat instead of the caramel chocolate but im sure they will be delicious no matter what! Check out mine here: http://healthyhellzya.tumblr.com/post/68790169990/super-unhealthy-baking-but-delicious
Have an awesome holiday 🙂
Hi Maddy! So glad to hear the recipe was a success for you! The Kit Kat inside sounds SO yummy — I live for that crispy crunch! Have a great holiday, girlie 🙂 xo!
Am I the only one who is confused about putting the squares in the cookies UNWRAPPED?? Or am I just missing something still after reading through the instructions multiple times??
I just made these and I wish I had thought more about a formed dish like the muffin tops because I made them on a cookie sheet and they spend instead of being a thick cookie. I found the dough very sticky to work with but they look delish! Bringing to a party so hopefully they will be good!
Just made these today and used homemade salted Caramel in the center because I did not have the chocolate squares. Yummy!
Stacie, that sounds like an awesome substitution! Thanks for your comment! 🙂
I wonder if you can substitute Hershey’s Caramel kisses for the Ghiradelli Caramel squares? We are in the middle of a thunder sleet rain snow storm in Oklahoma and I don’t want to go to the store!
Elisha, absolutely!!
Just made these to take over to a neighbor’s pig roast. They are so yummy! I bought a big bag of the different flavors of squares so I’m making all the different flavors, but the caramel ones are very good. I had no issues with them and made them as written except for melting the butter first. I also lined my pan with non-stick foil and had no issues getting them out of the pan. Great recipe – a definite keeper. Note to self: buy more pans so I don’t have to wait between batches!
Hi there, thanks for the recipe, I can’t wait to try it! I was just wondering, is it necessary to chill the dough as most cookie recipes require to do so. (or would I be safe by simply cooling the butter before adding it in the mix) Any advice is appreciated! 🙂
I made these gluten free for my daughter who has celiac. I used a cup for cup flour. They came out shaped just like a muffin and cake consistency, which was very good! Next time I think I will put them in a cake pan and they drizzle them with Carmel when they are done cooking. I have only just began baking gluten free so I am not sure if that is why the consistency was so different, but we ended up with awesome chocolate chip caramel muffins!
Cassie, woohoo! While it didn’t turn out with cookies, I’m glad they were equally as delicious as a muffin! I’ll tweak my recipe to see if I can figure out why it did that with GF flour. In the meantime, if you search “Gluten Free” on my site, there are some other scrumptious options as well that I have used with GF products, mixes or flours. Good luck! 🙂
I just made these! I thought they were going to be a fail because the dough was kind of crumbly but they turned out perfectly, albeit a bit more sugar than anyone truly needs. 🙂
Brittany, I’m so glad you had success with this recipe! It’s one of my favorites and it turns out every time for me 🙂 so glad you enjoyed them!
HI I found your recipe on Pinterest. I am doing a Round Up blog post later in March for National Chocolate Caramel Day (the 19th) and am interested in including this recipe in that round up. I would like to use a picture from the post, with links back to your site/this post. I would promote it on my all my social media platforms and would share the link with you so that you could do the same if you wish. If you are not interested, I understand, I will not use your post/images without your permission.
Thank you for your time.
ABSOLUTELY LOVE THESE COOKIES!!! I make them and deliver them to my son’s school, they are gone within MINUTES!
Torea, so so happy they were a hit! Thank you!