Chocolate Caramelized White Chocolate Cookies

Chocolate Caramelized White Chocolate Cookies made with dark cocoa, brown sugar, cinnamon, lots of homemade caramelized white chocolate chunks, and a pinch of flaky sea salt. They’re slightly crispy, super chewy, and….of course…ultra chocolatey!

WHAT MAKES THESE COOKIES SO GOOD AND SO PRETTY?

The main ingredients that make this cookie so irresistibly good are: dark chocolate cocoa powder, cinnamon, vanilla, caramelized white chocolate, and flaky sea salt.

The dark cocoa powder gives these cookies their rich, dark color and the toffee-colored chunks of caramelized white chocolate are so pretty against the dark chocolate. They also add sweet, white chocolate/butterscotch tasting bites!

THESE COOKIES ARE:

• EASY TO MAKE: So….yes….the caramelized white chocolate does take at least forty five minutes plus a few additional minutes to set, but it’s super easy. The batter is prepared like most other cookie doughs and requires zero chilling!
• CHEWY: The centers are perfectly chewy and doughy while the edges are very slightly crispy. The brown sugar lends itself to that chewy texture and the recipe can be made with light brown or dark brown sugar. For that hint of molasses, definitely go with dark brown sugar!
• LARGE: Instead of the usual rounded tablespoon size, these cookies are about 1/4 cup of batter each! 
• CHOCOLATEY: It’s worth mentioning again how chocolatey these are! I love the contrast of the dark cocoa with the ultra sweet white chocolate.

MORE ABOUT THIS COOKIE RECIPE

I first made this basic cookie last fall. I crave chocolate all the time but wanted to make it a fall recipe, so I added cinnamon and toasted pumpkin seeds! The result was this yummy recipe for Double Chocolate Cookies with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds.

I recently brought the recipe back and made a couple of changes….I omitted the pumpkin seeds, used a dark cocoa and swapped the semi sweet chocolate chips for white chocolate chips. Those changes turned these tasty cookies into these Inside Out Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Yup…I love this chocolate cookie recipe! In this version, I stuck with the dark cocoa and swapped out the white chocolate chips for chunks of caramelized white chocolate!

WHAT IS CARAMELIZED WHITE CHOCOLATE?

Caramelized white chocolate is white chocolate that caramelizes while it’s slow roasted in the oven. It gets stirred frequently and turns into a creamy, decadent, must-try treat!

The finished product tastes like white chocolate, but has a much richer, nuttier flavor from the roasting process. It tastes like both butterscotch/caramel taste.

MORE RECIPES WITH CARAMELIZED WHITE CHOCOLATE

I had been wanting to make caramelized white chocolate for so long and finally did recently. Now I’m definitely hooked on the process and the final product. Check out my Shortbread Cookie with Caramelized White Chocolate Ganache for another decadent dessert recipe.

If you’ve never caramelized white chocolate before, Cupcake Gemma has a great video called Caramelised White Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream. She shows how to caramelize white chocolate and then uses it to make swiss meringue buttercream!

IT’S FUN TO MAKE

Not only is it addicting to eat, the process of making it is also addicting. It’s fun, creative, and somewhat therapeutic. Ok, if you’re a baker, you find a lot of things about baking therapeutic, but caramelizing white chocolate is like extra chill and calming. The low and slow process is so chill and it’s to watch it deepen in color.

HOW TO USE CARAMELIZED WHITE CHOCOLATE

In this recipe, we pour the caramelized white chocolate into the bottom of a bread tin lined with parchment paper. Once it hardens, we chop it up and use it in place of chocolate chips in these chocolate cookies. That said, there are so many other ways to enjoy caramelized white chocolate! Try it:

• As a Chocolate Bar: Pour it into a chocolate bar mold or into the bottom of a bread tin lined with parchment paper and refrigerate it until it hardens.
• In Buttercream Frosting: Pour caramelized white chocolate into some whipped butter and add some powdered sugar and you get caramelized white chocolate buttercream! Use it to frost everything from cupcakes to cakes to brownies like these Irish Cream Brownies with Caramelized White Chocolate Buttercream by Fifteen Spatulas.
• In Hot Chocolate: Yes, I know! This Caramelized White Chocolate Hot Chocolate recipe from The Kitchn sounds amazing!

WHAT DO I NEED TO CARAMELIZE WHITE CHOCOLATE?

• WHITE CHOCOLATE: It’s the only ingredient and you’ll want to make sure you use a good quality white chocolate. Check the package to make sure it’s at least 30 percent cocoa butter. The higher the amount of cocoa butter means it will melt more easily and evenly.
• A BAKING SHEET: A rimmed baking sheet is all you need. You can line it with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper or choose not to line it. I used my baking mat because it doesn’t move around. If you use parchment paper, you’ll just need to hold onto it when you stir the chocolate.
• A SPATULA: Use a spatula to stir the chocolate and to spread it evenly as it bakes. You may also want to have a butter knife handy to scrape the white chocolate off the spatula and back onto the tray after each stir.

HOW TO CARAMELIZE WHITE CHOCOLATE?

Preheat oven to 250 F. Roughly chop the chocolate and spread it evenly on the baking sheet. Place tray in the oven for five minutes.

After the first five minutes, take the tray out and stir the white chocolate. Make sure that all the chocolate gets stirred/moved around so that it bakes evenly. After stirring it, make sure it’s spread out evenly.

Bake ten more minutes and stir again. The chocolate may look stiff and kind of bumpy/ugly when you take it out of the oven, but it’ll get smooth after you give it a good stir.

Continue this process for a total of 40-45 minutes. The time will vary slightly depending on the white chocolate you use and your oven. For this reason, make sure to pay close attention to the color changes throughout the process. You want it to be golden-brown and similar to but not quite as brown as peanut butter.

Pour the white chocolate into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper. Place it in the fridge to harden while you prepare the rest of the recipe. When you’re ready to add the chocolate chunks, take the caramelized white chocolate bar out of the fridge and chop it.

HOW TO MAKE THE COOKIE DOUGH

1. Start by combining all of the dry ingredients in a bowl (flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt). Just whisk them to combine then set aside.
2. In a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the room temperature butter and sugars on medium speed for 3-4 minutes until fluffy.
3. Add the eggs one at a time followed by the vanilla. Reduce speed to low and slowly beat in the dry ingredients.
4. Stir in 1 cup each of the chopped chocolate, reserving the remaining ¼ cups to add to the tops.
5. Use a large cookie scoop or an ice cream scoop to measure the batter or eyeball it. No need to roll or flatten the balls, just scoop them and place balls on prepared baking sheets about 3 inches apart. Top each ball with some of the reserved chocolate and a sprinkle of sea salt.
6. Bake 13- 15 minutes until tops are just set. Remove from oven and transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

These giant Chocolate Caramelized White Chocolate Cookies are bakery style cookies made right in your kitchen! While it may seem gourmet, caramelizing white chocolate couldn’t be easier or more fun. The recipe makes perfectly crisp, chewy, chocolatey cookies. Chocolate cookies made delicious spiced with cinnamon and made extra special with caramelized white chocolate chunks!

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