Recipe: Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies w/ Caramel & Sea Salt

During our quarantine, Hilary decided to do a bit of baking and make one of our favorite cookie recipes by Sally's Baking Addiction. We usually treat ourselves to bringing these on annual camping trips with friends and they're always a huge hit! There's the option to melt the caramels on top and add a bit of sea salt after they've cooked (we highly recommend this if you like sweet & salty treats).

Ingredients

• 2 and 1/4 cups (280g) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (1.5 sticks or 170g) unsalted butter, melted & slightly cooled
• 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
• 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 and 1/4 cups (225g) semi-sweet chocolate chips or chocolate chunks
• Optional: Caramels & sea salt

Directions

1. Whisk the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until no brown sugar lumps remain. Whisk in the egg, then the egg yolk. Finally, whisk in the vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together with a large spoon or rubber spatula. The dough will be very soft, yet thick. Fold in the chocolate chunks. They may not stick to the dough because of the melted butter, but do your best to combine them. Cover the dough and chill in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours or up to 3-4 days. Chilling is mandatory. 
3. Take the dough out of the refrigerator and allow to slightly soften at room temperature for 10 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
5. Roll the dough into balls, about 3 Tablespoons of dough each. The dough will be crumbly, but the warmth of your hands will help the balls stay together. Roll the cookie dough balls to be taller rather than wide, to ensure the cookies will bake up to be thick. Place 8 balls of dough onto each cookie sheet. Press a few more chocolate chips and/or caramels on top.
6. Bake the cookies for 12-13 minutes. The cookies will look very soft and underbaked. They will continue to bake on the cookie sheet. Sprinkle w/ sea salt on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Do you have any favorite camping/campfire recipes you'd like to share? Let us know!

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