Gluten-Free Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies

Raise your hand if you love chocolate chip cookies! Now imagine those same ooey-gooey delicious cookies with little bits of salted caramel mixed in. Um, yum!! And the pièce de résistance? These delicious, chewy treats are gluten-free! Honestly, I’m not sure what could make these any better.

When I think of the perfect cookie, I think of a soft, chewy cookie that bends when you break it apart. This isn’t to say that crunchy cookies are bad - they definitely have a time and a place where they truly shine. However, to me, the perfect chocolate chip cookie is chewy. Sometimes gluten-free baking can result in dry or crumbly cookies. These, on the other hand, are fudgy and delicious and when stored in an air-tight container, will stay soft for days (if you don’t eat them all first!)

The key to keeping these cookies thick and chewy is to chill them twice, once when the dough is mixed, and again when it is portioned and rolled. Chilling the dough ensures the cookies won’t spread too much, resulting in thicker, chewier cookies. The other important factor in creating great gluten-free cookies is to add enough leaveners. Gluten-free baking is denser by nature, and therefore requires a greater amount of baking soda, baking powder, or both to create the same rise that is achieved through gluten-filled baking. So, the amount of baking soda and baking powder in the recipe may seem like a lot, but trust me, it is necessary to create cookies that rise.

As a final note, my recipes are all customizable - as are any recipes you come across. That is the beauty of a recipe! It can act as the building block to create a dish that you love. If there is an ingredient you don’t love, substitute it for something else. Of course, that can get trickier with baking, but there are great substitutes out there that will result in a delicious dessert that is just as good as one with the original ingredients. In this case, my recipe calls for a good amount of salt. If you make these and find they are too salty, try replacing the salted butter with unsalted butter, or don’t add the 1/2 a teaspoon of salt that the recipe calls for. I also used a Tony’s Chocolonely Salted Caramel chocolate bar in this recipe, but it would also be good with plain chocolate chips or even a Heath bar. Please experiment and make it your own - I love to develop recipes others will enjoy and love as much as I do, but I know not everyone’s taste is the same, so go crazy and make something you love.