I’ll never forget the year Starbucks released their Salted Caramel Signature Hot Chocolate. It was simultaneously the best and worst holiday season ever. It didn’t take long for this perfect flavor combination to become a near every day occurrence in my life. 
Did I mention I was living in northern Idaho at the time? It was cold, and nothing says comfort from the cold like a warm, rich, delicious drink. Except maybe a warm soft and chewy chocolate cookie filled with gooey caramel and topped with coarse sea salt. I knew as soon as my amazing friend Nicole shared some of her amazing caramels with me, that I wanted needed to make these cookies.
Do you feel comforted yet? Once upon a time I used to be the comforting one. I was the one everyone went to when they had a bad day, and I would listen and give tons of advice that I probably had no business giving because I was kind of a hot mess myself, but I was, like, 20 years old and thought I knew everything. You know how it goes. I had (ummm, wait…I still have…) a special “heart to heart” pillow. That’s a little embarrassing. You hold it while you cry then I feed you words that magically fix everything, and at the same time put an end to world hunger. I know, I am so cool.
These days however, I’m painfully aware that I know basically nothing, and so instead of pretending to be smart, I shove cookies in people’s face and call it “my way of showing I care”. Somehow, I think people prefer this. 
I may not be a master with words, but I have to say, I am pretty much a master of soft, gooey cookies. I mess up a lot of things in the kitchen (including ending up with things that are kind-of-not-really-at-all-baked on a regular basis…), but I always have soft cookies, and these cookies are like biting into a dark chocolate mocha brownie, finding surprise caramel on the inside, and then getting the hint of salt that cuts through the sugar to provide perfect balance.
I wish I could solve all your problems by shoveling them into your mouth right at this moment. Keep me in mind for the next time, though… Salted Caramel Mocha Cookies yield 20 cookies
- 1/2 tbsp espresso powder
- 1/4 cup Dutch process or Hershey’s special dark cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup + 2 tbs white whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup apple butter
- 2/3 cup turbinado sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg or 1/4 cup egg substitute
- 10 caramels, halved
- 2-3 tbs mini dark chocolate chips
- coarse sea salt for topping (such as fleur de sel)
- In a medium bowl, whisk together espresso powder, cocoa powder, baking powder and flour. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat together apple butter, sugar, vanilla and egg until well combined. Beat in dry ingredients. Cover dough and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350. Form dough into 1″ balls. Press 1/2 caramel into the center of each ball and roll dough around until it is covering it completely, then place on lined baking sheet. Gently press a pinch of mini dark chocolate chips onto the top of each dough ball, then top with a pinch of salt.
- Bake for 15 minutes until the edges have set and cookies pull easily off of the baking sheet. Let stand for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Mmm you worked some magic with those caramels! I wasn’t exactly sure what you were planning with them, but I knew you’d make something awesome! These look great!
I clearly remember the year that Starbucks came out with the salted caramel hot chocolate too. It was a major victory for me because there was finally a hot drink at Starbucks that I would enjoy (this pre-dates my like for hot chai)
Now that gingerbread chai has come into your life, you’re going to have some tough choices my friend.
Oh man oh man! I pretty much think I NEED to make these for Christmas… any ideas of a dairy-free caramel?
Okay, so I found these vegan caramels on amazon http://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Petes-Natural-Vegan-Caramel/dp/B0093OGY72/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1354813032&sr=8-16&keywords=vegan+caramels. I think (but I haven’t tried…) you could make your own caramels substituting full fat coconut milk for cream and Earth Balance for butter. Again, I haven’t tried it (although now I want to
), but if you don’t mind a little experimenting, I think it’d be worth a shot!
Ohhh man!!! I’ve only ever drank salted caramel mocha; never eaten!!!! Yummmm!!!!
I haven’t had one yet this year, but I feel it coming…!
Oh my goshhhh! How amazing are these little cookies? I love the flavor combination here, I can only imagine how yummy the must be. Totally bookmarking and pinning
Thanks Kammie!! I was definitely pretty excited when these came out of the oven
Oh my oh my! I am on a Starbucks salted caramel kick this season. It is so tasty. These cookies look divine!
Thanks Angie!
ok Ari…. ummmm yeah. these cookies look like PURE perfection. i love everything about them, especially that salted caramel! i need to try using apple butter in a cookie recipe! i love apple butter on my toast!
Have you ever tried TJ’s fig butter on toast? Mmmmmm. I’ll have to try that in a cookie sometime!
These look fabulous. I love the sweet and salty combination of chocolate and salted caramel–it’s one of my favorites. The apple butter is the surprise ingredient here! I hope to try these soon. Thanks so much1
Thank you!! Using apple butter in a cookie recipe will pretty much change your life. It puts all the other regular butter substitutes to shame
Do you ship?
Well I think these look like possibly the delicousest thing on Earth! Congratulations.
Thanks Suzy!!
Ummm, yum! You shouldn’t show me these haha.
Girrrrrl, you can eat a healthy cookie! The problem then becomes the rest of the batch….
Yummy! Your cookies always look awesome, oh my goodness
And funny you should mention northern Idaho.. I live just across the border from northern Idaho! It’s been cold so far this year, but not too cold. But I still need these cookies in my life 
Where??? Pullman? Spokane? I went to UI in Moscow. And thank you. Cookies are probably my very favorite thing to make….which would explain why there are like 10x more of them than anything else on here
these sound amazing Ari! trying the salted caramel hot chocolate at starbucks has been on my to do list for I don’t know how long – i always think about it but somehow it always gets bypassed for coffee of some sort. I think I need to make a special trip just for hot chocolate
I had my first faux salted caramel mocha last night! I ordered drip coffee with sugar free mocha, steamed soy and the salted caramel topping. It was amazing.
I tried your gingerbread white hot chocolate the other day and it was delicious! These cookies look amazing!
Thanks Rayna!! So glad you liked it
holy cow- bites of heaven, I want
Thanks Kristen!
I made these last week and they were awesome! I used store-bought carmels since I was short on time, but next time I will definitely use my own. So super good! Thanks for the recipe
YAYAYAY!!! That is my favorite type of comment to receive! So glad you enjoyed them
I’m not a huge sweets type person. But I could eat a trough of these. I finally had time to make my own caramels and it is just magical. I make these all the time now. They are my all-time favorite cookies EVER! The texture is the best, best taste. I dream about these!!!!