Everything you love about a candy bar, baked into one chewy cookie.
These Milk Chocolate Caramel and Peanut Cookies are loaded with flavor and texture in every bite-without any messy melting. Instead of gooey centers, the milk chocolate and caramel chips hold their shape, adding pockets of soft sweetness throughout. A short chill helps the dough bake up chewy, while dry roasted peanut granules bring just the right amount of crunch. Think candy bar vibes, but all wrapped up in a cookie.
Why You'll Love These Cookies
- No messy melting-chips hold their shape
- Crunchy, sweet, and slightly salty
- Short chill time keeps the dough easy to work with
- Great for bake sales, gifting, or sharing with co-workers
Recipe Update
Why the update? This recipe originally used Nestlé's Toll House Chocolate Caramel Peanut Morsels & More blend, but since those mixes are no longer available (and weren't always consistent), I decided to break it down into individual ingredients. Now, with real caramel chips, dry roasted peanut granules, and milk chocolate chips, every bite has the same candy bar-inspired flavor, just with more control and better results. You get all the texture and richness of the original, without relying on a pre-made mix.
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Ingredients You Will Need
- Butter unsalted
- Light brown sugar
- Sugar white
- Eggs
- Vanilla bean paste
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Baking powder
- Ground cinnamon
- Kosher Salt
- Lieber's real caramel chips
- Dry roasted peanut granules
- Milk chocolate chips
Ingredients Tip!
- Caramel Chips - Since Hershey's has discontinued their caramel chips I tested what was on the market currently and found Lieber's caramel chips to be the best option.
- Dry Roasted Peanut Granules - If you can't find them already prepared at your grocery store, here's how to roast your own peanuts.
- Milk Chocolate Chips - I used Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips but if you have a favorite please feel free to swap it out with yours.
Making Milk Chocolate Caramel and Peanut Cookies
Prepping
All righty time to make these cookies! Weigh or measure the sugars and set them aside. In another bowl weigh or measure flour. Add the baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt to the flour. I run a whisk through the dry ingredients to blend them together.
Roast Your Own Peanuts at Home
If you can not find peanuts as dry roasted granules you can make your own. Place the raw peanuts (shelled or unshelled) in a single layer and bake for 15-20 minutes at 350°F (175°C or 180°C). I would stir them about every 5 minutes so they roast evenly. After they cool, pop them in a food processor or blender and pulse to the desired size.
Mixing the Dough
1. Cube room temperature butter into your mixer bowl.
2. Beat on a medium mixer speed for about a minute until you have soft looking peaks of butter.
3. Add both sugars and on a medium mixer speed mix together for about 3 minutes.
4. You want it to look light brown with soft peaks.
5. Add the vanilla bean paste and one of the eggs and mix until the egg is incorporated. Then add the second egg and mix. Scrape down the sides and on a low mixer speed add the flour mixture about a third at a time.
6. Finally add the milk chocolate and caramel chips along with the peanuts. Mix until blended together.
7. Chill the cookie dough for 30 minutes.
Scoop and Bake
8. Then, using a medium cookie scoop, I add twelve scoops to a parchment-lined cookie sheet pan. These cookies do spread some so you can do nine scoops to a sheet pan if you are unsure if you have enough room on the sheet pan.
9. Bake them at 350°F (175°C or 180°C) for 12-14 minutes or golden brown around the edges. I let them sit on the sheet pan for a minute after taking it out of the oven, then move them to a cooling rack.
So yummy! Enjoy!
FAQs
Some caramel chips or pieces either taste more like butterscotch or melt completely and run everywhere. The Lieber brand is the only one I have found that has the taste of caramel and acts like a chip that holds its shape. But please if you have found another brand I am all ears.
The great thing about these cookies is they store so well. I just put them in a large Rubbermaid food container that has a lid. These work so well for a lot of my cookies.
Other Fall Cookies
Recipe
Milk Chocolate Caramel and Peanut Cookies
Barbara HallWould you like to save this recipe?
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Ingredients
- 1 cup (227 g) Butter unsalted room temperature
- ⅔ cup (146.67 g) Light brown sugar
- ½ cup (100 g) Sugar white
- 2 Eggs
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla bean paste
- 2 ½ cups (312.5 g) All-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon Ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Kosher Salt
- ½ cup (90 g) Milk chocolate chips
- ¼ cup (59.15 g) Caramel Chips Lieber's
- ¼ cup (36.5 g) Peanuts dry roasted granules
Instructions
- Weigh or measure both sugars into a bowl and set it aside. In another bowl, weigh or measure the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon, then whisk to blend.
- Using a mixer, cream the butter for a minute, then add the sugars and mix on medium speed for 3 minutes. Add the vanilla bean paste, then one egg at a time, mixing until combined. Scrape down the bowl, then on low speed, add the flour mixture about a third at a time. Finally, add the chocolate and caramel chips along with the peanuts. Mix for about 30 seconds. Loosely cover and chill for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C or 180°C). Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, then use a medium cookie scoop to place 12 mounds of dough onto the pan. Bake for 12-14 minutes. Once out of the oven, let the cookies sit on the pan for 1 minute before transferring them to a cooling rack.
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NUTRITION DISCLAIMER
I am not a certified Dietitian or Nutritionist. The nutrition amounts given below are provided through a program and are only a guideline.
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