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These Bourbon Salted Caramel Oatmeal Cookies is a classic oatmeal cookies loaded with chocolate chips and infused with bourbon whiskey and swirls of sweet, buttery caramel. They’re soft, chewy, and hearty with perfectly crisped edges.
I always have a hard time resisting any oatmeal cookies, but when I have a batch of these Bourbon Salted Caramel Oatmeal Cookies sitting around, I have pretty much no self-control.
This recipe is my very first version of my salted caramel oatmeal cookies. Since developing this recipe, I’ve used the same dough to create this butterscotch version (a house favorite) and I am also partial to this cashew cookie as well.
While I love any variation of this recipe, the original version always has my heart. These cookies are deliciously soft and chewy thanks to the oats. There’s no shortage of bourbon flavor here, they’re buttery, sweet, and salty. I couldn’t think of a better combination.
Plan ahead for this recipe, because the dough does need some time to chill in the refrigerator.
Ingredients Needed
- Caramel Squares, Salt, and Milk – melted together to form our salted caramel for the cookies.
- Unsalted Butter – be sure to soften the butter
- Light Brown Sugar and Granulated Sugar
- Eggs
- Bourbon Whiskey – just use your favorite kind!
- Vanilla Extract
- All-Purpose Flour
- Rolled Oats – old-fashioned rolled oats are the way to go.
- Baking Soda
- Chocolate Chips
- Flakey Sea Salt – for garnish!
Definitely use old-fashioned rolled oats for this oatmeal cookie recipe. Quick oats or steel-cut oats have different textures, so they will not yield the same results.
- Make the caramel: In a microwave-safe bowl, combine caramels, milk, and sea salt. Microwave in 20 second increments, stirring each time, until melted and smooth. Stir in 1 teaspoon of salt and cool completely.
- Combine the wet ingredients: Cream together butter and sugars until fluffy, then add in the eggs, vanilla, and bourbon.
- Add the dry ingredients: In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients, then add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, little bits at a time, until a dough forms. Add in the chocolate chips and mix until incorporated.
- Mix in the caramel: Once the caramel is cooled, swirl it into the cookie dough. Beat until just combined.
- Portion and chill the dough: Use a large cookie scoop to portion the dough out onto a sheet pan, sprinkle with some finishing salt and then place the cookie sheet into the fridge. Chill the dough for at least 1 hour or for up to 24 hours.
- Bake: Transfer the chilled dough balls onto a lined baking sheet, then bake in an oven preheated to 350ºF for 11-14 minutes. Cool for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Use old-fashioned oats.-fashioned rolled oats are what gives the cookies their thick, chewy, hearty texture.
- Don’t over-measure the flour. I recommend spooning the flour into a measuring cup and leveling it off. Alternatively, you can weigh it for an even more accurate measurement.
- Chill the dough. The cooler dough results in thicker, fluffier cookies and prevents them from spreading too much as they bake. Chill it for at least 1 hour or for at least 24 hours before baking.
- Line the baking sheet. I recommend lining the baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. This makes it easier to remove the cookies from the pan and prevents the caramel from burning.
- Do not use warm cookie sheets: Prepare enough cookie sheets so that you are not putting the cold cookie dough on a warm cookie sheet.
Even if your cookies spread a little bit, I guarantee they still taste amazing. You can try and fix this right when you get them out of the oven, use a round cookie cutter or two spoons and press the edges of the dough back towards the center. This has to be done right when you take them out of the oven before the edges are too brown or set.
Lack of chocolate chips: The chocolate chips help the cookies maintain structure. As you get to the bottom of the bowl, you are left with dough that isn’t packed full of chocolate chips and this tends to spread more.
The butter was too soft: It only needs about 30 minutes tops on the counter before it’s ready to go. Don’t let the butter get too soft or it can affect the consistency of the cookies.
Incorrectly measured ingredients: Measuring the dry ingredients matters. If possible, use a kitchen scale to measure the flour and sugar.
The caramel was too hot: If you add hot caramel to the cookie dough, it does melt or break down the dough a little bit and can lead to spreading.
To prep these cookies ahead of time, you can assemble the dough as directed, then store it in the fridge for up to 2 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. To freeze the cookie dough, portion it out onto a baking sheet and flash freeze it for 1 hour. Once it’s hardened, transfer the dough balls to a ziplock bag or airtight container and store in the freezer. Thaw these overnight in the refrigerator and bake as instructed.
Baked oatmeal cookies will last in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months. To enjoy again, thaw on the counter or warm in the microwave until heated through. I have been known to eat these straight from the freezer.
Can I Make These Without Bourbon?
You sure can, here’s the alcohol-free version of the salted caramel oatmeal cookies.
More Oatmeal Cookie Recipes You’ll Love
- Outrageously Good Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- The Best Monster Cookies
- Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
- Prep Time: 90 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 42 minutes
- Yield: 26 cookies
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
These Bourbon Salted Caramel Oatmeal Cookies are a made up of classic oatmeal cookies that are loaded with chocolate chips and infused with with bourbon whiskey and swirls of sweet, buttery caramel. They’re soft, chewy, and hearty with perfectly crisped edges.
Ingredients
- 20 Kraft caramel squares or appx 1 cup caramel bits
- 2 teaspoons (10g) salt, divided
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) milk
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (220g) light brown sugar, packed
- 3/4 cup (143g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons (7.5ml) pure vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons (45ml) bourbon
- 2 ½ cups (315g) all-purpose Flour
- 2 ½ cups (250g) old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon (4g) baking soda
- 1 bag (11oz) chocolate chips
- Flakey sea salt for garnish
Instructions
- In a microwave-safe bowl, combine caramels, milk and sea salt. Microwave in 20-second increments, stirring each time. Caramel will be very hot and can burn easily. Stir in 1 teaspoon salt. All the caramel to cool.
- Soften the butter in the microwave for 10-15 seconds. Combine the softened butter with the brown and granulated sugar. Beat on medium speed until well combined, 2-3 minutes.
- Next add the eggs, vanilla extract and bourbon and continue beating until well incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, combine the remaining dry ingredients, slowly add the dry ingredients into the dough, mixing at low speed until the dough starts to form. Before the dough thickens, add the chocolate chips. Beat a couple of times until they start to incorporate.
- Once the caramel is cooled, add to cookie dough. Beat just until combined.
- Pre-scoop the dough using a large cookie scoop and place it on a sheet pan. Sprinkle with flakey sea salt. Refrigerate for at least one hour and up to 24 hours in advance. Remove each batch 10-15 minutes before baking.
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes. The center of the cookie should be slightly underbaked but not too gooey. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Oatmeal Cookies, Cookie Recipe, salted caramel cookies
