Vegan Caramel-Stuffed Double Chocolate Cookies

These are definitely my new favorite cookies to make, and I’m not even joking.

Closeup of three homemade cookies sprinkled with sea salt, with scattered chocolate chips and a square caramel candy on a white background, printed with orange and white text.

Sorry, vegan peanut butter cookies. You’ve been usurped! By chocolate. And caramel. And SEA SALT!!!

For realsies though, I’m just now getting on this gravy train with putting salt on my cookies. AJ doesn’t really like it, so I’ve resisted for a while. But with these, I just couldn’t help it.

Two hands break a chocolate cookie in half to show the caramel filling inside, with candies and cookies in soft focus in the background.

Salt and caramel are two ingredients that create a classic pairing. I dream about Foodal’s salted caramel cupcakes when I am craving dairy and butter!

But I also knew the salt would pair so well with the vegan sweet cashew caramel (and it’s pretty, to boot) so I just did it. And it was possibly the best decision I’ve made all week.

Other good decisions include: eating these as my second breakfast, and eating these again with a glass of almond milk. SO GOOD.

Vegan chocolate cookie dough in a glass mixing bowl with a long-handled spoon, on a white wood background with gathered white cloth.

AJ and I (and our dog Dedas, of course) actually just got back from one of our sunrise runs, which we’ve started to do regularly. We normally exercise in the afternoon or early evening after AJ gets home from work, but the city has been super lame lately, and has been enforcing laws that say you can’t be out in the open spaces or on the public trails after dark, and we really only like running on trails.

Ten chocolate cookie dough balls arranged in four rows on a baking sheet lined with a piece of parchment paper, with vegan caramel candies pressed into the top of six of the balls, and a small pile of additional candies to the right of the frame, on a white wood background with two pieces of gathered white cloth.

With the changing of the seasons and the end of Daylight Savings Time, when the sun starts goes down before 5 p.m. and AJ doesn’t get home until 5:15, it gets difficult to find the time for exercise. But I’m here to report that we shifted our schedules to try running in the morning instead, and it’s great!

We leave the house around 5:45 a.m., and can see where we’re going without lights by the time we’re halfway done.

Scoops of chocolate cookie dough arranged in rows on a piece of parchment on top of a metal baking sheet, with a small pile of caramel candy at the right, with several more pressed into the top of three of the dough portions, on a white background with a white folded dish towel in the foreground.

The coolest thing is that we get to see the sun come up. On some mornings, when there are clouds, it’s just the prettiest thing ever. The sun turns the sky all sorts of gorgeous shades of orange and pink and yellow, and it makes it so worth it to be out there in the cold at 6 o’clock in the morning.

A stainless steel measuring cup of brown sugar with a spoon in the foreground, and a parchment-lined sheet pan topped with homemade cookies and scattered chocolate chips in the background.

I also love it because there’s really no opportunity to be lazy. I set my clothes out the night before, and by the time I’m really awake enough to decide whether or not I want to be lazy and just stay at home, I’m already outside and running. It’s great.

Top-down shot of chocolate cookies sprinkled with salt, with a square caramel candy and scattered chocolate chips, on a white background.

Anyway, all of this really has nothing to do with cookies except for the fact that since we just went on a run, now I want like 3 of these cookies in my mouth right now for my second breakfast. But unfortunately, all of them have already disappeared. So sad!

Three rows of chocolate cookies sprinkled with sea salt, with a caramel candy and a few chocolate chips on a white background, shot at an oblique angle.

If there’s one recipe that you choose to make a double batch of with the arrival of holiday baking season, this is it. Make a triple batch. Make quadruple batch!

I know I’ll be making some more myself very soon, and I might even bring a batch down to my parents for Christmas. They would love them – my mom is a die-hard chocolate fan, and my dad is a sucker for caramel (I seem to have inherited both of these fantastic traits).

Top-down shot of 10 chocolate cookies topped with sea salt, on a parchment-lined baking sheet with scattered caramel candies and chocolate chips, on a white wood background with a spoon to the left and a canister at the top right.

If you’re anything like the members of my family, you’re going to adore these. And whether you make a batch as a reward for a good workout, a gift for a friend, or just because you’re in the mood for a treat, these vegan goodies are absolutely perfect for any occasion.

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Top-down shot of chocolate chip cookies arranged in rows, with sea salt sprinkled on top, a caramel candy, and a few scattered chocolate chips, on a white parchment paper background.

Vegan Caramel-Stuffed Double Chocolate Cookies


  • Author: Raquel Smith
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 16 cookies 1x

Description

These vegan double chocolate cookies are amazing in their own right, but are doubly good stuffed with homemade vegan caramel!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 Tbsp ground flax seed
  • 6 Tbsp water
  • 1/2 cup vegan margarine (I used Earth Balance)
  • 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 3/4 tsp baking powder
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
  • 16 tsp-sized pieces vegan caramel
  • Flaky sea salt or fleur de sel
  • Cooking oil spray

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
  2. Combine the flax seed and water in a small bowl to make a flax egg and set aside.
  3. Melt the margarine in the microwave in a large bowl. Add the brown sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla extract, and stir to combine. Add the flax egg and stir again. Add the cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder and stir until fully incorporated – this can take a while.
  4. Add the flour and chocolate chips at the same time, and stir until just combined.
  5. Scoop tablespoons of the dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Press a caramel into the top of each cookie. Use a spoon to scoop a little more dough on top of the caramel, then use your fingers to seal the dough around the caramel (greasing your fingers with a bit of spray oil helps with this).
  6. Sprinkle a bit of sea salt on top of each cookie.
  7. Bake for 9-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Notes

If you’re not vegan, you can totally use regular caramels (like these) and butter.

  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Category: Cookies
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: Vegan

Keywords: cookie, vegan, chocolate, dessert, caramel

Who will you bake these vegan cookies for? Let us know in the comments below, and don’t forget to give this recipe a five-star rating while you’re there, if you loved it!

You can use so many of our chocolate recipes as the base, vegan or not. Try using our gluten-free chocolate coconut dough, or our spelt flour chocolate cookie dough.

And if vegan cookies are your thing, you should take a look at these lovelies:

Photos by Raquel Smith, © Ask the Experts, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. See our TOS for more details. Originally published on December 17, 2015. Last updated: February 25, 2023 at 13:24 pm. With additional writing and editing by Allison Sidhu.

Nutritional information derived from a database of known generic and branded foods and ingredients and was not compiled by a registered dietitian or submitted for lab testing. It should be viewed as an approximation.

About Raquel Smith

Raquel is a whole foods enthusiast, an avid mountain biker, and a dog lover. She works by day at Food Blogger Pro and formerly maintained her food blog "My California Roots" (now merged into Foodal).

13 thoughts on “Vegan Caramel-Stuffed Double Chocolate Cookies”

  1. So happy that I discovered your blog today! This recipe looks fantastic, and I will definitely make it if I can get my hands on some vegan caramels.

    One question about your post: why does your city have a curfew? Reading that brings out my inner Ron Swanson. Picture a cute vegan girl shouting, “This is America!”

    Reply
    • Hey Jessica! I am so glad you found my blog today! Thanks so much for commenting – it seriously makes my day.

      About the curfew – I have NO IDEA. It’s only in the open spaces (eg. hills and trails) so it’s not a city-wide curfew (that would definitely not go over well haha). But it’s still annoying. I think it’s because 1) people say that you could get attacked by some wild animal (statistics show this is very, very, very unlikely) or 2) because if you get hurt and need emergency help, it’s difficult for responders to find you at night.

      If #2 is the case, I would rather they emphasize safety, bringing lights to help responders find you, etc instead of telling people to stay off the trails or get a $500 fine. It makes exercising really tough in the winter! And totally – I feel like shouting “This is America!” all the time!

      Reply
    • So I totally just went back and re-read my post and NO WHERE did I mention that the “can’t be out after dark” rules apply to the open spaces only. That could be so confusing!! And that would be SO WEIRD if a city actually had rules like that! OMG so embarrassing! I’ve gone back and fixed it, but thanks for bringing it to my attention!

      Reply
    • Hi Sarah! Thanks so much 🙂 I have an OLD old Canon Rebel XTi which will hopefully be replaced soon, and a 50mm f/1.4 lens. On the wish list (maybe for Christmas if my hubs was paying attention!!!) is a Canon 6D body and an extension tube for the lens.

      Reply
  2. When did you add the flax egg? I made the recipe, and thought the dough was a bit dry, then I looked over and saw the flax eggs on the counter. I did add them at the end, but figured there was a better time to incorporate them. The batter tastes good, now I’m just waiting for them to cool a bit to try.

    Reply
    • So sorry about that, Andrea! I added it with the rest of the wet ingredients, but forgot to include that in the recipe. ? I’ve made that change in the recipe now. I hope they turned out okay anyway!

      Reply
  3. WOAH!!!! RAQUEL!!!! These look SO good! I’m so craving caramel stuffed cookies now…..ahhh how will I survive until tomorrow when I can go for the ingredients?

    Still running so early in the morning? I can’t imagine getting up “by choice” this early :S

    Reply
    • Haha, it’s what I have to do to fit everything in during the day! I just make sure I have enough cookies around to keep me motivated ?

      Reply
  4. Great idea, run, then eat some cookies! These look wonderful … they go on my list of your recipes to try: right after Peanut Butter Cookies!

    Reply

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