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Chocolate Pecan Caramel Cluster Cookies!!

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: cookies
Author: Hip Foodie Mom

Ingredients

  • • 1 cup 2 sticks salted butter, softened
  • • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • • 1½ cup packed brown sugar
  • • 2 eggs
  • • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • • 2¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • • 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
  • • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • • 1½ teaspoon baking powder
  • • 2 cups blend of chocolate chips 1 cup semi-sweet morsels, 1 cup milk chocolate morsels
  • • a bag of Rolos; unwrapped OR Hershey's Caramel Kisses
  • • Roasted pecans
  • CARAMEL TOPPING:
  • ¼ cup butter
  • ¼ cup packed brown sugar
  • tablespoons evaporated fat-free milk divided (don’t sweat it if you can’t find fat-free evaporated milk)
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ cup powdered sugar
  • coarse sea salt

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 360 degrees. Using a stand mixer, cream the butter, sugar, and brown sugar until it is nice and fluffy (approx. 3 minutes on medium-high speed). Add both eggs and the vanilla and beat for an additional 2 minutes.
  • Prep your dry ingredients and add the baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour mixture until it has been fully incorporated. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and add the chocolate chips. Gently mix by hand. The cookie batter should be somewhat thick.
  • Drop about 2 tablespoons of the cookie dough or use a medium cookie scoop and place the cookie dough ball onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or your Silpat non-stick baking mat. Gently press about 2-3 rolos (or kisses) into each cookie dough ball. Bake for about 10 minutes until the edges are nice and golden brown. Turn OFF the oven and bake for an additional 1-2 minutes. Watch your cookies so they don't burn! Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to stay on the cookie sheet for an additional 2 minutes before moving to a cooling rack. While still on the cookie sheet, gently press the pecans into each cookie. Place a few pecans on each or you can crumble up the pecans and sprinkle some on.
  • While the cookies are cooling more, prepare the caramel topping: melt ¼ cup butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add ¼ cup brown sugar and 1½ tablespoons evaporated milk; whisk together and cook for about 2 minutes over LOW heat.
  • Remove from the heat and add the vanilla and powdered sugar; stir with a whisk until smooth. Pour the slightly cooled caramel sauce into a ziploc bag and cut off the tip (or, you can just use a fork to drizzle). Drizzle the caramel sauce over the cookies. Immediately sprinkle with a little sea salt over each. Enjoy!!