Fun Popcorn + Caramel Cookies
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Have you ever had popcorn cookies? No? Well, me neither. Until now!
But I mean, it’s kind of genius right? Two amazing snacks- popcorn and cookies- put together into one especially amazing snack.
Plus, add in some caramel and a little chocolate…come on, it’s a must try!
As all fun things are, these cookies are sweet, delicious, and easy enough to make. The hardest part is not eating all of them in one go! Not that I would do that, or anything (ahem, ahem, maybe).
They are inspired by our Cozy Mystery Cooking Club book, Kernel of Truth by Kristi Abbott, which centers around a popcorn shop. It’s a super fun theme! You can check out our other inspired recipes and learn all the deets for the club here.
Popcorn + Caramel Cookies
These popcorn cookies are based off a base chocolate chip recipe that I’ve been working on. Instead of chocolate chips, we have popped popcorn, and Rolos candy for the caramel and chocolate part.
It’s a pretty straightforward recipe, just remember to pop your popcorn before starting. I like to chop the Rolos too while the popcorn is going, so then it’s just a matter of mixing ingredients together after that!
These cookies have a very dense dough. Like seriously, it’s thick AF. You will wonder if you’ve done something wrong at some point. I always wonder that every time I make them, and it’s my recipe lol!
But trust. The cookies come out delish. They are those flat, chewy type of cookie, but with like, crispy bits around the edges- so it’s the best of both worlds! Also, you’ll get a really good arm workout mixing up this dough, so you’re welcome for that.
Caramel Popcorn Cookies Recipe Notes
You bet! These cookies stay good for several days, and even longer if you store them in the fridge. You can also definitely make them the night before you want to eat them and they travel well too.
You can substitute another chocolate + caramel candy, or use a mix of chopped semi-sweet chocolate and chopped soft caramel candies. You could also experiment with other flavors, like toffee or Butterfinger bits.
I pop mine on the stove top with just a hint of olive oil for the popping process. And then keep it plain. But other options could be using air-popped popcorn, or plain microwave popcorn (without a lot of butter flavoring). I always pop extra and have a little snack while I make the cookies 😉
Well, really, no. It is kind of a random ingredient! But of course, the theme of this month’s recipe was popcorn, which is why it’s in these cookies. If you really don’t want to use it though, this cookie recipe works well as a base for many other flavors. You could just use something else in place of the popcorn, like more chocolate, or different cookie mix-ins.
Well, what do you think? Interested in trying these caramel popcorn cookies? If you do, definitely let me know what you think.
I’m going to go freeze the rest of my cookies now, because we literally can. not. stop. eating them.
xoxo
Popcorn + Caramel Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter softened (2 sticks)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups popped popcorn
- 1 cup Rolos candy roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cream the butter, sugars, and vanilla together in a large bowl (or in the bowl of a stand mixer). Add the egg and mix to combine. In a smaller bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three batches, mixing well after each. The dough will be very thick, I find a wooden spoon or a spatula (or stand mixer) works best for mixing it all together.
- Fold in the popcorn and Rolos, allowing them to break up into smaller pieces as you mix the dough. Since it’s so thick, it might be difficult to incorporate all the pieces completely- that’s okay, as you scoop the cookie dough you can make sure to get the free pieces in your scoops.
- Drop large spoonfuls (about 2 tablespoons) of cookie dough onto a greased baking sheet (or use parchment paper). Make sure to get pieces of popcorn and Rolos in each scoop. Leave space in between dough balls- I usually do about 9 cookies per regular sized baking sheet.
- Bake for 16 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges are set and the centers are still soft. Remove the pan from the oven and – very important! – leave the cookies on the pan for about 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack to cool.
- Repeat with remaining dough.
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