Hey Besties! You all know that while I LOVE a delicious vanilla sugar cookie. But life is just too short for the same flavor all the time! So, I’m excited to share the latest flavor with you and I think you’re going to love it too! These salted caramel cutout cookies are SO delicious and were inspired by the salted caramel stamped cookie recipe that has been a HUGE hit! Just a few tweaks were necessary to adapt this a no-chill, no-spread cutout cookie recipe and here we are! As my kids would say, let’s gooooo!
Heavenly Flavor
Listen, I don’t know who came up with the salted caramel flavor combo, but I’d like to give them a hug. This cozy-feeling, salty and sweet combo is ridiculously delicious and I’m forever a fan. Salted caramel has even become my go-to ice cream flavor at our local creamery! Although sometimes I do a scoop of salted caramel and a scoop of birthday cake flavor because I gotta have the best of both worlds. Anyway, I digress, back to these cookies!
Here’s the thing about caramel…it can be really hard to nail down a great caramel flavor. I’ve tried emulsions and flavorings, and THIS is the one you need. Full transparency, I normally love an emulsion, but in the case of this specific flavor, the caramel was just not it. I use the super strength caramel flavoring in all my caramel goodies and it’s the one!
For the salt, I use regular table salt in this recipe and it’s delicious but feel free to experiment with other salts too!
Recipe for Salted Caramel Cutout Cookies
If you’ve been here before you know that all of my cutout cookie recipes are no-chill. Bestie, if you’re anything like me, you’ve got 179 different things you’re managing today. We do not have time for chilling, resting or any of that when you simply don’t have to. I’ll admit, if I’m baking something I need to chill, I usually mix it up, put it in the fridge and then forget or lose all motivation and then throw it away a few days later. When I come to bake, I come to BAKE! These cookies are made and ready to decorate or enjoy in 30 minutes. Gone are the years of dreading making cutout cookies because they take forever!
And let’s talk icing for a moment. I almost always still use my vanilla royal icing with my flavored cookies because it really allows the flavor of the cookie to shine! You’re certainly welcome to add some caramel flavoring to your icing if you’d like. But personally, vanilla pairs beautifully with this salted caramel flavor if they are around long enough to decorate! THIS is the recipe we use every day and also explains exactly HOW we make our icing. In the case of royal icing, HOW you make it is just as important as the ingredients you use.
Without further ado, here is the delicious recipe for salted caramel cutout cookies! Enjoy plain, decorated and year-round! They bring a smile to your face and a warmth to your tummy!
Behold the AMAZING Salted Caramel Cutout Cookie Recipe!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226g) Unsalted Butter Chilled, Cubed
- 1 cup (200g) Granulated White Sugar
- 1 tsp (5ml) Vanilla Extract
- 2 tsp (10ml) Caramel Flavoring LorAnn's Caramel Flavoring
- 1 Large Egg Chilled
- 2 tsp (9.6g) Baking Powder
- 1 tsp (6g) Salt
- 3 cups (360g) All-Purpose Flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- I use perforated baking mats on my cookie sheets for even baking and perfect shapes every time! If you're going to use parchment paper, I highly suggest Reynold's cookie baking sheets which curb any cookie growth.
- Cream butter and sugar until the sides of the mixing bowl are painted with the mixture. Usually no longer than 2 minutes.
- Beat in caramel flavoring, vanilla and egg.
- In a separate bowl, combine baking powder, salt and flour. Add to wet ingredient mixing bowl a little at a time.
- Mix until thoroughly blended. Dough should be pulling away from the bowl.
- Chilling the dough is not necessary! I have tried many different ways of rolling out dough and always come back to the old-fashioned way; a sheet of wax paper that has been floured.
- I usually divide the dough into 3 chunks and roll out each onto a floured surface and cut. In my experience, this dough works best for cookies at 1/4" thick. I use my Joseph Joseph rolling pin which does the measuring for me – genius!
- Bake at 350 for 7-8 minutes, depending on size of cookie. I also suggest baking similar-sized cookies together.
- Cool cookies on cookie sheet until firm enough to transfer to cooling rack.
Notes
I hope you love these salted caramel cutout cookies as much as our family, friends and customers do! I know these are going to be even more popular once fall is in the air too!
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Just made the caramel/salt cookies. FABULOUS! Not sure what flavor to ice them with.
YAY!! So glad you love them!! Vanilla royal icing is still our favorite pairing, but you can also add caramel flavoring to the icing if you prefer! Enjoy!!