Salted Caramel Mochas are my favorite coffee to date and I crave them on the daily. The first time I tried one (a few months ago)Â was on a day my parents had the kids and Joel was working so I was taking the opportunity to get coffee by myself and work on some new recipes and photograph them.
I was making these cookies and sipping my coffee and a lightbulb went off. I thought I must translate this mocha into cookies for the holidays. Fast forward a few months and we have these decadent Salted Caramel Mocha Cookies.
I sent these cookies, along with two other kinds, with Joel to work last week and out of the three flavors these were the hands down favorite.
They are rich from a double dose of chocolate goodness in the form of dark cocoa powder and a chocolate pudding mix. Not only does the pudding mix add more flavor but it also keeps the cookies super soft and chewy which is a requirement in my cookie playbook.
They get their coffee punch from instant coffee granules dissolved in hot water. And we can’t forget the melty caramel bits and flaky sea salt. Oh, the glorious sea salt.
I wasn’t sure how much the coffee flavor would translate once baked so I decided to just wing it and hope for the best. Joel’s coworkers are always my guinea pigs but they don’t seem to mind.
I’m happy to report you really can taste the coffee flavor but it’s not overwhelming just like in the perfect mocha.
I can’t wait to make these for all my friends and family this holiday season. If you’re thinking ahead like I am, prep the dough now and use my tips from last week to freeze it and be ready at a moments notice.
Salted Caramel Mocha Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp. espresso powder
- 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. sea salt
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 3.75 oz. instant chocolate pudding mix
- 1 11 oz. bag caramel bits
- Flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Cream butter and sugars together in a mixer. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing thoroughly between each one. Mix in vanilla. In a small bowl, dissolve the instant coffee granules in 1 tablespoon hot water. Add to the creamed mixture.
- In a large bowl, mix coffee granules, flour, salt, baking soda and pudding mix. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and mix until just combined. Stir in the caramel bits.
- Using a cookie scoop, drop dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle dough generously with flaky sea salt. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
November 21, 2015 at 5:02 am
These look amazing. I love salted caramel and mocha. 🙂
November 25, 2017 at 4:26 pm
How much hot water?
November 26, 2017 at 7:56 pm
So sorry I missed that. It’s 1 tablespoon. I’ve updated the recipe to reflect the correct amount. Thanks for pointing that out!! Let me know how you like them.