Chocolate and Caramel Chip Cookies with Sea Salt

There's obviously a lot of things to look forward to about the holidays, but for me one of my favorite traditions is a massive cookie baking day with the women in my family.  We each like to bring something new to the table, and even though we usually make chocolate chip, this year I wanted to adapt my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe by adding caramel to it.  Caramel and chocolate go together perfectly, but since the cookies are topped with sea salt, all the more merrier!

Not having an actual recipe to go off of, I just winged it.  And what a good winging it was!  There's already this amazing dough base, but with just essentially a tiny little adaptation, a huge difference was made!  The caramel isn't overpowering, so it's still pretty much a chocolate chip cookie, but the occasional bite of melty caramel is like a nice little treat that no one is going to turn away!

Everyone likes a chocolate chip cookie any time of the year, but this year try these.  You won't be sorry you did!

Chocolate and Caramel Chip Cookies with Sea Salt
Ingredients:

• 8 1/2 ounces cake flour (2 cups, minus 2 Tablespoons)
• 8 1/2 ounces bread flour (1 2/3 cups)
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
• 10 ounces light brown sugar (1 1/4 cups)
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 12 ounces good quality chocolate chunks of chips
• 8 ounces caramel chips
• Sea Salt

Directions: 

• Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.
• Using a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until very light.  About 5 minutes.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Stir in the vanilla.  Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients until just combined, about 10 seconds.
• Drop chocolate and caramel pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them.  Press plastic wrap directly against the dough and refrigerate at least 24 hours, but up to 72 hours.  (It also freezes in rolled balls beautifully!)
• When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.  Set aside.
• For larger cookies:Scoop (6) 3 1/2 ounce mounds of dough onto baking sheets.  Make sure to have some chocolate and caramel pieces pointing up for a more attractive cookie!  Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft.  About 18-20 minutes.  Transfer sheets to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then transfer cookies directly to another sheet to cool a bit more.
• For Smaller cookies:Scoop 1-2" balls of dough onto baking sheets.  Make sure to have some chocolate and caramel pieces pointing up for a more attractive cookie!  Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft.  About 18-20 minutes.  Transfer sheets to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then transfer cookies directly to another sheet to cool a bit more

Source: Adapted from Jacques Torres, via New York Times