Caramel Oatmeal Cookies

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Homemade Caramel Oatmeal Cookies with gooey chocolate and caramel filling. These cookies are finished with a chocolate drizzle on top!

These jazzed-up Caramel Oatmeal Cookies are delicious and easy to make. If you’re looking for other oatmeal cookies, try my famous Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies or these Oatmeal Pecan Cookies. These old-fashioned Oatmeal Cookies are always a fun treat too!

Image of the ready-to-eat Caramel Oatmeal Cookies stacked on top of each other, with one broken in half to show the gooey center.

Today I’m combining one of my favorite candies ever (Rolos®) with my favorite type of cookies (oatmeal!). And it’s the ultimate match-up. These cookies are thick, chewy, chocolatey, oozing with caramel, and all-around delicious!

The Rolos stay soft and melty inside, creating a molten-like effect when you bite into one of these cookies. Two Rolos in the center and *just enough* dough to cover them is the secret to these cookies.

Image of the oats, flour, and brown sugar all in a bowl separate; and then mixed together for these Carmel Oatmeal Cookies.

How to make Caramel Oatmeal Cookies

  • Dry ingredients: In a large bowl, toss together all the dry ingredients: white flour, old-fashioned (not quick!) oats, baking soda, salt, and brown sugar. It’s really important to level off all your ingredients to the top of the measuring cups/spoons.
  • Wet ingredients: Melted butter, one large egg, and some vanilla extract are all you need for the wet ingredients. Make sure the melted butter has returned to room temperature so you don’t melt the sugars (which will result in greasy cookies). It’s also important you use a large egg so there is enough moisture in the dough!
  • Combine wet and dry: Mix everything together. It’s a thick dough so that it can hold the Rolos in place; mix until all ingredients are incorporated. (I like using a hand mixer.) 
  • Add two Rolos to the center of each cookie: Roll just enough dough to cover the Rolos. Bake in a preheated oven.
  • Drizzle: Since there aren’t chocolate chips in the dough, it’s important to finish these cookies off with some melted chocolate. Drizzle it right on top and enjoy! If you like salty-sweet, hit the tops of these cookies with some Maldon® sea salt flakes!

QUICK TIP

If you wince when you see the price tag on Maldon salt, keep in mind that you use flakes of it, not teaspoons full. Maldon flaky sea salt is a finishing salt, not a cooking salt and that’s what makes it different from the other salts you may have in your pantry. Finishing salt is used to season food at the end of cooking instead of at the beginning. Seasoning salt is what puts the salt in salted caramel. It’s just not the same if you sprinkle these cookies with your salt shaker.

Image of the butter being added to the dry ingredients.

Tips for making the perfect Caramel Oatmeal Cookies

  • Precise measuring: If you use too much flour, you’ll end up with dense, puffy cookies. Spoon the flour into the measuring cup (if you scoop it into a measuring cup, it can get packed in too tightly) and level it off with the flat edge of a table knife.
  • Slightly under bake for the delicious super-soft and chewy texture we all love! Overbaked cookies aren’t near as flavorful or tender.
  • Make sure the dough completely covers the Rolos. Otherwise, the caramel will seep out and burn.
  • Use a Silpat® liner or parchment paper. These cookies bake best on a liner. Especially if a little caramel does ooze out — it won’t make as big of a mess on a liner as it will on a tray.

Image showing the Rolo candies being added to the middle of the dough; an image showing how the ball of dough should look. Image of the baked, ready to eat, salted caramel oatmeal cookies with chocolate drizzled on top

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Caramel Oatmeal Cookies

4.84 from 6 votes
Homemade Caramel Oatmeal Cookies with a gooey chocolate caramel filling and a chocolate drizzle on top.
Print Recipe

Caramel Oatmeal Cookies

4.84 from 6 votes
Homemade Caramel Oatmeal Cookies with a gooey chocolate caramel filling and a chocolate drizzle on top.
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American
Keyword caramel oatmeal cookies
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 9 minutes
Total Time 24 minutes
Servings 15 -16 large cookies
Chelsea Lords
Calories 264kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 and 1/2 cups white flour spoon and level measurement
  • 1 and 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt (reduce to 1/2 teaspoon if using table salt or sensitive to salt)
  • 10 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled to room temperature.
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg
  • 30-34 unwrapped Rolos or other chocolate-covered caramel candy (2 per cookie)
  • 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (or semi-sweet or dark; whichever you like best!)
  • 1 teaspoon vegetable oil

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper or a Silpat liner and set aside.
  • In a large bowl, stir together the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt.
  • Melt the butter and allow it to cool to room temperature, so it doesn't melt the sugar and cause greasy cookies. Combine with the vanilla extract and egg. Pour into the dry ingredients.
  • Stir everything together until a thick dough forms. You may need to knead the mixture with your hands.
  • Cover and refrigerate the dough while you unwrap the Rolos.
  • Flatten the dough in your hand (about 2.5 to 3 tablespoons of dough) and press two candies into the center of the cookie. Press the edges up around the candies and completely seal into a large cookie -- the dough should just cover the Rolos without much extra. Make sure none of the candies are exposed or the caramel will leak out during baking.
  • Place 6 - 8 cookies on the prepared sheet pan, giving the cookies plenty of room. Refrigerate the tray for 10 minutes to firm up before baking.
  • Bake for 9-12 minutes. Slightly underbaking these is the BEST! It creates a softer cookie with melted and gooey caramel. Overbaking makes the caramel harden when cooled. 
  • I remove the cookies generally at 9-10 minutes, allow them to sit on the cookie sheet for another 2-3 minutes, and then transfer to a cooling rack to allow them to firm up a bit.
  • To top with chocolate, combine the chocolate chips and vegetable oil in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir for 15 seconds, and then microwave again in bursts of 15 seconds, stirring in between each burst for 10 seconds until completely melted.
  • Dip a spoon in the melted chocolate. Run the spoon from left to right over the cookies to get the chocolate drizzle. Alternatively transfer the chocolate to a small plastic bag, snip off the top with scissors, and drizzle all over. Let stand. 
  • Cookies best enjoyed within 1-2 days of making; best on the same day they're made!

Nutrition Facts

Calories: 264kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 34mg | Sodium: 204mg | Potassium: 89mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 266IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 1mg

We do our best to provide accurate nutritional analysis for our recipes. Our nutritional data is calculated using a third-party algorithm and may vary, based on individual cooking styles, measurements, and ingredient sizes. Please use this information for comparison purposes and consult a health professional for nutrition guidance as needed.

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43 Comments

  1. It’s times like this I wouldn’t mind ripping the cookies out of those kids’ hands…Chelsea these look INSANE. Actually salivating looking at the cookies! I love using oats too, but often in a flour form. Pinned!

  2. I. AM. DEAD.

    these have gotten be the greatest oatmeal cookies I have eva eva seen, obsessed!!!!

  3. I think caramel immediately becomes even more desirable when it’s listed as “molten” lol. 😀 Because I just want to grab all of these cookies through my laptop screen and run away with them. Awesome way to jazz up classic oatmeal cookies, Chelsea!

  4. What a fantastic idea to put not one , but two rolos in these cookies! Love all that gooey caramel and chocolate in the middle! Totally dying to try one of these. 🙂 Also I think you saw it on instagram, but I showed my roommate your blog and she immediately made your best ever healthy chocolate chip cookies. They were delicious!

  5. I am a sucker for oatmeal so love your obsession with oats too! These cookies are just absolutely amazing! I am dying over that ooey gooey center – love that you stuffed two rolos in there! And both of the little ones are just the sweetest and cutest! Love their adorable faces!

  6. Wow! These cookies look absolutely delicious. I really shouldn’t come over and read your posts before lunch…because now all I want is one of these oatmeal cookies. Maybe I should bake some this afternoon…for Santa, of course! Thanks for sharing! #client

  7. 5 stars
    o.m.g…I love the twist you have on these oatmeal cookies! dang girl…..Im scared to make them as I would eat them all! Do you know if they freeze? Id love to batch them out for the holidays….

  8. These are decadent YUM things! I could eat a bunch, b/c oats are goooood for you!!! Your Littles are adorbs, by the way. When I give mine cookies, that’s when all becomes peaceful and quiet 🙂

  9. 4 stars
    I just made these, and they turned out great! Thanks for the recipe 🙂 A couple of notes: My dough turned out really crumbly at first, so I wound up adding about two more tbsp. of butter and that seemed to help it come together. Also I found that when I put two Rolos inside the cookies they were HUGE, and I knew I wouldn’t have enough dough to make as many cookies as I wanted. It might be worth doubling the dough so you have enough cookies. I wound up using just one Rolo in each cookie, and they weren’t as gooey. Overall though, these are delicious!

  10. These look amazing, and I am planning on making them for a cookie exchange this year. But I don’t see anywhere in the directions how many cookies this recipe yields? Just curious b/c I will need about 3-4 dozen cookies and I’m not sure how to properly manipulate the recipe for what I need! Thanks!

  11. I just finished making these and taste testing them with my daughter:) They are delicious! I don’t normally like oatmeal cookies but these were so yummy. I used two mini rolos instead as they were on sale but they definitely weren’t as oozy as I would have liked. I also added an extra 1/2 tbsp of butter although I should of added more as it was still pretty crumbly to work with. The recipe made 18 cookies.

    1. Yay!! I’m sooo glad you loved these! I’d just keep them in a bag or if you want in a tupperware in the fridge for a longer-term storage. Just make sure you warm them again before eating! 🙂

    1. Hey Kerri!

      I love making the dough up for these cookies ahead of time, rolling them out and freezing them! They will also keep well in an airtight container for a few days in the fridge! If you do freeze them they just bake a minute or two longer than the recommended bake time! 🙂

  12. Haven’t made them yet, but have questions. You say to form 6-8 cookies, but…you never mention the timing of a SECOND batch to get to the 15 cookies your recipe says it makes. TWO Rolos per cookies seems excessive, I plan to use one each, and see how that works. Also, you say “none of the cookies ARE. That should be “none of the cookies IS.” Just saying. Looking forward to making them. Thanks.

    1. Bake the rest after you’ve baked the first batch 🙂 You can try 1 rolo, we found that it got lost in the cookie so preferred it with 2 rolos.

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