These Halloween Chocolate Chip Cookies come together with just a handful of ingredients and bake up soft, chewy, and extra festive with caramel centers, candy eyes, and M&Ms.
They taste like homemade chocolate chip cookies and your guests will never suspect that they start with store-bought chocolate chip cookie dough.
Table of Contents
Why we Love these Halloween Cookies
These easy Halloween cookies start with premade dough but taste just like homemade! Soft, chewy, and stuffed with caramel, candy eyes, and M&Ms.
Ingredients and Supplies
- Candy Eyes: your kids will love sticking these into the cookie dough!
- Halloween M & Ms (Ghoul Mix): The orange, lime green, and purple M&Ms are perfect for Halloween!
- Werther's soft caramel candies: be sure to get the soft Werther's caramels. The other types of caramel candies will be too firm after baking.
- Refrigerated Store-Bought Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough: I recommend the Nestle Toll House 30 oz chocolate chip cookie dough log.
- Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix: the instant pudding mix gives the cookies an extra soft and chewy texture.
- Vanilla Extract--I use pure vanilla for the best flavor.
- Coarse Sea Salt--this adds amazing flavor and prevents the cookies from being too sweet.
Video
Watch these come together through the video below!
This recipe was first shared on our sister site, Amycakes Bakes.
Top Tips
- Don’t overbake! The cookies will look slightly soft in the middle when you pull them out—that’s perfect. They’ll finish setting as they cool.
- Make sure you’re using soft caramels (like Werther’s Soft) so they stay gooey after baking.
- Sprinkle a pinch of coarse sea salt on top right after baking for that bakery-style sweet + salty finish.
FAQ
Can I make these with homemade dough?
Yes, just make sure your homemade chocolate chip cookie dough recipe is sturdy enough to hold in the caramel filling. I recommend using Amycakes' caramel pretzel chocolate chip cookie dough recipe minus the pretzels.
Do I have to use the pudding mix?
It helps make the cookies extra soft and chewy, but you can skip it in a pinch—the cookies will just be a bit firmer and may not take quite as long in the oven. Or, substitute the instant pudding mix with 2 Tablespoons Instant Clearjel.
What if I can’t find Halloween M&Ms?
The M&M’s Ghoul Mix does tend to sell out fast, but don’t worry, you’ve got options! Look for the orange-and-black Halloween mix, or just grab a regular bag of M&M’s and pull out the orange and brown ones. Paired with candy eyes, they’ll still look
Can I use regular salt instead of coarse sea salt?
Yes! Just use about half the amount of regular table salt since it’s finer and a little stronger
We hope you enjoy this spooky Halloween Chocolate Chip cookie recipe! Follow us on Instagram for more easy crafts, printables, and recipes!
📃 RECIPE
The Easiest Halloween Chocolate Chip Cookie (with caramel filling!)
Ingredients
- 30-ounce tube Nestle chocolate chip cookie dough
- 3.4 oz box vanilla instant pudding mix
- ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Bag of Werther’s soft caramels - make sure they’re the SOFT variety!
- Halloween M&Ms
- Candy eyes
- extra sea salt sprinkle - optional
Instructions
- Mix cookie dough, pudding mix, sea salt, and vanilla extract until well combined (you’ll probably need to use your hands!).
- Use a 1.5 oz cookie scoop to form balls and place them on a parchment-lined tray.
- Unwrap and fold each caramel in half, then place it in the center of each cookie ball. Roll the dough so the caramel is fully covered.
- Top with Halloween M&Ms and two candy eyes.
- Freeze about 10 minutes or refrigerate 30 minutes, until the cookie dough balls are cold and slightly firm.
- Bake at 325°F in a preheated oven for 15-18 minutes. Avoid overbaking; the bottoms should be just slightly golden. They’ll continue baking on the tray! Sprinkle each cookie with additional coarse sea salt, if desired.
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