Irresistible Caramel Oatmeal Cookies filled with gooey chocolate and caramel and topped with a chocolate drizzle!
For more oatmeal cookies, try my famous Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Pecan, or Oatmeal Cookies!
The Best Caramel Oatmeal Cookies
Today, I’m mixing one of my favorite candies (Rolos®) with my favorite cookie type (oatmeal!) for the ultimate combo. These cookies are thick, chewy, chocolatey, filled with caramel, and downright delicious!
The Rolos stay soft and gooey inside, creating a melty center when you take a bite. Two Rolos in the middle, with just enough dough around them, is the secret to these cookies.
Ingredients
- Flour: Spoon flour into the measuring cup and level it off to prevent heavy cookies.
- Old-Fashioned Oats: Stick with old-fashioned oats; instant oats can make the cookies too soft.
- Light Brown Sugar: Adds sweetness and a caramel flavor.
- Baking Soda: Makes the cookies puff up a bit for a soft texture.
- Salt: Don’t skip the salt—it brings out all the other flavors.
- Unsalted Butter: Let melted butter cool first to keep cookies from getting greasy.
- Vanilla Extract: Boosts the flavor and sweetness.
- Egg: Holds everything together for a soft, chewy texture.
- Rolos: Wrap the Rolos completely in dough to keep caramel from oozing out.
- Chocolate Chips: For drizzling, add an extra touch of sweetness.
How To Make Caramel Oatmeal Cookies
- Prep: Heat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Dry Ingredients: In a bowl, mix together flour, oats, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
- Wet Ingredients: Melt the butter and let it cool. Stir in vanilla and egg, then mix with the dry ingredients.
- Shape Cookies: Flatten the dough in your hand, put two Rolos in the center, and wrap the dough around them. Do this for each cookie.
- Chill & Bake: Place the cookies on the baking sheet, chill, then bake until golden.
- Cool & Drizzle: Melt chocolate chips with a bit of oil, then drizzle over the cookies. Enjoy!
Caramel Oatmeal Cookie Tips
- Measure Flour Carefully: Spoon flour into the measuring cup and level it off to avoid thick, puffy cookies.
- Bake Until Just Set: For chewy cookies, take them out when they’re just set; baking too long can make them less soft.
- Cover Rolos Fully: Make sure each Rolo is completely wrapped in dough to stop the caramel from leaking.
- Use a Liner: Bake on a silicone mat or parchment paper to keep cookies from sticking, especially if some caramel comes out while baking.
Storage
Leftovers?
Store: Keep cookies in a sealed container at room temperature for up to a week.
To Freeze: Shape dough into balls and freeze. Bake straight from frozen, adding a few more minutes to the baking time.
More Delicious Cookie Recipes
- Oatmeal Creme Pie
- Soft and chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
- White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
- Thumbprint Cookies
- Edible Cookie Dough
- Meringue Cookies
Caramel Oatmeal Cookies
Homemade caramel oatmeal cookies featuring a gooey chocolate caramel filling, all topped with a luscious chocolate drizzle.
Equipment
- Sheet pan 15 x 21-inch
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 cups flour
- 1-1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup light brown sugar lightly packed
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter melted, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 30 Rolos unwrapped
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat 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 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.
- Take about 3 tablespoons of dough and flatten it in your hand. Place two candies in the center, then fold the edges of the dough up around the candies, sealing them completely to form 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. I love to underbake these just slightly, it creates a softer cookie with melted and gooey caramel. Overbaking will cause the caramel to harden when cooled.
- Allow the cookies 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 in bursts of 15 seconds, stirring in between each burst for 10 seconds until completely melted.
- Dip a spoon in the melted chocolate and drizzle it over the cookies. Alternatively transfer the chocolate to a small plastic bag, snip off the top with scissors, and drizzle all over.
Recipe Notes
Storage: Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. Freeze dough balls and bake them directly from the freezer.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | 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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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.
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.
can you prepare these and freeze them or refrigerate them for a couple days?
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! 🙂
Just made these! Very gooey in a great way!
How would you best store them?
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! 🙂
would these be okay to make the dough a few days in advance and freeze it??
I’m sorry; I’ve never tried freezing the dough so I’m not sure what the result would be.
Do these stay gooey even after cooling?
The caramel stays soft 🙂
These look delicious. They have all of my favorites:caramel, chocolate, and oatmeal! Can’t wait to make them!!!!
Thank you!! 🙂 I hope you love them!
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.