Trader Joe's Caramel Sea Salt Baking Chips Review (and recipe!)

Have you seen Trader Joe's Caramel Sea Salt Baking Chips? Warning: they are a holiday item, so there's no telling how long they'll be around. 

I tested them straight out of the bag and also in a cookie. The recipe is at the end of the post. 

A 10-ounce bag of caramel sea salt chips costs $2.99. The chips are the size of a traditional chocolate chip. 

The main ingredient: sugar. While they're not chocolate chips, they do contain a smidge of cocoa powder (it's 5th on the ingredient list, right before sea salt). 

On the back of the bag is a recipe for Caramel Sea Salt Cookies. I did make cookies with these but wanted to see how they would pair with chocolate chips. My recipe is after the review.

Trader Joe's Caramel Sea Salt Baking Chips Review 

REVIEW (Bridget): Straight out of the bag, these chips are fabulous. They taste like butterscotch chips sprinkled with sea salt. The salt is definitely a prominent flavor. In cookies, these are a nice supporting character to chocolate chips. They add a salty, caramel flavor. Mark was out when I baked the cookies, so he didn't have a chance to try the chips on their own. However, he went crazy over the cookies, watching me like a hawk when I packed some up for our son to take to his apartment. He didn't want me to give away too many. ;) 

Overall rating: 5 of 5 stars

Would I buy these again? Yes! I'd love to try them in 7-Layer Cookies! 

Trader Joe's Caramel Sea Salt Baking Chips: Get them while they're in stock! 

Caramel Sea Salt Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

{makes about 26 cookies}

2 1/4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick-cook oats
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 eggs
10-ounce bag Trader Joe's Caramel Sea Salt Baking Chips
10-ounce bag Guittard Super Cookie Chocolate Chips (or any chocolate chips)

Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugars together until smooth and fluffy. Beat in the corn syrup, vanilla, and lemon juice. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.

Add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar/egg mixture and stir until most of the flour is no longer dry. Stir in the chips, reserving some for the tops, mixing just until distributed and no dry spots remain.

Use a 4-tablespoon (#16) scoop (or a 1/4 cup) to portion dough onto the prepared sheet. You won't be baking from this sheet, so place them close together to get them all on one. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 36.

After the chilling time, heat oven to 350. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the balls of dough onto the sheets at least 2" apart. Press a few extra chips into the tops of each dough portion.

Bake for 14-16 minutes. The cookies should be golden on the edges and appear soft and underbaked in the middle. Remove from the oven and let sit on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

PSST...you can find more cookie recipes over on our sister site: Bake at 350.