30 Decadent Chocolate and Caramel Desserts

Updated September 18, 2020
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Hector Manuel Sanchez

Fact: Chocolate and caramel are a match made in heaven. Don't believe us? Just try one of these ooey, gooey, absolutely crave-worthy chocolate caramel desserts. From decadent cakes (like this gorgeous Dark Chocolate Bundt with Whiskey Caramel Sauce or this boldly named Better Than Sex Cake) to Girl Scout-Inspired treats (our No-Bake Samoa Pie is never a bad idea) and easy-to-layer bars (you've got to try this Sesamillionaire’s Shortbread), you'll find a new favorite in this collection of chocolate caramel desserts.

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Chocolate Cookie Cups with Caramel Filling

Credit: Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas; Food Styling: Torie Cox

Chocolate Cookie Cups with Caramel Filling Recipe

Holiday cookie baking can be impressive without being stressful. Make this easy cookie dough and store it in the fridge up to two days before you need to bake these fantastic filled cookies. What's great about this recipe is that you'll stand apart at the annual cookie exchange. Not only are your cookies a different shape, but they are filled with ooey-gooey caramel and topped with a crunchy pecan and a little sea salt for the perfect mix of sweet and salty. 

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Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake with Caramel Buttercream

Credit: Victor Protasio

Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake with Caramel Buttercream Recipe

If you're looking for an easy, decadent, and oh-so-yummy chocolate fudge cake, this is the perfect recipe. The key to this layer cake’s lusciously messy look? A short spell in the freezer, which allows the ganache to set over the cake layers so that the buttercream can be spread on top of it. Make sure there is enough space in your freezer before you assemble the cake. This recipe comes in handy for birthdays, holidays, and the odd Wednesday pick-me-up.

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Chocolate-Caramel Cone Ice Cream

Chocolate-Caramel Cone Ice Cream Recipe

Creating the coolest scoops is as easy as 1, 2, 3. Jarred caramel sauce means this easy sundae only has four ingredients, but you can use our Salted Caramel Sauce for a touch of extra decadence.

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White Chocolate and Bourbon Pecan Slab Pie with Caramel Sauce

Credit: Daniel Agee; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis

White Chocolate and Bourbon Pecan Slab Pie with Caramel Sauce Recipe

It doesn't get much better than this decadent version of a Southern classic. White chocolate, bourbon, and caramel give this pecan pie a flavor much more dynamic than the original.

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Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Skillet Cookie with Salted Caramel

Credit:  Zoë Engongoro; Styling: Emma Crist

Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Skillet Cookie with Salted Caramel Recipe

Start with a delicious warm oatmeal chocolate chunk cookie base and take it over the top with fun toppings like caramel or chocolate syrup, sea salt, and vanilla ice cream.

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Salted Caramel-Chocolate Pecan Pie

Credit: Hector Sanchez; Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas

Salted Caramel-Chocolate Pecan Pie Recipe

A cross between a fudge pie and pecan pie, this is all the more stunning if you arrange the pecans from the center in a spiral pattern.

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Chocolate Thumbprints with Caramel and Sea Salt

Credit: Erin Kunkel; Styling: Kelly Allen

Chocolate Thumbprints with Caramel and Sea Salt Recipe

From Great Falls, Montana, Colette Tihista-Longin writes, "I found this cookie recipe in an old collection at a yard sale. The original recipe has a chocolate filling, but I adapted it to include caramel and sea salt several years ago. It's a hit every year at our cookie exchange." Despite the name for this style of cookie, the end of a wooden spoon makes a neater, deeper depression in the cookie than your thumb will.

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Chocolate-Caramel Bark with Quinoa

Credit: Jennifer Causey; Styling: Claire Spollen

Chocolate-Caramel Bark with Quinoa Recipe

Using a dark (72% cacao) chocolate brings an intense, not-too-sweet, almost fruity flavor to this bark. If you prefer a sweeter chocolate, substitute bittersweet (60% cacao) chocolate.

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Caramel-Glazed Monkey Bread

Credit: Iain Bagwell; Styling: Mary Clayton Carl

Caramel-Glazed Monkey Bread Recipe

We'd wager our presents under the tree that this is the best pull-apart bread on Earth. The dough is soft and cakey, and the loaf dons a scrumptious sugary crust.

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Dark Chocolate Bundt Cake with Whiskey Caramel Sauce

Credit: Thomas J. Story

Dark Chocolate Bundt Cake with Whiskey Caramel Sauce Recipe

Moist, dense, and foolproof, this cake by Naomi Robinson, the blogger behind Bakers Royale, includes a mix of cocoa and chocolate chips for fudgy flavor. You can vary the intensity by adjusting the amount of chocolate chips, but don't pass up the silky caramel sauce.

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Samoas Cookie Monkey Bread

Credit: Meredith Food Studios

Samoas Cookie Monkey Bread Recipe

Girl Scout Cookies are only available for a few months, but you can make our Samoas Monkey Bread, which is essentially a giant Samoa, any time you want. This sharable bread is perfect for dessert, breakfast, or a particularly indulgent snack. Mixing caramel and butter creates the perfect gooey topping (and dipping sauce) for canned biscuit dough-based monkey bread. For the perfect bite, dab up coconut flakes as well as caramel and chocolate sauce.

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Grilled Banana Split

Credit: Antonis Achilleos, Food Styling: Margaret Dickey, Prop Styling: Missie Crawford

Grilled Banana Split Recipe

This is a fun mashup between banana pudding and a sundae. You could even get the kids involved with this. Grilling the banana adds a little flavor, while charring the vanilla wafers makes for an interesting texture—together, it’s delicious. Banana pudding ice cream pulls everything together, so it’s definitely worth buying. 

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Sesamillionaire’s Shortbread

Credit: Aaron Kirk; Prop Styling: Christina Daley; Food Styling: Robby Melvin

Sesamillionaire’s Shortbread Recipe

A toasty twist on the traditional Millionaire’s Shortbread, these decadent layered cookie bars feature toasted sesame seeds in the shortbread, a luscious tahini caramel, and more sesame seeds sprinkled over top for good measure. 

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Cookie Butter Cheesecake

Credit: Alison Miksch; Prop Styling: Sarah Elizabeth Cleveland; Food Styling: Pam Lolley

Cookie Butter Cheesecake Recipe

This decadent cheesecake harnesses the addictively toasty power of speculoos cookies in the crust, in a layer of the filling, and in an over-the-top delicious caramel sauce you’re gonna want to pour over everything (we highly suggest you do). Perfect for a holiday gathering or other special occasion, this cookie butter cheesecake recipe is guaranteed to please. We tested using Biscoff cookie butter, but feel free to use your favorite brand of speculoos spread. 

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Ice Cube Tray Chocolate Treats

Credit: Time Inc. Studio Video

Ice Cube Tray Chocolate Treats Recipe

This genius technique allows you to make rich and delicious homemade chocolates with minimal mess and ingredients. In fact, making these ice cube tray candies is so easy, it’s a great rainy day kitchen project for the kids to take charge on. Use this recipe as your guide, but feel free to customize the candy as you see fit. There’s plenty of room for creativity with your chocolates’ fillings, and you can swap the milk chocolate chips for white chocolate if you prefer. Any type of ice cube tray will do here, so you may want to grab a few inexpensive ones from a dollar store specifically for chocolate making. 

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Hobo Banana Split 

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Hobo Banana Split  Recipe

This easy foil packet dessert offers all of the classic banana split flavors you love, with added gooey richness from the grill. Each banana split packet only takes a few minutes on the grill and can be customized with your favorite toppings. It’s a perfect budget-friendly dessert to make for casual backyard cookout, tailgate, or while camping. 

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Banana Split Waffle Cake

Credit: Time Inc. Video Studio

Banana Split Waffle Cake Recipe

Talk about a birthday breakfast—inspired by the flavors of a classic ice cream treat, this impressive waffle stack makes for such a fun way to kick off an extra-special day. Using store-bought waffle mix keeps this decadent breakfast-for-dessert recipe easy to execute, while sprinkles, whipped cream, and a cherry on top make it feel like a total party on a plate. 

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Ultimate M&M Cookies

Credit: Time Inc. Video Studio

Ultimate M&M Cookies Recipe

Feed your inner child (or your actual child) with these chewy-in-the-center, crispy-at-the-edges, candy-studded cookies.

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Big Tin Popcorn Cake 

Credit: Time Inc. Video Studio

Big Tin Popcorn Cake  Recipe

You know those giant popcorn tins—featuring the three signature flavors: butter, cheddar, and caramel—that you’re bound to receive at least one of every year, but never actually finish? Transform the rest into this fun and easy tricolored  “cake.” 

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Waffled Cookie Brownies

Credit: Time Inc. Video Studios

Waffled Cookie Brownies Recipe

Why choose between a waffle, a cookie, and a brownie, when you can have the best of all three? This recipe is great for kids who aren’t quite ready to cook using the stovetop or oven. Try it with different baking mixes and cookie combos to create your ultimate dessert. 

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Twix Pie

Credit: Time Inc. Video Studio

Twix Pie Recipe

This decadent, candy bar inspired pie was created with Twix lovers in mind. You can find Twix spread at World Market or on Amazon.

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Mini Pecan Monkey Bread Loaves

Credit: Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Mary Clayton Carl; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

Mini Pecan Monkey Bread Loaves Recipe

These caramel-drizzled treats will be a hit at brunch--and you'll love them even more because they are made with frozen dough and can be prepped in advance. Assemble the loaves, and store in the refrigerator overnight. Let them rise and bake as instructed.

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No-Bake Samoa Pie

Credit: Daniel Agee; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis

No-Bake Samoa Pie Recipe

Save a stash of Samoas (or Caramel DeLights) in order to make an epic pie that looks, and tastes, just like the classic Girl Scout cookie. Use the back of a measuring cup to press the crust into the pie plate and add heavy cream to the caramel when melting for a smoother, drizzle-with-ease consistency. Serve chilled, as you would a coconut creme pie.

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Samoa-Inspired Oatmeal

Credit: Photos by Kirsten Nunez

Samoa-Inspired Oatmeal Recipe

The Girl Scouts know a thing or two about cult favorites. After all, they only make the most addicting brand of cookies ever. You’d be out of your mind to deny it. And now that it’s the most wonderful time of the year—a.k.a. Girl Scout cookie season—it’s time to stock up on all your favorites and make Girl Scout cookie recipes. But in the interest of being careful, let’s talk about what to do when you run out. Making a Samoa-inspired oatmeal recipe is a solid form of damage control. You might call it crazy, but I like to call it “planning for the future.”

Samoas—or Caramel deLites, depending on where you live—is one of the most popular Girl Scout cookies, and arguably the best. Its iconic combo of coconut, caramel, and chocolate is a dream come true. It also doubles as the perfect fixings for oatmeal, one of the simplest breakfasts to make. You might even stop hating oatmeal so much.

Make it healthy(ish) by using coconut, soy, or almond milk. Don’t have chocolate chips? Use chocolate syrup or chunks of a chocolate bar instead. 

Samoa-Inspired Oatmeal

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Turtle Cheesecake Pudding Shots

Credit: Lauren Musgrove

Turtle Cheesecake Pudding Shots Recipe

These layered dessert shooters sure aren't your mama's turtle candies.Take everything you love about the turtle flavor combo (caramel, chocolate, and pecan) and mix in Bailey's Irish Cream for a grown-up version of the classic candy treat. Top each shot with all of the chocolate and caramel that your heart desires. 

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No-Bake Fudgy Toffee Bars

Credit: Iain Bagwell; Food Styling: Torie Cox; Prop Styling: Mindi Shapiro Levine

No-Bake Fudgy Toffee Bars Recipe

These gooey bars will be your new favorite no-bake cookie. Serve chilled for less mess.

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Better Than Sex Cake

Credit: Beth Branch

Better Than Sex Cake Recipe

Chocolate, caramel, and Heath candy take chocolate cake to a whole new level.

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Peanut Butter Pie Milk Shake

Credit: Photographer:Greg Dupree; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Torie Cox

Peanut Butter Pie Milk Shake Recipe

Thinking of making a vanilla milkshake? Don’t be boring. Switch things up with this fabulous Peanut Butter Pie Milkshake. We love a good ice cream pie, but have you had a pie milkshake? Now that is one way you can be sure to treat yourself.

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Salted Caramel Brownies

Credit: Oxmoor House

Salted Caramel Brownies Recipe

This luscious layered brownie made with dark chocolate beautifully combines salty and sweet.

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Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes

Credit: Hector Manuel Sanchez

Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe

These ice cream-topped treats have delicate, crisp edges and intensely rich centers. Make them for a Passover dinner or for your favorite chocoholic who's going gluten free.

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