Salted Caramel Butter Bars

Ingredients:

For the crust:

1 lb. salted butter, room temp

1 c. sugar

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

2 T. vanilla

4 c. all-purpose flour

For filling:

1 14-oz. bag caramel candies, unwrapped

1/3 c. milk or cream

1/2 t. vanilla

1 T. coarse salt

Recipe:

1. Preheat oven to 325. In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugars. Using mixer of medium speed, beat together until creamy.

2. Add the vanilla and beat until combined. Sift the flour into the butter mixture and beat on low speed until a smooth soft dough forms.

3. Spray a 9x13-inch baking pan lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Press 1/3 of the dough evenly into the pan to form a bottom crust, and place the remainder of the dough in the fridge to chill.

4. Bake about 20 minutes until firm and the edges are a pale golden brown. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool about 15 minutes.

5. While the bottom crust is baking and the remaining dough is chilling, make the caramel filling. Place the unwrapped caramels in a microwave-safe bowl. Add the cream and vanilla. Microwave on high for 1 minute.

6. Remove from the microwave and stir until smooth. If caramels are not completely melted, microwave on high for 30-second intervals, stirring after each interval, until smooth.

7. Pour the caramel filling over the crust. Sprinkle the salt on the caramel layer.

8. Remove the remaining chilled dough from the refrigerator and crumble it evenly over the caramel.

9. Return the pan to the oven and bake about 25-30 minutes, until the filling is bubbly and the crumbled shortbread topping is firm and lightly golden.

10. Let cool completely before cutting into squares.

Rating: 4 of 5
I'm not even going to talk about how much butter is in this recipe. Skipping over that completely. Just make sure you share this one with friends because no one should eat that much butter by themselves. Ever. Ok, so I thought these were good. I didn't put as much shortbread as she calls for on top. Maybe half of what she called for. The caramel was good, but I probably would have done another half bag. You can taste the caramel, but I would have liked more. These were good and I recommend them for sure!

Source: Cookies and Cups, Salted Caramel Butter Bars