Saturday, May 19, 2012

Salted Caramel Butter Bars



The thoughts I have on these bars... Is highly inappropriate.

If butter is your thing... These bars are for you.

If salted caramel is your thing.... These bars are for you.

Luckily for me, butter AND salted caramel is my thing.

...But so is chocolate, fruit and hard candy. Screw it... It's all my thing.

I could waste my time with a witty blog post or some smart fact about salted caramel but that just detracts from the obvious...

The truth is... we have a love affair, salted caramel and I.

So...Great. Now that the cats out of the bag.... Make these bars.

Crust:
(adapted from Cookies and Cups)


2 sticks, unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour

Caramel Filling:
30 pieces of caramel candies, unwrapped
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt or 1/2 tablespoon sea salt

For the crust:

Grease an 8x11 inch baking dish.

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

In your stand mixer, cream butter on medium speed until softened. Add in both sugars and mix until light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla and mix until combined. Sift in the 2 cups of flour and mix on low speed until a soft dough forms.
Press a 1/3 of the dough into your prepared pan to form a bottom crust and prick all over with a fork. Cover the remaining 2/3 and chill in the refrigerator. Bake the crust until brown around the edges, about 20 minutes.Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes.

While your crust is cooling, either in the microwave or stove top melt your caramels with the vanilla and cream until smooth.

Pour the caramel over your baked crust and sprinkle with salt.



Remove remaining crust from the fridge and crumble the chilled dough over the caramel.

Return the pan to the oven and bake until the filling is bubbly and the shortbread topping is firm and lightly golden,  about 25 minutes. Let cool before cutting into squares.




If I am willing to let salted caramel cheat on me for you to make these... Please do. I'd hate to look like an idiot.

The warm flaky butter shortbread and the gooey caramel.... sigh*


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16 comments:

  1. cheldiMay 20, 2012 at 6:50 AM

    Holy crap I NEED those!

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  2. Veronica LaChanceMay 20, 2012 at 11:55 AM

    Yes you do! They are quite incredible..... Thanks for stopping by :)

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  3. Dorothy @ Crazy for CrustMay 20, 2012 at 6:23 PM

    Oh my those look ooey gooey and delicious!

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  4. jjflamingoMay 21, 2012 at 10:13 AM

    oh, WOW! I made some homemade caramel via a recipe I found on Pinterest a few months ago. Now I am going to take that recipe and envelop it in your crust and see what I come up with. I think it will be spectacular!

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  5. jjflamingoMay 21, 2012 at 10:19 AM

    ps here's the link for the caramel recipe from pinterest - you can make it in the microwave, and it uses ordinary ingredients, just case you are jonesin' for these and have no caramels in the house, lol
    http://www.food.com/recipe/microwave-caramels-367414

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    Replies
    1. Veronica LaChanceMay 21, 2012 at 12:34 PM

      Wow that caramel looks great and how easy is that?! I can't wait for you to try! Let me know how it goes :)

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  6. ErinMay 24, 2012 at 10:03 AM

    We made these also and they are truly heavenly!!!!

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  7. Diane BalchMay 25, 2012 at 7:59 AM

    I just had some salted carmel for the first time. It is amazing. Please share this recipe on my foodie friday party today.

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  8. SophieMay 26, 2012 at 7:53 AM

    WHOA! Those look AHHHHH-MAZING!!! Thanks so much or sharing! :)

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  9. UnknownMay 26, 2012 at 9:52 PM

    These sound sinfully delicious. My mother-in-law makes something like these for me every time I visit and each time she asks me if I want the recipe. I always tell her no because then I would make and eat these every week if not every day they are so good! Yum! I would love to have you link this up to Titus 2 Tuesday next week on Cornerstone Confessions.

    Hopping over from Mom on Timeout.

    Kathy

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  10. Six SistersMay 28, 2012 at 9:53 AM

    These look amazing! Can't wait to try them! We appreciate you linking up with us!! It's so fun to see all of the great ideas and recipes! We hope to see you back again soon! -The Sisters

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  11. BrandiMay 28, 2012 at 2:58 PM

    Great recipe. Your bars look delicious. Thanks for sharing.

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  12. Michelle DayMay 30, 2012 at 6:28 PM

    OMG I need these right now! These bars look amazing and caramel and butter are my things too :) Thanks for sharing at Creative Thursday last week. I can't wait to see what you link up this week. Have a great day :)
    Michelle

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  13. UnknownOctober 25, 2012 at 8:31 PM

    Wow, was just checking out the Iron Chef Caramel entries. These bars have my name all over them. I love that i see the caramel just starting to slip out between the 2 crust layers, Let's me know it's a soft caramel. I'll be trying these soon! pinned.

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  14. Tanya-Lemonsforlulu.comOctober 26, 2012 at 6:15 PM

    I LOVE butter, I love Caramel!!! These are totally my thing!! Thanks for linking up this fabulous recipe at Iron Chef Mom!

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  15. jjflamingoMay 20, 2013 at 5:27 AM

    well, I am back. I told you I would let you know how it went with the homemade caramel filling. sorry it has taken me so long to reply. I made the above with the homemade caramel filling, and it was a huge hit! My friend's birthday was last May, and I took them to her party. She requested them again this year, and she said another friend of hers who was at the party said "is jan going to make those yummy salted caramel bars again?" I used to be known for my cheese straws, but I guess this is my new signature dish. thank you for the recipe! it is truly decadent!!!

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