Salted caramel bars have become one of our most requested recipes since we first made them three years ago. Warning: they're as addictive as crack.
I first baked these salted caramel bars nearly three years ago and they have become one of the most requested recipes by friends in family.
In fact, these salted caramel bars are so amazing, my friend requested them for her son's wedding reception. They're perfect when cut into 1-inch squares.
You can use a metal pastry scraper for easy, even cutting or do the DIY thing and clean off the joint knife sitting in your garage.
We've made these enough, I feel like we've perfected the recipe. But you are free to adjust the ratio of dough on the top and bottom of the bars and/or the amount of salt.
We like to sprinkle the salt on top because it makes the caramel bars a little more sparkly, but you're more than welcome to sprinkle it right on top of the caramel.
FYI, my favorite coarse salt is the Real Salt Coarse Sea Salt. Not only do I love the flavor but it's also pretty on salted caramel bars.
I'm not kidding when I say these salted caramel bars are as addictive as crack. We try to make them only when we'll be giving away at least half the pan.
It's all about the portion control, trust me.
Printable recipe for salted caramel butter bars below. Enjoy!
Salted Caramel Bars
These salted caramel bars should be called crack bars. In fact, they may be even more addictive. Try eating just one ooey, gooey, salted caramel bar--it's impossible!
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 pound salted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons vanilla
- 4 cups flour
Filling
- 1 bag (14-oz) caramel squares, unwrapped
- ⅓ cup heavy whipping cream
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees; butter a 9x13-inch baking pan.
- Using a mixer, beat the butter and sugars for at least 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and mix until combined.
- Sift the flour and add to the butter mixture. Mix on low speed until a soft dough forms.
- Press half the dough evenly into the pan; refrigerate remaining dough.
- Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until firm and the edges are just barely turning a light golden brown. While dough is baking, start on the filling.
- Place the unwrapped caramels, heavy whipping cream and vanilla in a small saucepan. Heat over medium/low heat until completely melted
- Pour the caramel filling evenly over the crust. Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator and crumble evenly over the caramel.
- Sprinkle dough with sea salt.
- Bake for another 25-30 minutes or until the shortbread topping is firm and starting to turn a light golden brown on the edges.
- Cool completely before cutting into squares.
Notes
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 24 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving:Calories: 292Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 46mgSodium: 335mgCarbohydrates: 32gFiber: 0gSugar: 31gProtein: 1g
Barbara @ Barbara Bakes
I think I need these in my life :)
Emily Hill
I think everyone does. ;)
Shawn @ IWYD
Oh man, these look to die for!! YUM!
Emily Hill
They are seriously so good!
KD
. . .And they were the first treat gone at the wedding!
Thanks!!
Emily Hill
That was such fun!
Cathy@LemonTreeDwelling
THESE look amazing!!!!!!! I'm seriously drooling over here.....
Emily Hill
Thank you, Cathy!
Cathy
Do you need to refrigerate after they cool ?
Brittany
Two comments/questions:
1-Ive made these twice in the last few weeks. Mine never look quite as caramelly as yours, i.e. my caramel/shortbread ratio looks way different than in your pictures. Do you really only use one bag of caramels? It's almost like during the cooking process the caramel soaks into the short bread and makes it far less. Does that make sense?
2-This is probably a funny question because people who are trying to be healthier should not be making these, but is there any way to make these a little less caloric? Perhaps use less than an entire pound of butter. I only ask because you are right, these are totally like crack. I could not stop eating them and then I'd immediately regret it because a pound of butter is a pound of butter. In fact, I've been researching "healthier" versions of shortbread for the last few days in the hopes that one of the recipes might work in the place of the shortbread in this one. If it does, I'll report back. :)
Emily Hill
I really do use only one bag 0f caramels. I'm not sure why yours would look so different. My caramel doesn't change after baking the batch the second time. When I pull it out of the oven, it still appears to have the same amount. Perhaps try a larger portion of shortbread dough on the bottom? And I have no idea how to make them healthier. Let me know if you figure it out!
Brittany
So I finally made my "healthier" version of these today. After a lot of shortbread research I discovered I could substitute half (possibly more but I wanted to err on the side of caution my first go around and didn't want to totally lose the butter taste) of the butter with coconut oil. I also omitted the regular sugar and just used the powdered sugar. They turned out awesome and just as good as if I had used the full pound of butter.
Also, perhaps I was using a smaller size bag of caramels? No idea!
Emily Hill
That sounds amazing! I'll have to try that for sure!
Netti
The recipe calls for a 14 oz. bag of caramels. When I bought my caramels (Kraft brand), the bag said it was only 11 oz., so I bought two bags and added 11 caramels from the second bag (that's as close as I could get to 14 oz.). I wonder if that is the problem?
Emily Hill
I think I've used the 11-oz. bag before and they turned out just fine, so yes, perhaps that was a few too many caramels. Sorry!
Netti
Oh, no! Mine turned out absolutely perfect and delicious!! I was responding to Brittany, above, who said she didn't have enough caramel. I though maybe she had accidentally used only 11 oz. of caramel. Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe!!
Netti
*thought
Emily Hill
Oh! So sorry! Thank you. :)
Darcy
Do you know if margarine can be used in this recipe instead of butter or would that change the outcome?
Emily Hill
I haven't tried it since butter is what makes them so yummy. I know margarine changes the consistency/baking in things like cookies so I have a feeling it wouldn't work as well. :(
Julie
This may seem like a silly question, but i'm assuming this is pure vanilla being used, not vanilla extract?
Emily Hill
I use pure vanilla extract when I make this recipe.