Salted Caramel Bars

Dessert Baking Entertaining

This recipe comes to us from Lee Ann Merrick of Tinwings in The Nations.

Photography By Teresa Blackburn | April 30, 2020

Ingredients

Dough

1 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla
4 cups all-purpose flour

Filling

1 14-ounce bag caramel candies, unwrapped
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Topping

1 tablespoon Maldon sea salt
2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Preparation

1. To prepare dough, combine butter and sugars in bowl of stand mixer and blend until creamy. Add vanilla. Sift flour into batter and beat on low until soft dough forms.

2. Preheat oven to 300F. Press half the dough evenly into greased 9x13 baking dish. Place remaining dough in refrigerator. Bake 10 – 20 minutes until firm and edges are pale golden brown.

3. Meanwhile, prepare filling by placing caramels in microwave safe bowl. Add cream and vanilla and microwave on high one minute. Stir. Repeat in 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth.

4. Pour filling over crust and sprinkle remaining dough over top. Bake 20 – 30 minutes until filling is bubbly and shortbread topping is firm and lightly golden. Let cool.

5. Drizzle chocolate over top, finish with Maldon salt, and cut into bite-sized pieces.