Thursday, March 21, 2013

Chocolate Chip Salted Caramel Cookie Bars


I tend to judge a recipe by it's name. The more adjectives in a sweet treat, the better in my opinion. I was hoping to put this up sooner, but my laziness kicked in. But at least I was consistent these last two posts. This one and the last one were both posted on the 21st of the month. Maybe that should be my goal for now. I wanted to post weekly, but that's not working so well. Although a month from now all my time will be spent packing because we are moving into a house! We are pretty excited. But for now, back to my sweet treat full of adjectives.

Think of a thick chocolate chip cookie stuffed with salted caramel...now make this recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod because that is essentially what you get. These rich bars keep well and are perfect for potluck desserts, parties, or just taking the pan to the couch and digging in.

Yield: 9x13 pan, cut however you'd like
Time: 45ish minutes

Ingredients
12 Tbs melted butter, cooled
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla 
2 1/8 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
 2 cups chocolate chips
10 oz caramel candies, unwrapped (it's not quite a whole  bag)
3 Tbsp heavy cream
Sea Salt

Preheat oven to 325 and prepare a 9x13 glass pan with a bit of cooking spray or butter.

In a large bowl use a mixer or beater to combine cooled melted butter, brown sugar, and sugar. Add in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.



Slowly add in the flour, salt, and soda. People always say to mix the dry ingredients and then add them in to the wet, but I almost never do that. I add in 1 cup of flour to the wet and mix it up. Then I measure out the 1/8 cup flour with the salt and baking soda and add that in. Finish up with the last cup of flour.


When the dry ingredients are mixed in, time to stir in the best part, the chocolate chips!



Once the batter is ready, press about half the dough into your prepared pan; cover the whole bottom.

Now get those caramels and add in the heavy cream. Microwave that gooeyness until they are melted. It normally takes about 2 minutes on high, stopping to stir every 20-30 seconds. As soon as the caramels are all melted and the cream is absorbed, it's ready.



Pour the melted caramel all over the dough pressed in the pan. Use all that gooey goodness to cover the dough.

 
Once that's done, sprinkle as much sea salt as you want on top of the caramel. I tend to put more than I think is necessary, because there is a lot of flavor in these bars and I want the salt to be tasted and not hidden.


Once it's covered with your desired amount of salt, press the rest of the cookie dough on top of the caramel. I like to take chunks of the dough and flatten it with my fingers before placing it on top of the caramel. You won't completely cover the caramel, just cover what you can.


Finally, sprinkle some more salt on top and stick that pan in the oven!

Let the bars bake for about 30 minutes or until the top of the bars are golden and the edges pull away from the pan. Sadly, you have to let these bars cool to room temperature on a cooling rack before you can cut them, otherwise they become a ridiculous mess.

 
Cut at your own risk.



Watch how fast these bars disappear and enjoy!



Original post at http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/chocolate-chip-salted-caramel-cookie-bars/