Here’s a most decadent dessert to try: Gooey Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
My family is crazy about these dessert bars… so crazy that we couldn’t stop eating them. They’re ooey and gooey and everything you’d ever want in a dessert. I ended up sending most of the batch these Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars to my son’s lacrosse team party. The platter came home empty!
This recipe comes from The Cookies and Cups Cookbook: 125+ sweet & savory recipes reminding you to always eat dessert first by Shelly Jaronsky. If you love to bake, you need this one on your cookbook shelf!! Shelly has a very popular baking blog- CookiesAndCups.com… so it’s a natural transition for her to come out with a baking cookbook.
Here are a few recipes I’ve tagged to make from this book: Vanilla Bean Snickerdoodles, Banana Bread Pancakes, Brown Sugar Cinnamon Swirl Bread, Pound Cake Cookies, Icy Lemon Cake, Hot Fudge Sundae Cake, Marshmallow Buttercream, Payday Pie, and Marble Sheet Cake. Shelly also includes a few dinner recipes in the final chapter of the book (her family’s favorites… such as King Ranch Mac and Cheese and Garlic Bread Pasta). I love this book!
Yes, these bars are that decadent and gooey. I’m a caramel-lover myself, so these are like the perfect dreamy dessert for me.
There’s a bit of flaked sea salt on top- which happens to be a very good idea. It gives these bars a little bit of a salty kick, and it balances out the sweet. You must try these Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars for your next occasion worthy of them. Everyone will love you. Enjoy!
Here are a few more cookie bars you might enjoy:
- Sugar Cookie Bars
- Candy Bar Cookie Bars
- No Bake Monster Cookie Bars
- Easy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- Oreo and Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- One 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- 10 ounces soft caramels (unwrapped) -- this is about 40 caramels
- 1 teaspoon flaked sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x13-inch baking pan with foil and coat liberally with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the butter and both sugars on medium speed for 2 minutes until fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla, salt and baking soda and continue mixing until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Turn the speed to low and add the flour until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Press three-quarters of the dough into the prepared pan.
- In a medium saucepan, combine the condensed milk and caramels and cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until the caramels are melted.
- Pour three-quarters of the caramel mixture on top of the dough in the pan and drop the remaining dough evenly in teaspoon-size amounts on top of the caramel. Save any remaining caramel for another use (it's great over ice cream!)
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the center is just set.
- Sprinkle with flaked sea salt. Allow to cool completely in the pan before cutting into bars.
Notes
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Absolutely delicious but after reading the reviews I mare some tweaks. After pressing 3/4 of dough into pan I cooked it for 8-10 mins first. Then add caramel. I admit that I used Dulce de Leche (made with sweeten condensed milk in the crockpot) because I don’t have caramel candies where I live. I spread the Dulce de Leche on top of the partially cooked bottom, then topped with remaining cookie dough then baked for another 15-18 minutes. Halfway through I sprinkled some salt flakes. Those who were lucky enough to get a piece said it was amazing. I will definitely make again. Is tonight too soon I wonder?
This recipe doesn’t work. Mine were just a gooey mess inside. No layering at all
Sorry they did not work out for you!
I made this and, while I’m sure it will be delicious, I don’t understand why the recipe has you make 3x the amount of caramel sauce you need. Also, I don’t understand why the recipe calls for 1/3 of the dough for the bottom of the pan, this is nowhere near enough to cover the bottom of a 9×13 pan. To keep the structural integrity of the bars I certainly recommend using half the dough for the bottom. The wasted caramel sauce certainly taught me to read the entirety of a recipe, so thank you!
I would guess the reason is because of the full can size. What else would you do with half of a can of condensed milk? So rather than throw it away make extra caramel to use for other things later :).
I Absolutely Love Carmel so I’m headed to the store in the morning to make this
Just wondering if these can be frozen and if so, for how long?
Thanks!
I haven’t frozen them, but they should be fine in a well-sealed container for up to three months.