These Salted Caramel Butter bars are one of my most requested recipes ever! The buttery cookie is filled with a creamy, salted caramel that is so rich and beyond delicious.
Salted Caramel Butter Bars are THE BEST Cookie Bar of ALL TIME!
I can’t begin to explain to you how much I love these Salted Caramel Butter Bars…I make them ALL THE TIME. They are one of my most requested desserts to bring to parties and there is never one left! And might I add, if you happen to be entering a cookie contest, these will guarantee you victory. Unequivocally.
The base is a buttery shortbread that comes together very easily and the filling is simply caramels, milk or cream, and a little salt! You can use pre-made caramels, or even a thick caramel sauce. I do recommend using caramels over sauce, because I think the texture is more chewy and hold up better than sauce, but so many of you who have made this recipe let me know that you have used caramel sauce and it’s worked out well!
How To Make Salted Caramel Butter Bars
It’s all a pretty easy process, just a few steps, honestly: you make dough, you divide dough, you bake some of the dough, you chill some of the dough…
Looking For More Caramel Recipes? Try These:
Salted Caramel Butter Bars
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 50
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 24 bars 1x
- Category: Cookie Bars
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Dessert
Description
Salted Caramel Butter Bars are a buttery shortbread filled with creamy salted caramel! A MUST MAKE!
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 2 cups salted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 4 cups all purpose flour
For the Filling:
- 14 ounces soft caramel candies (about 50 individual caramels), unwrapped
- 1/3 cup milk or cream
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- optional – 1 tablespoon coarse sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°. Coat a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter, granulated sugar, and powdered sugar together on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and mix until combined. Turn the mixer to low and add in the flour, mixing until a soft dough forms.
- Press one-third of the dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Wrap the remaining dough in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator.
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until the edges are a pale golden brown. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool about 15 minutes.
To Make the Filling:
- While the bottom crust is baking and the remaining dough is chilling, make the caramel filling. Place the unwrapped caramels in a microwave-safe bowl. Add the milk or cream. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Remove from the microwave and stir until smooth. If caramels are not completely melted, microwave on high for 30-second intervals, stirring after each interval, until smooth.
- Once the caramel is melted add in your ½ teaspoon of vanilla and stir until combined.
- Pour the caramel filling over the cooled crust. If you are going to salt the caramel sprinkle it on caramel layer now.
- Remove the remaining chilled dough from the refrigerator and crumble it evenly over the caramel.
- Return the pan to the oven and bake until the filling is bubbly and the crumbled shortbread topping is firm and lightly golden, about 25 – 30 minutes.
- Let cool completely before cutting into squares.
Notes
- Store airtight for up to 5 days
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 423
- Sugar: 39.9 g
- Sodium: 515.9 mg
- Fat: 18.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 60.6 g
- Protein: 4.3 g
- Cholesterol: 43.6 mg
Hi..do you think I can successfully halve this recipe? I only have a half pound of butter and can’t get to a store at the moment but need to make these asap for a friend. Thanks!
yes!
I am a baker at heart, I always love baking and even have won blue ribbons at county fairs. Now I have to say that these are by far the best tasting dessert bars I EVER made. Made for a church function (A BIG church) and not one left, plus the buzz around them and the taste- just heavenly! Probably 3/4 of the people wanted the recipe and the other 1/4 dong bake but wanted me to make some for them. Seriously this is a stunner. I make my own butter, vanilla and caramel sauce (brown sugar, sea salt, butter, corn syrup and heavy cream) and So the caramel layer is decadent and creamy, a little more gooey. Just the best recipe. Ever.
Not a biggie but steps 4 and 5 seem out of order.
Can these be frozen or will the caramel get too hard.
They will be fine frozen! As them come back to room temperature the caramel will soften up!
Can these be frozen?
Novice baker here…I don’t have course sea salt. Can I use Morton’s Natural Sea Salt?
You can, but cut the amount in half, as it is a finer grain of salt!
Can these be frozen if I bake them for Christmas on December 20
absolutely!
These made the rounds last week on FB. With that much butter how could they go wrong?And they were delicious and very easy. Will be making and sharing these a lot! Thanks.
Thank YOU!
OMG! I made the Salted Caramel Butter Bars last Thursday, Yum! I didn’t have any store-bought caramels so I made the caramel sauce too. It was so tasty and easy!!!
I just made these and wanted to tell you that they are AMAZING!! I made them to take to work tomorrow, but ended up eating way too many of them as I cut them. Even the crumbs from the pan are delicious. 🙂 (I think I may have baked them a bit too long, as the outer edges were a bit crispy & the caramel was a bit too tacky, but other than that….FABULOUS!!!) Thank you for an awesome recipe! Will definitely be making them again. I can’t wait to try MANY of your other recipes. 🙂 🙂
The edges do get a little extra chewy from the caramel, but I have friends tell me they think the edges are the best part! haha! So glad you liked them!
My husband said the same thing! 🙂 So…from the edges to the crumbs, these bars are awesome! Thanks again for the recipe.