Salted Caramel Butter Bars

I love to cook and bake. I make dinner from scratch for our family almost every night. I also have a huge sweet tooth, so I am constantly wanting to bake something to satisfy those cravings. I have to *try* to control myself, so I don't gain 23143241 pounds.... which is extra hard during pregnancy!

I've been planning on adding recipes to my blog for awhile now, but I just haven't gotten around to it for a couple of reasons. One, I don't have the best lighting in my kitchen. Two, I'm not much of a food photographer. And three, most of the time I just plain forget to even try to take pictures. BUT, I remembered a few nights ago when I was indulging my sweet tooth by making this recipe I found on Pinterest. I halved the recipe to make an 8x8 pan instead of a 9x13 pan. Here is what I did...

Salted Caramel Butter Bars

For the crust:

2 sticks salted butter (room temperature)

1/2 C sugar

3/4 C powdered sugar

1 Tbsp vanilla

2 C flour

For the filling:

1/2 of a bag of caramel bits or individually wrapped caramels

1/4 C milk or cream

1/2 Tsp vanilla

1 Tbsp (or more) course salt (I used kosher)

Preheat oven to 325* and spray an 8x8 pan with cooking spray.

To make the crust:

In a large bowl, combine butter and sugars. Beat on medium speed until creamy. Add the vanilla and beat until combined. Add the flour and beat on low until it forms a dough (this may take a few minutes). Press half of the dough into the bottom of the pan. Put the other half in the fridge to cool. Bake the crust for 20 minutes or until the edges are pale golden.

While the crust is baking, make the caramel filling. Place the caramels, cream and vanilla in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir. Microwave in 30 second increments, stirring well after each one, until caramel is smooth and melted. 

Pour the caramel over the crust. Sprinkle with salt.

Remove the remaining dough from the fridge, break it apart and sprinkle over the top of the caramel, completely covering it. (I forgot to take a picture of this part. Oops.)

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the caramel is bubbly and the edges are golden. Let it cool for 15 minutes (or more if you don't want to burn your tongue on hot caramel ;) ) then cut it into 12 squares. Try not to eat 5 at once.

YUMMMM!