Deliciously LUXE Salted Chocolate Caramel Bars topped with chopped pecans. These tasty chocolate cookie bars are sure to delight your sweet tooth!
Salted Chocolate Caramel Bars
Need a sweet treat that’s impressive and delicious? Whip up a batch for your next party or potluck!
Print the recipe card below and meet me in the kitchen!
Salted Chocolate Caramel Bars
Ingredients
FOR THE SHORTBREAD BASE
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (136 grams)
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (21 grams)
- 8 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature (113 grams)
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- ⅓ cup sugar (67 grams)
FOR THE CARAMEL TOPPING
- 1 cup sugar (200 grams)
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- ½ cup heavy cream, at room temperature (or slightly warmed in a microwave) (120 ml)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces and very soft (1 ounce; 28 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (57 grams)
- ½ cup pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped (60 grams)
Instructions
- Center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 350 degrees F. Generously butter (or spray) an 8-inch square pan.
TO MAKE THE SHORTBREAD BASE:
- Whisk together the flour and cocoa powder.
- Working with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter, sugar and salt together on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Turn off the mixer, add the dry ingredients all at once and beat on low until the dough comes together. This will take a little longer than you might expect, so don’t get discouraged. Give the dough a few last turns with a flexible spatula and scrape it out into the pan. Using your fingertips, pat the dough evenly over the bottom of the pan; press down and make sure to get the dough into the corners.
- Bake the shortbread for 21 to 23 minutes, rotating the pan after 10 minutes, or until it is slightly darker around the edges and just starting to pull away from the sides of the pan; it will not feel completely firm if poked gently. Transfer the pan to a rack and allow the shortbread to cool completely.
TO MAKE THE CARAMEL TOPPING:
- Put a heatproof bowl close to the stovetop, along with a small bowl of cold water and a pastry brush (preferably silicone).
- Put the sugar, water and corn syrup in a small saucepan or skillet and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Allow the ingredients to bubble away, brushing down the sides of the pan with cold water if there are spatters and swirling the pan a couple of times once you start seeing some color, until the caramel turns a pale to medium amber. (Don’t let it get as dark as mahogany.) Lower the heat, stand away from the pan and add the cream, followed by the butter and salt — ingredients that might cause the caramel to roil. Remove the pan from the heat, drop in the chocolate and, using a silicone spatula or wooden spoon, stir to blend.
- Pour the hot caramel over the shortbread and sprinkle with the nuts. Allow to set at room temperature.
- When the caramel is firm, run a table knife around the sides of the pan, care- fully unmold the cookie onto a rack and turn it over onto a cutting board. Using a long thin knife, cut 21 bars (cut into 3 strips and then cut each strip into 7 bars). Alternatively, leave the cookie whole and cut individual bars as needed.
Notes
Nutrition
Dorie lovingly dubs these shortbread bars “the kind of cookie that makes you think you should stop everything, throw over your regular life and open a fancy pastry shop just so you can have a legit excuse to bake — and eat — these every day” and for good reason too! I’m of the baking challenged variety, but found this recipe so easy that I’m pretty sure I could run my own pastry shop, or at least eat my way through one!
The base is a simple chocolate shortbread which gives the star of the show, the caramel, a foundation on which to flaunt its assets, among them its characteristic smooth, slow-melting texture; its deep flavor, which blends sugar, dark chocolate, and a hint of salt.
Today’s recipe hails from Dorie’s brand spankin’ new cookbook, Dorie’s Cookies.
Ingredients Needed
I’ve long been obsessed with Dorie’s cheesecake recipe and probably make it 3x a year at least. Naturally I had to get these salted chocolate caramel bars in my face, STAT!
The full recipe directions and ingredient measurements will be in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post. Here’s what you’ll need to make them:
FOR THE SHORTBREAD BASE
- all-purpose flour
- unsweetened cocoa powder
- unsalted butter
- granulated sugar
- fine sea salt
FOR THE CARAMEL TOPPING
- granulated sugar
- light corn syrup
- heavy cream
- unsalted butter
- fine sea salt
- bittersweet chocolate
- toasted pecans
I can’t wait for you to try them!
If you get a chance to try these pecan studded Salted Chocolate Caramel Bars, let me know!
Leave me a comment here (LOVE checking those daily!) or tag @PEASandCRAYONS on Instagram so I can happy dance over your tasty creations. I can’t wait to see what you whip up!
More Delicious Dessert Recipes
- Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
- Chewy Granola Cookies
- Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Mini Key Lime Pies
- Sheet Pan Cookie Cake
Questions & Reviews
I made these bars for dessert last night and the whole family devoured them! Next time I’m making a batch for myself!
So glad they were a hit! Thanks Jessica!
Basically if you say salted caramel I say- where do you need me? These are so good- I omitted the walnuts to lower the calorie count a tiny bit. Soooo good!
Can you tell me what the heatproof bowl is for when preparing the caramel?
Hi Karen! A glass pyrex bowl or any bowl that can be baked or heated is used for this step. It’s mostly a safety precaution because it’s so close to the heat of the stove-top and the caramel so in this case we’d keep plastic away 🙂 Hope that helps!