Salted Caramel Bar recipe made with a sweet shortbread crust & topped with smooth caramel and sea salt. Perfectly indulgent caramel butter bar dessert!
We love caramel in our house, so these Salted Caramel Bars quickly became a favorite. I’ve taken them to a few parties and they always disappear fast. The buttery shortbread crust topped with soft, sweet caramel sprinkled with a bit of sea salt is an absolutely fantastic combination.
What type of caramel is best for baking?
I prefer to buy either unwrapped caramel bits OR the caramel pieces in a bag that are specifically for baking, because the outer wrapper comes off really easily. Those small square caramels in the clear plastic wrapper are such a pain to unwrap! You can find the baking caramels on end caps, on the baking aisle or often in the produce section by the apples.
How to make this Caramel Bar recipe
Caramel Bars are not difficult to make but there are a few tips that make the process much easier. First, when making the shortbread crust, lay down a piece of parchment paper in the pan first. The shortbread crust doesn’t stick, but the caramel seeps through a bit and the caramel can get stuck to the pan. So using parchment paper eliminates that mess!
Second, I prefer to buy either unwrapped caramel bits OR the caramel pieces in a bag that are specifically for baking, because the outer wrapper comes off really easily. Those small square caramels in the clear plastic wrapper are such a pain to unwrap!
Third, don’t stress if your caramel doesn’t get completely smooth. It’s okay! You’re going to top the caramel sauce with shortbread dough and then bake them into dessert bars. Don’t spend extra time trying to whisk the caramel into submission.
Lastly, cool the caramel bars completely before cutting into squares. Don’t chill them! That will give you a caramel brick that might break your knife. Just cool on the countertop. Also, I like to spray my knife with non-stick spray prior to cutting the caramel bars. It makes cutting through the caramel so much easier.
Salted Caramel Bar Recipe
- 1 cup butter, softened (2 cubes)
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1½ cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 TBSP vanilla
- 3 1/2 cups flour
- 1 14 oz bag caramels, unwrapped (or 11 oz bag of unwrapped caramel bits)
- ⅓ cup heavy cream (or milk)
- ½ tsp vanilla
- 2 tsp coarse sea salt
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 9×13 pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Lightly spray with cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl use an electric mixer to cream together butter, sugar, and powdered sugar. Add sour cream, vanilla and mix until combined. Mix in the flour and combine until it forms a soft dough.
- Press half of the dough in the bottom of a 9×13 dish and place the other half of the dough into the refrigerator. (Do your best dividing it in half- I think mine ends up being 2/3 in the pan and the remaining 1/3 in the fridge and it still turns out well!) Bake crust in preheated oven for 15 minutes.
- While the crust is baking, melt the caramels, heavy cream and ½ tsp vanilla in the microwave for 1 minute. Stir together until smooth, adding more time in 30-45 second increments as needed. Try and get it as smooth as you can, depending on the type of caramel, it might not be perfectly smooth and that’s okay!
- Pour caramel evenly over the hot crust. Lightly sprinkle about 1 tsp coarse sea salt over the caramel.
- Take the remaining dough out of the refrigerator and crumble over the top of the caramel. Return the pan to the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until filling is bubbly and the top is firm. Add remaining 1 tsp salt after caramel bars are cooled, but before cutting. Let them cool completely before cutting into small squares. Serves 30.
If you love this Salted Caramel Bar recipe check out these other tasty caramel desserts:
- Chocolate Caramel Bars
- Caramel Apple Bread
- Caramel Apple Nachos
- Salted Caramel Rice Krispie Squares
- Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
SALTED CARAMEL BARS
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter softened (2 cubes)
- 1 cup white sugar
- 11/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 TBSP vanilla
- 3 1/2 cups flour
- 1 14 oz bag caramels unwrapped (or 11 oz bag of unwrapped caramel bits)
- 1/3 cup heavy cream or milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 2 tsp coarse sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Line a 9×13 pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Lightly spray with cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl cream together butter, sugar, and powdered sugar.
- Add sour cream, vanilla and mix until combined. Mix in the flour and combine until it forms a soft dough.
- Press half of the dough in the bottom of a 9×13 dish and place the other half of the dough into the refrigerator. (Do your best dividing it in half- I think mine ends up being 2/3 in the pan and the remaining 1/3 in the fridge and it still turns out well!)
- Bake crust in preheated oven for 15 minutes.
- While the crust is baking, melt the caramels, heavy cream and 1/2 tsp vanilla in the microwave for 1 minute.
- Stir together until smooth, adding more time in 30-45 second increments as needed. Try and get it as smooth as you can, depending on the type of caramel, it might not be perfectly smooth and that’s okay!
- Pour caramel evenly over the hot crust. Lightly sprinkle about 1 tsp coarse sea salt over the caramel.
- Take the remaining dough out of the refrigerator and crumble over the top of the caramel. Return the pan to the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until filling is bubbly and the top is firm.
- Add remaining 1 tsp salt after caramel bars are cooled, but before cutting.
- Let them cool completely before cutting into small squares.
Katherine says
Don’t know if I actually posted this or not but I’ve made them and they were delicious. Do you think they would be okay frozen and left to thaw completely? I’ve never frozen anything with this much caramel 🤷♀️
Jessica says
Yep- I’ve frozen them before and it works perfectly!