Salted Caramel Bar Recipe

4.50 from 10 votes

Salted Caramel Bars made with a sweet, buttery crust topped with creamy caramel & sea salt! Decadent bars that are truly irresistible!

Prep Time30

Cook Time30

Total Time1

Course: Dessert, treats

Cuisine: American

Keyword: caramel bars, Salted Caramel Bar Recipe, shortbread cookie bar

Servings: bars

Calories: 225kcal

Author: Jessica & Nellie

Ingredients

1 cup butter softened (2 cubes)
1 cup white sugar
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
½ cup sour cream
1 TBSP vanilla
3 ½ cups flour
14 oz bag caramels unwrapped (or 11 oz bag of unwrapped caramel bits)
⅓ cup heavy cream or milk
½ tsp vanilla extract
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. Serve and enjoy!

Video

Notes

Salted caramel bars can last up to 1 week if stored properly. They should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator to maintain their freshness.

If you want to store them for a longer period, you can freeze them for up to 3 months.

Nutrition