Caramel and Pecan Bars

Ok, there are a lot of flavors in this recipe, but I think they work really well. I mean, you can’t really go wrong with chocolate and caramel, and adding some pecans in there really brings it home. These are simple to make but they are definitely a crowd-pleaser, and have the added bonus that I always like, which is they look and taste like they were a lot more difficult to make than they actually are.

Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

2 cups of chocolate wafer cookie crumbs
1 cup + 3 T butter, softened to room temperature, separated
½ cup sugar
¼ t salt
2 cups flour
7 oz. soft caramels (it’s about 2/3 of a bag – it’ll help if you have a kitchen scale for this one
1 14 oz. can, sweetened condensed milk
1 t vanilla
½ cup chopped pecans
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Butter and flour the inside and bottom of a 9” x 13” pan and set aside.

We’ll start with the crust layer. Put the cookie crumbs in a small to medium bowl. Melt 3 T of the butter and mix in with the cookies. Line your pan with the cookie/butter mixture, and press down lightly with your fingers to make it even. Set the pan aside.

Honestly, Famous Chocolate Wafers are the BEST. Super simple, but make a great crust!

In a separate bowl mix together the remaining cup of butter along with the sugar and salt. Add in the flour and mix until everything is well combined. Take about half of this batter and put it in your pan, covering the cookie base.

Next, put the caramels and the condensed milk into a microwave-safe bowl and melt it in your microwave. My favorite way to do this is to nuke it in 30-second intervals at 50% power, taking it out and stirring it after each 30 seconds. The goal here is to melt the caramels and combine them with the condensed milk. We don’t want to cook or boil anything.

Once your caramels are done and combined, take the bowl out of the microwave and stir in the vanilla, chopped pecans and chocolate chips.

Pour the mixture over the batter in your pan.

You’re going to take the remaining batter and put it over the melted caramel. Since the caramel is soft you won’t be able to spread it so, working with your hands, grab pieces of dough slightly smaller than a ping pong ball, flatten each piece between your palms and spread out these disks over the top of the caramel.

Bake at 350 for about 25-30 minutes until the top is a nice golden brown and the caramel is bubbling around it. Take it out of the oven and move to a wire rack to cool completely.