Chocolate Caramel Shortbread Bars are the perfect combination of shortbread cookie layered with chocolate and caramel.
I made these Chocolate Caramel Shortbread Bars for the Christmas party for my husband’s office. They were so good!
The crust is like a shortbread cookie. Then, there is a layer of caramel topped with a chocolate layer.
These chocolate shortbread bars are my favorite dessert that I made this year.
This recipe is adapted from a King Arthur Flour recipe.
Gluten Free
This recipe works great gluten free with Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free flour blend or King Arthur Measure for Measure Gluten Free Flour blend. Other flour blends may work, but have not been tested in the recipe.
Be sure to also read labels to ensure that the rest of your ingredients are gluten free.
Ingredients
- butter
- brown sugar
- vanilla extract
- salt
- all purpose flour or Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 gluten free flour blend or King Arthur Measure for Measure flour blend
- sweetened condensed milk
- brown sugar
- semi-sweet chocolate chops
- heavy cream
Chocolate Caramel Shortbread Bars
The perfect combination of chocolate caramel with a shortbread crust.
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 cup butter, cold cut into chunks
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups all purpose flour or King Arthur Measure for Measure gluten free flour or Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 gluten free blend for gluten free version
Caramel
- 1- 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Chocolate
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line 9x13 pan with parchment paper or grease well. The bars will be removed from the pan more easily if you use parchment paper.
- Combine butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a mixing bowl. Beat on medium-low until smooth.
- Add flour and continue mixing until crumbs start to form.
- Press mixture into prepared pan to form crust.
- Bake for 20- 25 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
Caramel Layer
- Combine sweetened condensed milk, sugar, butter, and salt in a saucepan.
- Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth.
- Increase heat to medium and continue stirring until the mixture boils.
- Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture reaches 225 degrees on a candy thermometer. This will take about 4 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
- Immediately pour over the crust.
- Spread with an off-set spatula so that the mixture reaches the edge of the pan.
Chocolate Layer
- Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl or glass measuring cup. Set aside.
- In a saucepan heat cream just until boiling.
- Remove from heat and pour over chocolate.
- Let sit for about 2 minutes.
- Add vanilla and stir until mixture is smooth.
- Pour over the caramel layer.
- All the chocolate is set up on bars for 30 minutes to an hour.
- Cut into bars.
- Refrigerate leftovers.
Notes
This recipe is gluten-free as long as you use a gluten-free flour blend and read the labels to make sure that your ingredients are gluten-free.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
36Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 235Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 28mgSodium: 133mgCarbohydrates: 29gFiber: 1gSugar: 21gProtein: 3g
Nutritional values are approximate and aren't always accurate.
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