Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Salty sweet perfection!
Texture: The cookie is soft, chewy, and slightly gooey and the caramel sandwiched in the middle is ridiculously thick and sticky in the best possible way.
Ease: Easy peasy! You don’t need a mixer and we’re cheating slightly with the caramel.
Pros: Total comfort food.
Cons: None!
Would I make this again? YES. These bars are amazing with ice cream if you’re feeling particularly sinful.
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Salted Caramel Cookie Bars are the perfect salty-sweet treat – and, bonus, they are super quick and easy to make!
These bars are my new addiction. They sandwich chocolate chip cookie dough (which is already pretty much the greatest thing on the planet) with heavenly slightly salty caramel.
Are you drooling yet?
Free Cookie Customization Guide!
The science-based guide so you can bake perfect cookies every time!
These Cookie Bars are wonderfully decadent and indulgent – especially with a scoop of ice cream on top!
Take them to your next potluck or party for the hit dessert everyone will rave about for years to come.
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make Salted Caramel Cookie Bars
What’s the Best Pan for Salted Caramel Cookie Bars?
I tested this Salted Caramel Cookie Bars recipe using my favorite 8-inch square metal baking pan. I don’t recommend using a glass or ceramic pan, as these pans can take much longer to heat up and bake through, causing underdone middles and overbaked edges. Learn more about Glass vs. Metal Baking Pans here.
Avoid using a dark-colored metal pan, as these pans will heat too aggressively and can cause dry or even burnt cookie bars.
What if I Don’t Have a Metal Pan?
If you must use glass or ceramic, drop the baking temperature by about 15°F and increase the baking time by 5-10 minutes.
Why Are My Cookie Bars Dry?
- Incorrect measuring: If you are not measuring your ingredients with a digital kitchen scale, you could accidentally be adding too much flour, causing hard, dry, or cake-like cookie bars. Learn more about how to measure ingredients for perfect results every time here!
- Overbaking: The other reason your cookie bars could be turning out too dry or hard is likely that they’re overbaked. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the bars are golden brown and appear set on top.
Can I Double This Salted Caramel Cookie Bars Recipe?
Yes! Double all ingredients and bake in a light-colored metal 9 by 13-inch baking pan, adding a few minutes to the bake time.
How to Store Salted Caramel Cookie Bars
Store Cookie Bars for up to 3 days at room temperature inside an airtight container. We have not tried freezing these cookie bars, so please let us know in the comments below if you give this a try!
The full Salted Caramel Cookie Bar recipe can be found on Imperial Sugar’s website!
This post was written by Tessa Arias on behalf of Imperial Sugar. All text, photos, and opinions provided are my own.
More Recipes You’ll Love:
- Chocolate Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars
- Apple Crisp Cookie Bars
- Pumpkin Bars with Brown Sugar Frosting
- Loaded Peanut Butter Christmas Cookie Bars
- Peanut Butter Toffee Chocolate Chunk Bars
Salted Caramel Cookie Bars
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Ingredients
- 1 1/2 sticks (170 grams) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup (125 grams) Imperial Sugar Dark Brown Sugar
- 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 1/2 cups (191 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups (255 grams) semisweet chocolate chips
- 11 ounces caramel candy squares, unwrapped
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- Flaked sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8 by 8-inch metal pan* with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- Combine butter with sugar and stir until smooth. Let cool slightly. Stir in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla until smooth. Add in salt and flour and stir until combined. Gently stir in chocolate chips.
- In a medium microwave-safe bowl, combine caramels and heavy cream. Microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring between bursts, until mixture is melted and smooth. Be careful not to overheat.
- Press half cookie dough evenly into prepared pan. Pour the caramel evenly over dough. Sprinkle all over with sea salt. Scoop remaining dough into spoonfuls over caramel, gently spreading until caramel is mostly covered. Sprinkle with additional sea salt.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool to room temperature before chilling for 30 minutes to make bars easier to cut. Slice into large bars or squares and serve. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Easy to make, tastes like a candy bar…it’s decadent @
Wonderful! So happy you enjoyed these cookie bars!
Hi Tessa,
What’s the difference between these and the loaded cookies bars other than obviously the caramel? Was wondering why there isn’t any bread flour in this recipe?
Thank you
Gemma
They are quite different in terms of texture and flavor! You could use bread flour for some of the all-purpose flour for these Salted Caramel Cookie Bars for a more chewy texture if you’d like. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Thank you for getting back to me so quickly. Which would you say would be a more soft, gooey texture? This one?
Thank you,
Gemma
Yes! These Salted Caramel Cookie Bars would definitely be a bit more gooey in the center, especially with the gooey caramel. Hope you enjoy!
The site does not allow us to see the directions to make the bars. When we click on the site that should lead us to the directions it says the site cannot be found—HELP!!!!!
Recipe looks delicious. But when I click on directions on how to make it, the ” page cannot be found.”
I can’t see the directions, the link is broken.
Feather,
I just googled that recipe and it came up no problem. Maybe try that way? It’s such a great recipe. Because it’s a public recipe I’m happy to share it with you if you want to email me? [email protected]. Happy baking!
Cindy 🙂
When you click on the directions it takes you to Imperial sugar site but it looks like this recipe has been removed from their site 🙁
Exato, aconteceu isso agora comigo.Uma pena pois estava doida para fazer =/
The recipe is not showing, only the list of ingredients show.
Easy, fast and yummy! I love all of Tessa’s scientific explanations, including the type of pan to use and why. In the past I would have used glass. I don’t have a square metal. I used my 9″ round metal cake pan. Worked perfectly. This is a rich treat, you only need a small square of this treat (ok maybe you need a large square lol). Get fat sea salt flakes (Maldon) to sprinkle on top – and in the middle layer – worth it! 🙂
Would like to substitute gluten free flours.Could you recommend what flours to use. Thank you.
for those having trouble finding recipe. right under list of ingredients it says directions, under that it says click here for full recipe directions. you click that and the directions are on the right.
I am making these in a week for a special Sunday at church, I will be back to review. thanks for what looks to be a perfect carmel recipe
Where is the recipe?!
I am having trouble finding the recipe for these, I am super bummed!!!!!! They look amazing! HELP!!?