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Caramel Cookie Bars are a decadent, luscious treat. A sugar cookie base, topped with quick caramel and candied pretzels. Topped off with a drizzle of chocolate. You will crave these!
Why Make These Caramel Cookie Bars
Salty caramel is one of my favorite dessert combinations. This is by far one of my best treats to date.
- Melt in your mouth. These cookie bars will just melt in your mouth, similar to my Double Chocolate Cookie Bars, they are rich and so good.
- Made from scratch. Everything is scratch made, you will love it.
- Easy. Although there are a few steps involved, this recipe is easy to execute with patience.
Ingredient Notes
All other ingredients and measurements can be found in the recipe card towards the bottom of this post.
- All Purpose Flour. This is for the cookie base. You can also use all purpose gluten free flour.
- Unsalted Butter. This will be used for the cookie base as well.
- White Granulated Sugar.
- Flaky Sea Salt.
- Egg Yolk. This keeps the cookie base together.
- Vanilla Extract. For a sweet flavor.
- Heavy Cream. To make the caramel.
- Pretzels. These are for topping. You will need a little butter and sugar to whip these up and make them candied.
- Milk Chocolate. Optional, for drizzling over the top of the bars.
- Coconut Oil (or canola oil). This is to help make the chocolate melt smooth and spreadable.
Steps To Make Caramel Bars
- Step One. Preheat the oven to 350º. Make the cookie base and bake (photo 1-2).
- Step Two. Make the caramel. Add the sugar to a non-stick saucepan and cook on a medium heat until the sugar melts, whisking regularly with a hand balloon whisk. NOTE – the sugar will clump up, but keep whisking, it will eventually melt (photo 3-4).
- Step Three. Pour the caramel over the cooked cookie base (photo 5).
- Step Five. Make the Candied pretzels. Once the caramel is hardened a bit, top the caramel bars with the pretzels (photo 6-7).
- Step Six. Drizzle the caramel cookie bars with melted chocolate. Let them cool down and slice up and enjoy.
Recipe Tips
- Keep a close eye on the caramel, it can overflow or burn quickly so be sure your focus is on it.
- You can skip the candied pretzels, but I highly recommend them for an extra texture and crunch.
- Don’t forget the flaky sea salt topping, the bit of salt really brings things together.
- Store the leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the fridge. You can also freeze these bars for up to 2 months.
Other Desserts To Try
Caramel Cookie Bars
Caramel Cookie Bars are a decadent, luscious treat. A cookie base, topped with quick caramel, candied pretzels and a drizzle of chocolate.
Equipment
- 8×8 baking dish
- parchment paper
- mixing bowls
Ingredients
Cookie Base
- ½ cup butter, unsalted
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 3 Tbsp granulated white sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Caramel Sauce
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 6 Tbsp butter, unsalted
- ½ cup heavy cream, room temperature
- ½ tsp flakey salt
Candied Pretzels
- ½ cup mini twisted pretzels
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 3 Tbsp white sugar
Chocolate Drizzle
- ¼ cup chocolate chips
- 1 tsp coconut oil or canola oil , *to thin the chocolate sauce for easy drizzle.
Instructions
Cookie Base
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) Line a 8 inch square baking tin with parchment paper with enough overhang on the sides to easily remove the bars from the pan.
- Using a handheld / stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high speed until smooth – about 1 minute.
- Add the flour, sugar, salt, egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat on high speed for 1-2 minutes until crumbly. Use your hands to make the dough come together. Press tightly into prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes.Allow to cool completely cool. I placed mine in the fridge for 10 minutes to speed this up.
Caramel
- Add the sugar to a non-stick saucepan and cook on a medium heat until the sugar melts, whisking regularly with a hand balloon whisk. NOTE- the sugar will clump up, but keep whisking every few minutes, it will eventually melt, this can take 15 minutes, have trust and patience (I needed it myself!) that the clumps will melt.
- Continue cooking the sugar until it reaches a deep amber color and is fully melted, but don’t allow it to burn.
- Then carefully add the butter, remove from the heat for a few seconds so it doesn’t bubble over, be careful it can splat a little. Continue whisking on low heat until the butter is melted.
- Remove the pan from the heat and slowly pour in the heavy cream. Whisk until cream is fully incorporated and the caramel is smooth. Stir in the salt. Let it cool to the side.
Candied Pretzels
- In a large skillet, melt the butter and sugar together. Add in the pretzels and sauté for just 2 minutes or until they are nice and coated in the butter/sugar.
- Pour the mixture and pretzels out on a piece of parchment paper, lay them flat without overlapping. Let them cool and harden on the counter or in the fridge.
Assembly
- Let the caramel sauce cool in the pan for about 10 minutes until it reaches room temp then pour over the crust. Add candied pretzels. NOTE ** I did this in neat rows so it’s easier to cut. Place in the fridge to fully set. You can do this a day in advance and leave it, it won’t matter.
- To enable easy slicing, place the slice in the freezer for about 10 minutes before slicing to really firm up the caramel. Lift the parchment paper out of the pan using the overhang on the sides and cut into squares.
- Melt the chocolate and coconut oil in the microwave in 30 second increments, stopping and stirring until completely melted. Drizzle the chocolate over the caramel bars and enjoy!
Notes
- Keep a close eye on the caramel, it can overflow or burn quickly so be sure your focus is on it.
- You can skip the candied pretzels, but I highly recommend them for an extra texture and crunch.
- Don’t forget the flaky sea salt topping, the bit of salt really brings things together.
- Store the leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the fridge. You can also freeze these bars for up to 2 months.
Nutrition
Serving: 1caramel bar | Calories: 256kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 48mg | Sodium: 93mg | Potassium: 39mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 455IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 14mg | Iron: 0.5mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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