I was influenced. I saw a sponsored post on Facebook with this recipe for Salted Caramel Butter Bars and was immediately intrigued. The writer said, “these are as addictive as crack” in a way that made me think maybe she knew how addictive crack was and her comparison was not just hyperbole.
Sorry for the snark there but I hate when people compare food to crack… like how do you know, Gayle??? Anyway, she still sold me on them so I made them the very next week after picking up the necessary ingredients from the grocery store.
Overall, these Salted Caramel Butter Bars were easy to make if you enjoy from scratch baking. I love to bake, so making things from-scratch is not a big deal but I honestly prefer a shortcut. I’m busy and lazy. Shortcuts are my jam. This is not a shortcut recipe but again, not a huge deal… just… well, read on.
The “toughest” part was making the shortbread. I was not a fan of this step. Why? First of all, shortbread is not my favorite to begin with. I usually find it to be floury and dry. I will say the recipe is better than most. It is a very vanilla forward shortbread so that helps. Also, the dough is just tough and messy. My Kitchen Aid mixer had a tough time with this one. If I make these again, I will just use refrigerated sugar cookie dough.
I will say that melting the caramels was an absolute pleasure!
My favorite step was sprinkling the coarse salt on the caramel before baking. It looks so pretty! Side-note: I added salt to the caramel layer and again on top of the crumbled shortbread. I’m salty.
It’s a bit weird looking in the pan, no?
But cut into bars… yum! Just look at those layers.
So, what is my overall review of this recipe for Salted Caramel Butter Bars? They tasted amazing and that’s a lot coming from me regarding a non-chocolate dessert. I usually have something chocolate in a dessert, as you can find here sprinkled on top of my RumChata Cheesecake. Would I make them again? Yes-ish. As stated above, I would use sugar cookie dough for the crust instead of shortbread.
OH! I almost forgot, they freeze well which is great b/c this makes a lot of bars and it is a rich dessert, best in small doses.
So, yes, I recommend this recipe for those of you with a sweet tooth and a desire to get your kitchen into a floury mess. It really was a delicious treat.
