Chocolate Chip Caramel Butter Bars – easy sugar cookie bars filled with chocolate chips and caramel! These gooey bars are the perfect dessert recipe!
So…question: is football over yet? I'm asking for a friend. No? Okay then, fine.
In all honesty…I think I'm kind of over football season (before it's even gotten started) because I haven't been invited to a party yet. A friend of mine mentioned one but it didn't happen…so now I'm thinking I need to organize something. Because watching football is way more fun when the husbands watch it in the family room and the wives gossip over wine in the kitchen.
And did I mention football food? I feel like I've been training all my life for football party eating. Chips, nachos, dip, cookies and bars: I've emptied out one of my legs especially for the occasion.
Before you get baking for next weekends games (because I know you all tailgate, right?) you need to print this recipe. These ooey gooey Chocolate Chip Caramel Butter Bars are the dessert that your next party will be talking about for days.
This recipe is a brainchild of so many other recipes. I started thinking about all my favorite gooey bars, especially the chocolate chip ones. But then I thought I've been there, done that…so I decided to make my favorite sugar cookie recipe and add chocolate chips. But, still, I wanted to fallifize (remember that word I made up?) the recipe…so I decided to use caramel in the center, like I did with my Caramel Peanut Butter Cookie Bars.
All in all I ruminated about this recipe for DAYS before I finally made it. Seriously, I went back and forth akin to my husband picking his fantasy team for the week.
The result of all my brainstorming resulted in these Chocolate Chip Caramel Butter Bars. They're a sugar cookie crust, made with my favorite Challenge Butter, stuffed with gooey chocolate chips and layered with caramel sauce. Once they bake they're gooey to the MAX. As you can tell, I probably cut these a little too soon. I wanted the gooey to come across in my photos…and they ended up being plate-and-fork bars. But after a few hours of chilling in the refrigerator they were much more manageable finger food.
As you know, I'm an ambassador for Challenge Dairy this year. I absolutely love their butter; it's the only kind we ate when I was growing up. The butter is 100% sweet cream with nothing artificial added and it's farm-to-fridge in just 2 days. My dad loves their butter so much he talks about it with everyone he knows – if he was a blogger he'd be their first and only ambassador! When you're making a cookie bar like these where the flavor of the butter shines through, you want to use a good one, one that tastes amazing. For me, that's Challenge.
Plus, all the gooey. I mean…see that chocolate and caramel? TO DIE FOR.
These were another of those "get them out of the house this instant" bars. I didn't get them out fast enough…and I ate about six. In one day. While Mel watched football…
Chocolate Chip Caramel Butter Bars
Yield: 24 bars
Total Time: 1 hour
Chocolate Chip Caramel Butter Bars - easy sugar cookie bars filled with chocolate chips and caramel! These gooey bars are the perfect dessert recipe!
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted Challenge butter
- 1 1/2 cups
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 cups + 1/4 cup all purpose flour, divided
- 2 cups chocolate chips
- 1 (11-12 ounce) jar caramel or salted caramel ice cream topping
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9x13" pan with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- Cream butter and sugar with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or you may use a hand mixer). Once the mixture is creamed and fluffy, mix in the eggs and vanilla extract until smooth, then mix in the baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Slowly mix in 4 cups flour until the mixture is just combined, then stir in the chocolate chips.
- Press about 2/3 of this mixture in the bottom and about 1/2" up the sides of the prepared pan.
- Stir the caramel sauce and remaining 1/4 cup flour in a small bowl. Pour over the top of the dough. Drop spoonfuls of the remaining dough evenly over the top of the caramel.
- Bake for 25-33 minutes, or until the top looks done and is golden around the edges. It will still be someone jiggly in the center. Cool completely before cutting. It's easier to cut when it's chilled.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 1 month.
Caramel Peanut Butter Cookie Bars
Caramel Brownie Peanut Butter Cookie Bars
Peanut Butter Caramel Shortbread Bars
Sweets from friends:
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Brownies by Mom on Timeout
Brown Butter Blackberry Crumble Bars by Inside BruCrew Life
White Chocolate Almond Roca by I Wash You Dry
I am an ambassador for Challenge Dairy. This post has been sponsored by them, all opinions are 100% my own.
Source: Crazy for Crust
