These Salted Caramel Shortbread Bars are rich, buttery, and combine everything you love about a shortbread cookie with a thick layer of gooey salted caramel right in the middle. It makes these bars totally irresistible and indulgent.
The bars are baked in a square pan to keep them thick. This gives them a soft, but structured shortbread, and a caramel center that is rich and gooey, but not too runny. They have the perfect balance between sweet and a little dash of salty. And the bars slice beautifully once cooled, so they are perfect for holiday trays, or baking anytime!
Why you’ll Love these
- Easy to Make: The bars have a quick shortbread base that is used for the top and bottom of the bars, with a quick caramel center made from store bought soft caramels.
- Balance of Sweet and Salty: I love sweet and salty treats, and these bars hit that spot perfectly with the buttery shortbread paired so nicely with the salted caramel center.
- Great for Gifting: These slice up beautifully, and the recipe is easy to double if you need even more for your cookie trays, or holiday party.
Ingredients Needed
This is a quick overview of some of the ingredients you’ll need for this Caramel Shortbread Bar Recipe. Specific measurements and full recipe instructions are in the printable recipe card below.
- Unsalted Butter: You can substitute this for salted butter (remove the added salt later). It creates that rich, melt in your mouth texture and buttery flavor.
- Brown Sugar: While this isn’t typical for shortbread, it gives the bars a little bit of the caramel texture in the cookie too.
- Egg: Not always included in shortbread, but this gives the bars a sturdier dough.
- All Purpose Flour: Gives the bars their structure.
- Baking Powder: Just a little so the bars are soft and easier to slice.
- Soft Caramels: Use store bought soft caramels like Kraft or Werthers.
- Heavy Cream: We’re using this to melt the caramels into a gooey texture so we can bite through the bars.
How to make Caramel Shortbread Cookie Bars
Step 1: Mix the wet Ingredients. Cream the butter and the sugars together until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add in the egg, and vanilla, and stir them into the dough.
Step 2: Add in the dry Ingredients. Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix it all together until you have a soft dough.
Step 3. Press the Dough. Press half of the dough into the bottom of a parchment paper lined 9x9inch square pan, into a smooth even layer. Bake it for 12 minutes until the top is set.
Step 4: Melt the Caramel. Add the unwrapped caramels and heavy cream to a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second increments until you can stir it totally smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and salt.
Step 5: Layer. Pour the caramel over the bottom layer of the cookie dough. Take the remaining dough and break into portions and drop the dough in dollops over the caramel later.
Step 6: Bake. Bake the bars until the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool completely. Top the bars with flakey sea salt.
Tips and Tricks
- Use Parchment: Line your pan with parchment paper so you can lift the bars out of the pan. This will help with the mess from the gooey caramel layer and give you a much easier cleanup.
- Use room temperature Ingredients: Both the butter and egg should be brought to room temperature for about 30 minutes before mixing them into the dough to ensure they mix evenly.
- For Clean Slices: Let the bars cool completely before slicing, the bars will cut much better and cleaner if the caramel is set first.
- Serving Size: These bars are rich so you can cut them into smaller servings to get more out of a pan.
Storage Instructions
Store the cooled bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. You can also refrigerate the bars for up to 1 week, or freeze them for up to 2 months. To freeze the bars wrap them individually in plastic wrap, then a freezer safe bag or container. Let them thaw at room temperature until soft enough to enjoy.
These Salted Caramel Shortbread Bars are thick, buttery, and caramelly. Who can say no to that combo? They’re super easy thanks to the shortcut caramel layer in the middle and are guaranteed to be a new favorite!
More Cookie Bar Recipes
- Christmas M&M Cookie Bars
- Cherry Almond Bars
- Sugar Cookie Cheesecake Bars
- Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars
- White Chocolate Cranberry Bars
- Pecan Pie Bars Recipe // LMLD
- Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars // LMLD
If you make these Caramel Shortbread Bars, please leave a 🌟 rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!
Caramel Shortbread Bars
Ingredients
For the Shortbread Cookie Base:
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter
- 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
- 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 large Egg
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
- 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
For the Caramel Layer:
- 11 oz Soft Caramels (Unwrapped)
- 1/4 cup Heavy Cream
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/8 tsp Salt
Instructions
For the Shortbread Cookie Base:
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and line an 8x8inch pan with parchment paper and set it aside.
- In a large bowl, add the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar and cream them together for a couple of minutes. 1 cup Unsalted Butter, 1/2 cup Brown Sugar, 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
- Add in the egg, and vanilla extract, and stir them into the mixture. 1 large Egg, 2 tsp Vanilla Extract,
- Add in the flour, baking powder and salt and mix it together until you have a soft cookie dough. 2 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour, 1/2 tsp Baking Powder, 1/2 tsp Salt
- Take a little more than 1/2 of the cookie dough and press it evenly into the bottom the prepared pan.
- Bake the cookie dough for about 10 to 12 minutes or until the top is set and no longer shiny.
For the Caramel Layer:
- While that is baking add the caramels and heavy cream to a small sauce pan and melt over medium low until you can stir it smooth. 11 oz Soft Caramels, 1/4 cup Heavy Cream
- Remove from the heat and add in the vanilla and salt and stir it together. 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract, 1/8 tsp Salt
- When the bottom layer of the cookies are baked remove from the oven and pour the caramel over the top.
- Take off pieces of the remaining cookie dough and sprinkle them around the top of the caramel layer. They do not need to fully cover the cherry layer.
- Bake the bars for another 15 to 18 or until the top of the bars are golden brown and set.
- Remove from the oven and sprinkle the top with flakey sea salt. let the bars cool completely, before slicing and enjoying.
Notes
- Use Parchment: Line your pan with parchment paper so you can lift the bars out of the pan. This will help with the mess from the gooey caramel layer and give you a much easier cleanup.
- Use room temperature Ingredients: Both the butter and egg should be brought to room temperature for about 30 minutes before mixing them into the dough to ensure they mix evenly.
- For Clean Slices: Let the bars cool completely before slicing, the bars will cut much better and cleaner if the caramel is set first.
- Serving Size: These bars are rich so you can cut them into smaller servings to get more out of a pan.
Nutrition
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