Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies Bars
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A ooey gooey chocolate chip bar cookie swirled with salted caramel! These salted caramel chocolate chip cookie bars are like a chocolate chip cookie in bar form and super easy to make.
I mean a chocolate chip cookie bar is fantastic. What’s not to love? But then you decide to layer in some salted caramel sauce. I cut them small so everyone could enjoy a bite. But for you all, I cut them into healthy portions. Small or big, doesn’t matter. You will be grabbing seconds. Or thirds. Seriously no judgement here.
Because I mean…salted caramel. In the middle. Ooey gooey. Sandwiched between a perfect chocolate chip cookie bar. Now we’re talking. Yes these were popular. For obvious reasons. So let’s make ’em…
Ingredients needed
The ingredients for these bars are basic pantry staple ingredients you would use to make a really good chocolate chip cookie.
- All purpose flour
- Salt
- Baking Soda
- Unsalted Butter
- Granulated Sugar
- Light Brown Sugar
- Egg + 1 egg yolk
- Vanilla extract
- Chocolate chips
- Salted caramel Sauce
Side Note: Have you ever tried to take a photo of ooey gooey caramel cookie bars before? Like these below? No? Don’t. It wasn’t easy…
How to make these salted caramel chocolate chip cookie bars
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9×9 square pan with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the melted butter and sugars together until combined.
3. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and mix until smooth.
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix on low, just until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Divide the cookie dough in half. Press half of the cookie dough into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the spatula.
5. Pour hot caramel over the cookie dough. Sprinkle caramel with sea salt.
5. Drop spoonfuls of cookie dough over the caramel and spread dough with a spatula until the caramel is covered. Sprinkle the bars with additional sea salt.
Bake cookie bars for 30 minutes or until the top of the bars are light golden brown and the edges start to pull away from the pan. Cool bars on a wire rack to room temperature. Cut bars into squares and serve.
Recipe Tips
- Be sure to measure your flour correctly. Overmeasuring can result in a cakey texture instead of the perfect chewiness that we are going for. You can get the full tutorial on how to measure your flour here.
- Room temperature matters. Make sure your ingredients are room temperature, like your eggs. To bring your eggs to room temperature quickly place them in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes.
- Use unsalted butter. Different brands will add varying amounts of salt in their salted butter so it can hard to control how much salt to add to the recipe. So go with unsalted butter!
- Watch that butter temperature. Use room temperature softened butter. If your butter is too soft or too cold it can affect the texture. You should be able to make a dent in the butter but it should have some resistance still
- Do not overbake. They may appear not done at this time, but taking them out during that time, ensures you won’t overbake them!
- Use a plastic knife. Once they have cooled and set up, use a plastic knife to cut them. Plastic won’t heat up and will cut them neatly.
Storage Instructions
I love these bars because not only are they simple to make but you can also make them ahead of time. In fact I recommend it, because they need time to set up before you cut into them.
You can store these at room temperature for up to 3 days. Just make sure they are covered. Storing them at room temperature if best. But if it’s a super warm day then you may need to refrigerate these so the caramel doesn’t ooze out everywhere! But I prefer NOT to refrigerate them because it can dry them out.
You can also freeze these for up to 3 months. Just make sure to cool completely. Freeze solid and then place in an airtight container.
Recipe FAQ’s
Absolutely! I’ve made my own salted caramel sauce for this recipe and used it before. Both versions were delicious, but the homemade will take a bit longer to make.
Yes you can. I would just reduce the added salt.
More Caramel Recipes To Try
- Caramel Chocolate Oatmeal Bars
- EASY Caramel Buttercream Frosting
- Milky Way Cupcakes
- Salted Caramel Apple Bars
- Caramel Apple Cupcakes
Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 2 1/8 cups (255 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter melted and cooled to room temperature
- 1 cup (213 g ) packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (99 g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup salted caramel sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9×9 square pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the melted butter and sugars together until combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix on low, just until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Divide the cookie dough in half. Press half of the cookie dough into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the spatula. Pour hot caramel over the cookie dough. Sprinkle caramel with sea salt. Drop spoonfuls of cookie dough over the caramel and spread dough with a spatula until the caramel is covered. Sprinkle the bars with additional sea salt.
- Bake cookie bars for 30 minutes or until the top of the bars are light golden brown and the edges start to pull away from the pan. Cool bars on a wire rack to room temperature. Cut bars into squares and serve.
Notes
- Be sure to measure your flour correctly. Overmeasuring can result in a cakey texture instead of the perfect chewiness that we are going for. You can get the full tutorial on how to measure your flour here.
- Room temperature matters. Make sure your ingredients are room temperature, like your eggs. To bring your eggs to room temperature quickly place them in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes.
- Use unsalted butter. Different brands will add varying amounts of salt in their salted butter so it can hard to control how much salt to add to the recipe. So go with unsalted butter!
- Watch that butter temperature. Use room temperature softened butter. If your butter is too soft or too cold it can affect the texture. You should be able to make a dent in the butter but it should have some resistance still
- Do not overbake. They may appear not done at this time, but taking them out during that time, ensures you won’t overbake them!
- Use a plastic knife. Once they have cooled and set up, use a plastic knife to cut them. Plastic won’t heat up and will cut them neatly.
- Making your own caramel sauce: You can always make your own salted caramel sauce if you want!
- Adapted from Two Peas and their Pod
Nutrition
Yum 😋 I think I’ll be making this next weekend for a get together and to surprise someone for there birthday
That would be a very sweet surprise!