This recipe for Salted Chocolate and Caramel Bars is pure indulgence! A dessert that’s sure to please brownie and cookie lovers alike.
If, like me chocolate and caramel is your thing – you are in for a real treat!
My husband is a chocolate fanatic and asks me to make brownies on a regular basis. This is a recipe I created for him for a wedding anniversary, it’s so good I just had to share it with you.
One of our favorites has always been my Salted Caramel & Dark Chocolate Blondies.
So I used that as my inspiration and mixed it up a little and added even more chocolate for my husband. This was recipe defiantly special!
Why This Recipe Works
- Using dark chocolate gives these cookie bars a deliciously decadent flavor.
- Salting the caramel cuts the sweetness giving that perfect salty sweet balance.
- This cross between a cookie and a brownie helps to hold the caramel and chocolate topping perfectly.
There are so many amazing cookie bar recipes, why not try Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Bars or Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars, so versatile and perfect for lunch boxes.
How To Make Salted Chocolate Caramel Bars
- Make the caramel, set aside.
- Melt chocolate chips.
- Sift dry ingredients.
- Beat the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until fluffy.
- Mix in the eggs, vanilla and melted chocolate until combined.
- Fold in the flour and chocolate chips.
- Pour into a pan and bake for around 30 minutes.
- Allow to cool and top with caramel.
- Pour over melted chocolate and sprinkle with sea salt.
- Once set, serve and enjoy!
Making Caramel
Making caramel is not an easy task. If you aren’t sure it’s something you want to mess with, feel free to melt down some store-bought cubes, I’m sure they will do the job.
If you want further information on making it at home check out my post on Homemade Caramel
Please note that the caramel recipe uses golden syrup which is an amber-colored syrup with a rich, deep sweetness that you can buy here on Amazon. (#paidlink). I love golden syrup and use it a lot, but it could be substituted with corn syrup.
Erren’s Top Tips
- When you add the salt, give the Chocolate some time to almost completely set before you sprinkle it on or it will just melt into the chocolate.
- The key to cutting them is to carefully heat the knife so it doesn’t break the chocolate topping and it makes the caramel ooze in a fantastic, beautiful way.
- I also suggest using shaved sea salt as there is less of a bite to it.
- Using a silicone bakeware for this recipe makes it easier to remove it from the pan. With a silicone pan, you just pop it out in one piece and there’s no breaking or sticking to the pan.
You can get a pan like mine from Amazon here (#paidlink).
You can also try lining the pan with non-stick foil or using baking paper, but I haven’t tried these methods and can’t guarantee you won’t run into problems.
Just keep in mind, if you use a silicone pan that isn’t fitted with any sort of frame (which will be floppy when you hold it), make sure to put it on top of a cookie sheet before filling it to keep it stable and to avoid disaster when moving them in and out of the oven.
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Let’s Make Salted Chocolate and Caramel Bars
Ingredients
For the base:
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips to be melted
- 1 cups all-purpose/plain flour
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 stick butter softened
- ¾ cup light-brown sugar packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the caramel:
- ½ cup white sugar
- 2 tablespoons golden syrup see post for link to buy
- ½ cup butter
- 1 tablespoon whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the topping:
- 12 ounces dark chocolate chopped
- shaved sea salt to taste
Instructions
For the base:
- Preheat the oven to 350F/ 170C degrees.
- Grease a 9×9 silicone pan
- In a microwave-safe bowl, melt 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips on medium power in 30-second intervals until just melted.
- Sift the flour, Cocoa Powder, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together into a large mixing bowl.
- In a large mixing bowl beat the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until fluffy.
- Mix in the egg, then add the vanilla. Add melted chocolate and mix until combined.
- Mix in the flour mixture by hand until combined (this avoids a cake-like consistency).
- Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Spread the dough into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, give the pan a little shake. If it jiggles in the middle, put the pan back in and try again every 5 minutes until there is no longer any jiggle.
- Set aside to cool.
For the caramel:
- Combine the sugar and syrup in a medium saucepan. Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly until it becomes a light caramel color.
- Add the butter, salt & cream stir until smooth. Remove from heat and mix in the vanilla.
- Set aside to cool slightly, then pour over the cooled base.
- Allow to cool completely.
- Melt the chocolate melt chocolate in a microwaveable bowl for 30 seconds at a time (stirring in between) until the chocolate is smooth and fluid.
- Pour the melted chocolate over the caramel and set aside until the chocolate has cooled almost completely. Sprinkle with the salt and leave to set completely before cutting.
- Cut into squares and serve.
Shelley says
All I can say is WOW, so good, they didn’t last very long, I’ll need to make more!
Erren's Kitchen says
Thank you Shelley, I’m glad you liked them, I hope you got some for yourself!
Millie says
Love these so much! The caramel and salted chocolate was outstanding!
Heather says
They turned out AMAZING!
Heather Stewart says
It also says to stir in the melted chocolate and later says to fold in the chocolate chips. Just wanting to clarify as I’m making them now. Thanks so much!
Erren says
Hi Heather, I am just seeing this. I’m really sorry there was a error in the instructions. it’s supposed to be 1/2 cup chocolate chips not a cup and step 9 was supposed to be deleted. I’m sorry for the confusion.
Erren says
And I hope it worked out ok ?
Heather Stewart says
No problem! I doubled the recipe so I used 1 cup melted chocolate chips and I folded a few extra chocolate chips in for good measure. They are in the oven now. I’m sure they will be delicious! I mean, they can’t be bad, right? Haha! Thanks so much for getting back with me!!
Darlene says
What is golden syrup?
Erren says
Golden syrup is similar to corn syrup only tastes delicious. My son refers it over maple syrup. You can get it in Trader Joe’s or on Amazon. If you can’t find it just replace it with corn syrup.
Caitlin says
Hi! For the brownie base the recipe says 1 egg, but the instructions says to beat in eggs one at a time. Are there supposed to be more eggs?
Erren says
This is why I have comments! Thank you for catching my mistake. It’s one egg, but the base is based on another recipe that I halved and missed it in the instructions. So sorry! It’s fixed!
Lucy @ Globe Scoffers says
WOW! These are amazing!
Erren says
Thanks so much!