Soft and doughy chocolate chip cookie bars infused with brown butter and filled with ooey gooey salted caramel!
Two things that I will always hold near and dear to my heart are salted caramel and brown butter. They’ve got to be two of the best flavors in the entire world!
What’s interesting is that they both involve cooking ingredients at a high temperature in order to achieve a distinct flavor. Whether it’s the rich and deliciously nutty flavor of brown butter, or the sweet, toffee-like taste of caramel, there’s really nothing quite as heavenly as these two culinary treasures.
So imagine if one were to combine BOTH of these iconic flavors into one divine dessert…
This, my friends, is what dreams are made of.
Salted Caramel Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars might be a novel of a title, but ya know what, people?? Every. Single. Word. Is. WORTHY.
I might’ve taken a couple hundred more photos than I should have during this photo shoot, but it’s like I was stuck in a trance. I was absolutely hypnotized by the luscious pockets of thick, buttery caramel slowly oozing out of the cookie bars. The fact that I managed to go 40 minutes without devouring one of these devilish squares is still mind-blowing to me. I must enjoy being tortured…
So how does one make this beautiful mess?
Well, it starts with the salted caramel. I’ve used this salted caramel recipe in several other desserts over the years, and it’s never ever let me down. Not only is it the best-tasting caramel I’ve ever had (in my humble opinion), but it’s not overly-complicated. Simply cook some granulated sugar, water, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan until the mixture reaches a golden amber color. Instead of using a spoon to stir, I just swirl the pan around occasionally making sure everything cooks evenly.
Once the right color is reached, remove the pan from the heat, pour in the heavy cream (it will boil up), and stir until smooth. You might need to return the pan to the stove and heat on low as you stir the caramel. The salt is added at the very end.
Once the caramel has cooled completely, it’s time to make the brown butter chocolate chip cookie dough! The dough recipe is actually the same exact recipe I used to make my Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies, but in this case the cookies are baked into bars.
Like the salted caramel, the cookie dough is super easy to throw together. Simply start by melting the butter in a medium saucepan. I recommend using a saucepan with a light-colored interior so that you can see the color of the butter better as it browns. As the butter cooks, it’ll begin to foam, and the color will eventually reach a golden-tan. You’ll also see little brown bits (these are the milk solids) settling on the bottom of the pan. Once you smell a nutty aroma, immediately take the pan off of the stove and transfer it to a bowl to cool for about 5 minutes. Transferring the butter to another bowl will also ensure that it won’t continue to cook.
After the brown butter has had a little time to cool, it’s time to add the rest of the ingredients. Stir in some brown sugar and granulated sugar, followed by a couple of eggs and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients, and finally the chocolate chips!
Now that you have a your salted caramel and chocolate chip cookie dough, it’s time to put it ALL together. First, half of the dough gets pressed into the bottom of an 8-inch square pan. Then the caramel gets poured on top. To add the top layer of dough, I took chunks of the dough, flattened them slightly with my fingers, then placed them evenly over the caramel.
These bars actually don’t take very long to bake–about 20-25 minutes is all. What takes the longest is waiting for the bars to cool and set up. Since there is a layer of caramel in the center, you want the bars to come to room temperature before you even think about slicing into them. Trust me, the wait will so totally be worth it when you’re cutting into the bars and you don’t have a pool of caramel all over the cutting board. However, if you have the patience of a 5-year old (like myself), the cooling process can easily be sped up by popping them into the refrigerator.
These Salted Caramel Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars are without a doubt some of the most decadent cookies your tastebuds will ever touch. From the soft and chewy, deliciously brown buttery cookie dough loaded with rich chocolate chips, to the mouthwateringly sweet and salty caramel, you’ve got one unbelievably devilish treat on your hands.
Salted Caramel Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Ingredients
Salted Caramel:
- ¼ cup water
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon corn syrup
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon salt
Cookie Dough:
- ¾ cup salted butter
- 2 ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 ½ teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips/chunks
Instructions
Make the Salted Caramel:
- Pour the water into a medium saucepan. Pour the sugar into the center of the pan, making sure none of the sugar crystals hit the sides. Add the corn syrup.
- Place pan over medium heat, leaving it alone for the first 5 minutes or until it the color begins to turn yellowish. Once you see some color, gently swirl the pan around occasionally as it boils. Continue boiling until the caramel reaches a golden amber color, about 5 to 10 minutes.
- Remove pan from the heat and carefully whisk in the heavy cream. Caramel will sizzle and bubble up. Stir in the salt, and continue whisking until caramel is smooth. If needed, return pan over medium-low heat, stirring until caramel is smooth. Transfer to dish or glass measuring cup to cool completely. Caramel will continue to thicken as it cools.
Make the Cookie Dough:
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving extra overhang on both sides for easy removal.
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. As the butter melts, it’ll start to foam, then turn a clear golden color. Continue to stir the butter, scraping up any browned specks from the bottom of the pan as it starts to brown. It should have a nutty aroma. Once browned and nutty, transfer to a large bowl; cool slightly.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and cornstarch together in a medium bowl; set aside.
- Using a fork, vigorously stir both sugars into the brown butter until smooth and combined, about 1 minute. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients, stirring until just incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Press half of the dough into the baking dish. Pour caramel on top, spreading out evenly. Take chunks of the remaining dough, flatten them slightly, and layer them side by side on top of the caramel. Try to cover as much of the caramel as possible.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until edges are lightly golden. Cool completely*.
- Run a knife along the edges of the pan to loosen the bars. Using the parchment overhang, gently lift the bars out of the pan and cut into squares. Eat immediately.
- To store leftover bars, I recommend wrapping each bar individually in plastic wrap to prevent the caramel from running.