Ultimate Turtle Cookie Bars

Submitted by Wheres_the_Beef

"Love chocolate and caramel? Indulge in decadent bars. Chocolate chip bar cookies with a caramel, chocolate, pecan topping."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 10mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Yields: 16 cookie bars
• Serves: 16

ingredients

• 1⁄2 cup butter, softened
• 6 tablespoons brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1⁄4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided use
• 1⁄2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
• 24 Kraft caramels, unwrapped
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 3⁄4 cup pecan halves
• 1 teaspoon shortening

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Using electric mixer, in a medium bowl, cream butter, brown and white sugars, then egg and vanilla.
3. In another bowl, stir together, flour, baking soda and salt. Mix well.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well until a soft dough forms.
5. Stir in 3/4 cup of chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of coarsely chopped pecans. Mix until chocolate chips and chopped pecans are evenly distributed in cookie dough.
6. Press cookie dough evenly into bottom of an ungreased, 8-inch square baking pan.
7. Bake 28 to 33 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven.
8. Meanwhile, in a 1-quart saucepan on stove top, heat 24 caramels and 1 Tbs milk over low heat, stirring frequently, until melted and smooth. Remove from heat.
9. Carefully spread melted caramels evenly over warm cookie bars and sprinkle with pecan halves. Cool completely on cooling rack, about 1 hour.
10. In small microwavable bowl, microwave 1/4 cup of semisweet chocolate chips and 1 tsp shortening uncovered on High 30 to 60 seconds, stirring every 15 seconds, until melted and smooth. Drizzle over cookie bars. Let stand about 30 minutes or until chocolate is set.
11. For bars, cut into 4 rows by 4 rows.

Reviews

[sprout 13]

These are really great. They were not too difficult to make and have a good balance of chocolate, caramel, and cookie. The only change I made was to just sprinkle chips on top of the warm caramel instead of going through the chocolate chip drizzle step. This saved time and the end result tastes just as good. The only thing I didn't like about this bar was that my caramel topping got pretty runny at room temperature, making them messy to eat. I used low fat milk in the topping, which may be the cause. Next time, I'd use whole or evaporated, or reduce the amount of low fat milk somewhat to prevent this.