Salted Caramel Shortbread Bars
October 31, 2021
When Halloween night begins its final approach, our focus turns from home preparations to the enjoying of the holiday festivities. Although how we spend Halloween has changed over the years, there is one absolute constant in the Erbe household and that is candy. The days of the pillowcases full of shiny wrapped surprises is well over for us, it still seems as though the brightly colored sugared pumpkins sneak into candy dishes around the home without fail. To accompany the candy we all loved as a child, we started a few years ago to make home made versions of some of our favorites and give them an adult twist. Although there is no replacement for the taste memory of the candies of our youth, there is a distinct elegance to homemade candy that makes it fit for anything from a gift to after dinner dessert for guests without sacrificing the childlike joy of coming home with your sugary spoils.
We have made various candies over the years but have to admit that one of our favorites has to be this copy of a certain caramel and shortbread bar dipped in milk chocolate. For our adult version we have replaced the milk chocolate with dark chocolate and added salt to both the caramel on the inside and a sprinkle on top. The resulting treat is an incredible combination of tender shortbread, chewy salted caramel, and sharp dark chocolate that is just irresistible. Making candy can be somewhat of a fiddly process so for this version we use a no fail caramel recipe that comes out perfect almost every time. There are also plenty of options when it comes to ease of applying the chocolate. We completely dipped our bars but if this is too time consuming for your schedule, you could always drizzle, or pour the chocolate over the top to just coat the top portion of the bars. Trust us this won’t affect how much you love this confection. They are worth each step they require and are a perfect end to your Halloween night.
Salted Caramel Shortbread Bars
Ingredients
Shortbread
2 Sticks (1/2 lb.) of Unsalted Butter
¾ Cup of Granulated Sugar
2 and ¼ Cup of Flour
1 and ½ tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Salt
Caramel
2 Stick (1/2 lb.) of Unsalted Butter
1 Cup Light Brown Sugar Packed
¾ Cup Corn Syrup
¼ Cup Granulated Sugar
¼ Cup Heavy Cream
1 tsp Sea Salt (plus more for finishing)
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
Chocolate
1 lb. Dark Chocolate (or chocolate of choice)
Directions
Make the shortbread first. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9x9 inch pan by taking strips of parchment that are 9 inches wide (doesn’t have to be exact) and crossing them in the pan. This will allow you to lift out the bars easily. Combine Butter and sugar in a stand mixer or in a bowl with hand mixer. Mix until just combined, don’t whip. Add vanilla and salt and mix. Add flour and mix until just combined. If the mixture seems to dry, add a tablespoon of water until the mixture clumps together.
Take dough and press into prepared pan into one layer. The ends of the parchment should be sticking up on all four sides giving easy handles to pull out later. Take a fork and poke holes all the way through the shortbread at ¼ inch increments. This prevents any rise in the cookie while baking. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes until the edges are just brown and the center seems solid. Begin checking at 20 minutes. Don’t allow to become over brown. Allow to cool while you make the caramel.
For the caramel combine the butter, brown sugar, white sugar, corn syrup, heavy cream, and salt in a medium size saucepan. For this amount, it is safe to use a saucepan that is at least 4 qts as it will bubble up when cooking. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat giving it a periodic stir to make sure it combines, and no portion burns to the bottom of the pan. When boiling insert a candy thermometer and reduce the temperature to medium. Cook until the mixture reaches 245 degrees. Once at temperature remove from the heat and take out candy thermometer. Be careful the caramel will be quite hot. Add the vanilla and gently stir in to combine. Then pour the caramel over your cooled shortbread. The shortbread should be kept in the pan it baked in. Allow to cool completely either overnight or at least 2-3 hours.
When cooled completely, lift the bars out of the pan using the parchment strips. The caramel may need some loosening from the corners but should pop out when a knife is ran along the edge. Put the cookie, caramel square on a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, cut into any size you like. We cut ours into rectangles measuring 2in by ¾in. Keep in mind when covering with chocolate they will look much larger. Stage them so they are easy at hand.
For the chocolate layer, temper your chocolate* using the necessary temperature ranges for the type of chocolate used. See below for instructions and alternatives.
Spread a large piece of parchment out on your work area. Then using two forks, take each cut bar and drop into prepared chocolate. Turn the bar to completely coat and then use the forks to lift it out. Set each bar on one fork and then tap the fork on the edge of the bowl. This will allow the chocolate to “sheet” over the bar removing excess and smoothing it out. Use the other fork to push the bar onto the parchment and top with sea salt. Continue until all the bars are dipped and topped with salt. Allow to harden on the counter until chocolate is smooth and shiny. They should be stable at room temperature but can be stored in the fridge if it is warm in the home. Allow to come to room temperature before eating.
*To temper chocolate, chop up your chocolate into small pieces. Put ½ of the chocolate into a heat proof bowl and melt over a double boiler. When completely melted, add the other half of the chopped chocolate and mix to melt in. When completely melted, continue to mix while the temperature comes down to the required temperature for the chocolate to crystalize. For dark chocolate this is 79.6 degrees F. Then return the chocolate to the double boiler continuing to mix constantly to bring the chocolate up to working temperature which is 89 degrees F. Then it can be used for dipping. This process is used to create a shiny crunchy shell that should be stable at room temperature.
*If you don’t want to temper chocolate, you can always melt your chocolate all together and add a small amount of coconut oil to the mix. Around 2 tbsp. This will prevent the need to temper but the chocolate will not have the same snap. The candy may also need to be stored in the fridge with this method to prevent melting.