Another episode of Game of Thrones watched, another dessert made at Ted’s. While making this we watched the fourth episode, which, ridiculously, was also how many sticks of butter goes into this dessert. We were actually going to cut the recipe in half, but I forgot to cut most of the ingredients in the first step in half, so…that was a no-go. I wasn’t that upset, though, as this stuff is gooooood!

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 1 pound (4 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons vanilla
• 4 cups flour

Filling:

• 1 bag (14 oz.) caramel candies (about 50 individual caramels), unwrapped
• 1/3 cup milk or cream or half and half
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon coarse sea salt

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars. This is one where having a KitchenAid is going to serve you well. Add the 2 tablespoons vanilla and beat until combined, followed by the flour.

Lightly grease a 9X13″ pan and press 1/3 of the dough into the bottom to form the bottom crust. If you’re doing a half recipe, use an 8X8″ pan. If you’re doing the full recipe at the house of a friend who doesn’t have a 9X13″… use what you can find!

Put the bowl with the remaining dough in the fridge, and the crust in the oven for 20 minutes. Take the baked crust out and set aside to cool for roughly 15 minutes.

While the crust cools, combine the caramels, milk, and remaining vanilla in a pot over the stove on low heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until evenly melted together. Pour over the crust.

Sprinkle the salt over the caramel, being quite generous.

I think a bit more would have been ok. Sea salt and caramel just work so well!

Take the remaining dough out of the fridge and crumble it, or break it in bits and drop on, over the caramel.

Bake again, a further 25-30 minutes until the filling is bubbly. Don’t wait for the top to brown or the caramel will get harder than you want.

Let cool, then cut out squares to serve. Or, y’know, don’t wait and just scoop out gooey deliciousness!

This business is fabulous! Not shocking, when you consider the ingredients list.

Salted Caramel Butter Bars

From The Merlin Menu.

Crust:

• 1 pound (4 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons vanilla
• 4 cups flour

Filling:

• 1 bag (14 oz.) caramel candies (about 50 individual caramels), unwrapped
• 1/3 cup milk or cream or half and half
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon coarse sea salt

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the 2 tablespoons vanilla and beat until combined, followed by the flour.

Lightly grease a 9X13″ pan and press 1/3 of the dough into the bottom to form the bottom crust.

Put the bowl with the remaining dough in the fridge, and bake the crust for 20 minutes. Remove the baked crust from the oven and set aside to cool for 15 minutes.

While the crust cools, combine the caramels, milk, and remaining vanilla in a pot over the stove on low heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until evenly melted together. Pour over the crust. Generously sprinkle the salt over the caramel. Take the remaining dough out of the fridge and crumble it over the caramel.

Bake again, a further 25-30 minutes until the filling is bubbly. Don’t wait for the top to brown or the caramel will get harder than you want. Let cool and cut into squares.