The lights are hung on the house, the tree is decorated, and I’ve got one very excited six year old who has been writing letters to Santa on a weekly basis – the Christmas countdown has begun!!
Do you have any holiday traditions? Besides decorating the house as a family, and a trip to see Santa, we bake every year. Some years are more productive than others (hello store bought cookie dough) and some years we wait to the very last minute (Christmas eve here we come!) but it’s something that we love doing as a family and it has become one of our most cherished holiday traditions.
The kids love to make sugar cookies because they can punch out different shapes with cookie cutters and then frost them and pile on the sprinkles – I mean, what kid doesn’t like that?!? The daddy loves making lemon bars and simple chocolate chip cookies with extra chips (always a crowd pleaser) and I like to make biscotti – sometimes with almonds, sometimes dipped in chocolate, and sometimes both!!
But this year I’m breaking with tradition. Instead of biscotti, I’m making these delicious and decadent salted caramel nut bars!!
These bars are made up of two delicious layers – a buttery shortbread crust and a chewy caramel nut filling which makes them quite rich, but the flakey sea salt sprinkles help balance the sweetness perfectly. Take these delicious bars to a holiday potluck, deliver them to your work buddies or wrap them up and leave them under the tree for Santa – these salted caramel nut bars are the ultimate Christmas treat!
Let me know if you try this recipe and leave your favorite holiday traditions in the comments below – I can’t wait to see!!
XO,
Jenn
salted caramel nut bars
my recipe inspired this one by Martha Stewart
makes about 20 bars, depending on how you cut them
for the crust:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups all purpose flour
for the filling:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 cups (8 ounces) mixed nuts
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
flaked sea salt
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with cooking spray. Line the baking pan with parchment paper, and spray the parchment paper with cooking spray as well.
Place butter and brown sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in salt. Add flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing until fully incorporated after each addition. Continue mixing until dough begins to come together in large clumps.
Press dough about 1/4-inch thick into prepared pan. Chill until firm, about 20 minutes. Pierce the dough with a fork. Bake until golden brown, 20 to 22 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Reduce oven to 325 degrees.
Place ingredients in a saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until mixture coats the back of a spoon, about five minutes. Remove pan from heat; pour filling into the cooled crust.
Bake until filling bubbles, 15-20 minutes. Carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Run a pairing knife around edges of the pan and invert onto cooling rack. Invert again onto a cutting board. Use a sharp knife to cut into bars. Sprinkle with flaked sea salt.
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