Caramel Pecan Filled Shortbread Bars

These delicious, gooey bars were the result of me tweaking a recipe called Salted Caramel Butter Bars that I got from my friend, Shana. Those were tasty, but I decided that I wanted to create a version without the course sea salt and add some pecans, my favorite nut.
Crust
1 cup butter, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour

Center filling
1 bag (14 ounces) caramels, unwrapped
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup pecan pieces

Topping
1 cup butter, chilled
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup pecan pieces, finely chopped

Mix together the crust ingredients in stand mixer, then press dough onto the bottom of a prepared 9x13 pan that has been lightly sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees, then cool for 15 minutes.

While crust is baking, microwave the caramels, heavy cream, and vanilla for two minutes on high. Stir together until smooth. If needed, cook for an additional 30 seconds, and stir until smooth. Add the pecans and set aside until the crust has been out of the oven for fifteen minutes, then pour caramel on next.

Mix together the topping ingredients in stand mixer. These ingredients are almost the exact ones as the crust, except for the butter temperature being cold, and the additional finely chopped pecans. You'll want a crumbly topping, and cold butter keeps it that texture. After mixing everything together, dump the crumbly topping on top of the caramel layer, then spread it evenly over top. Bake an additional 30 minutes. Cool, cut, and serve.

Comments

Pralines and Dreams

I considered myself to be a decent cook and baker. However, candy making had been unchartered territory until I recently cracked the code of a favorite—chewy Texas Pecan Pralines. This culinary epiphany came only days before I left my home sweet home in Austin, Texas, to return to CU Boulder after an epic hiatus to wrap up my bachelor’s degree in journalism. When I was a little girl, I remember tasting heavenly, creamy homemade pralines, bursting with pecans, handcrafted with love by my mom. She only whipped them up a few times, but I just couldn’t get the memory of those buttery, sugary treats out of my head. They were that good. I asked her if she still had the recipe, but I knew it would be hopeless since my mom wasn’t one for keeping track of her down-home style cooking. I married my college sweetheart, a guy with the same first name as me, and began teaching myself to cook. Becoming “Kelly Times Two” was amazing, and I had ...

Triathlon triumph

Are you kidding me? A triathlon and I have never belonged in the same sentence. It must have been time for something new! (The "BEFORE" race shot, with goggles and swim cap in hand.) What an unforgettable week this was! I actually DID enter my first triathlon, with the goal of simply finishing it. Take note of the emphasis on the word FIRST, because I loved it so much, that you can guarantee that there will be more. It was a blast. Seriously. My friends Lorraine and Robin had trained and signed up to do the event, which was two days ago, on Saturday. Three days beforehand, I heard about it and basically had a spontaneous urge to join them, so I registered. The only partial preparation ahead of time that I had been doing was cycling in the neighborhood here and there on my mountain bike with some other friends. And doing some micro-laps in our backyard pool. Our friend, Dave, was also there. The three of us women appreciated Dave's encouragement and support, as he's ...

The BIG REVEAL!

We LOVE our new pool! There are a couple of problems that need to be fixed, so we're crossing our fingers that they get it done right, and soon, considering we have given them the final check for the balance of the pool, and we don't have any leverage. Three of the waterfalls work. This is the main one and I like the natural look. Below, here's the deep end waterfall, and it's flows nicely. The water sheer like this one, that flows into the shallow beach area, is the fall that is not working. It's frustrating, but hopefully they'll fix it soon. The fountain in the spa is blocked too. Here's the small rock waterfall, which works just great. It took about 18 hours to fill the pool and we practically watched it gallon by gallon. I stayed up all night long, making sure it didn't overflow. We swim in it every day. Last night we went on a midnight swim and it was beautiful. The water temperature is perfect. I'm extremely thankful that we have our new...

Kelly Times Two

Search This Blog