Caramel Nut Bars

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*Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. To learn more, please go here.These caramel nut bars are soft, gooey and overall delicious! The caramel nut bars recipe starts off with a buttery shortbread crust which then gets topped with a gooey caramel that's mixed with an array of nuts. It then gets baked so the caramel sets and topped with a sprinkling of sea salt. These bars can be dangerous!You can mix it up a little with this recipe too, which is nice if you have a certain nut allergy. You can use any type of nut or mix it really doesn't matter. Use all peanuts if you'd like and make it a caramel peanut bar and then drizzle some chocolate over the top after it cools down. This recipe requires honey, but if you aren't a fan of honey than you can easily substitute it. Just use light corn syrup instead of the honey. Overall these caramel nut bars are a great treat for an afternoon snack

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caramel nut bars

a buttery shortbread crust that is topped with mixed nuts and lots of gooey caramel and sea salt

shortbread

• 1 stick unsalted butter (room temp)
• 1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• pinch salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

caramel

• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup honey (you can use light corn syrup if you don't like honey)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• pinch salt
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp heavy cream
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 cup mixed nuts; walnuts (cashews, peanuts, pistachios)
• sea salt (for topping)

shortbread

1. preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. line a pan with parchment paper. in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment cream the sugars and the butter until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. scrape down the side of the bowl and then add in the egg and vanilla. add in the salt and flour and mix until combined. press the dough onto the bottom of the pan and bake for 18 minutes.

caramel

1. place the water, honey and sugar into a pot and place over medium high heat. let boil until it becomes a light caramel color, this will take about 15 minutes. once it's a nice light caramel color, remove from heat and slowly stir in the butter and heavy cream. mix in the vanilla and nuts. pour the caramel mixture on top of the shortbread crust and put back into the oven for 8-10 minutes. let cool until the caramel is set, you can put it into the fridge to further the process. cut into 12 pieces and sprinkle with sea salt on top.