So There's This Bar....

Some might say the whole salted caramel thing is overdone.  Played out.  A fad.  Whatever....I don't really care all that much, because I happen to love it.  I guess it would be alright if it fizzled out, though---because a girl could get into a lot of trouble if she made these too often.

Decadent?  Yeah.  Rich?  For sure.  Delicious?  Well, duh.  They are not, in the slightest, not even a teensy tiny bit clean.  I should apologize for that, but it's not like I created the recipe.  So how about we blame that girl?  What's that you say?  You are still blaming me because I'm the one who shared it?  Okay.  You have a point there.  But you're going to be the one making and eating them.  So I guess there's no one to blame but yourself.  Ha!  That worked out nicely.

Anyway...I've made these several times and shared them as gifts.  I think they've been appreciated, but it's hard to understand what people are saying with their mouths full of this goodness. 

I present to you...the heaven that is (drum roll, please) Salted Caramel Butter Bars. 
A delicious butter shortbread crust with gooey caramel in the inside!

Prep time:  10 mins     Cook time:  45 mins     Total time:  55 mins     Serves: 16 (really?)

What You Need

• 2 cups butter, softened  (somewhere right now Paula Deen is rejoicing!)
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1½ cups powdered sugar
• 1 Tbsp vanilla
• 4 cups flour
• 1 14 oz bag caramels, unwrapped or 11 oz unwrapped Caramel Bits work great
• ⅓ cup whipping cream
• ½ tsp vanilla
• 1 Tbsp coarse sea salt
• Willpower

What You'll Do

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Lightly spray with cooking spray.
2. In a large mixing bowl cream together butter, sugar, and powdered sugar. Add vanilla and beat until combined. Mix in the flour and combine until it forms a soft dough.
3. Press half of the dough in the bottom of a 9x13 dish and place the other half of the dough into the refrigerator. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes.
4. Remove the pan from the oven and melt the caramels, heavy cream and ½ tsp vanilla in the microwave for 1 minute. Stir together until smooth. Pour evenly over the hot crust. Lightly sprinkle the coarse sea salt over the crust. I didn't end up using the entire T, just lightly sprinkle evenly on top. You don't want them too salty. :)
5. Take the remaining dough out of the refrigerator and crumble over the top of the caramel. Return the pan to the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until filling is bubbly and the top is firm. Let them cool completely before cutting.
6. Exercise willpower to not devour the entire pan...they're almost too rich for this to even be an issue, but I feel it's my duty to warn you.  So you can say you were, in fact, warned. You're welcome.