Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Before we get to these amazing salted caramel chocolate chip cookie bars, I have a housekeeping item to address. At the end of last week,  I received a few emails from readers that were unable to access the recipe for these strawberry lemonade cupcakes. After several Google searches, I found out that internet explorer users sometimes can't see text after page breaks in blogger. So it's been a long frustrating weekend of emailing back and forth with my website designer (who is the best ever!) and it seems as if the issue has been resolved after re-installing my template. However, if you are still having trouble getting to any recipe, please let me know or consider using another browser. Thank you!!

But enough of my woes, let's talk about these salted caramel chocolate chip cookie bars. Or ooey-gooey bars of goodness as I call them. The softest chocolate chip cookie is sandwiched with melted salted caramel that oozes out of every side. Goodness!

They are also very easy to make. Simply make the best chocolate chip cookie dough, spread half at the bottom of an 8'x 8' baking pan, pour lots of caramel on, sprinkle with some sea salt and top with the rest of the cookie dough. Easy enough right? The soft cookies and warm caramel make this a delicious treat with the perfect combination of sweet and salty. You need to try it and if you love chocolate and caramel, you will LOVE this!

Chocolate Chip Salted Caramel Cookie Bars

Adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

Ingredients:
2 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 large egg yolk, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips
6 ounces caramel candy squares, unwrapped
3 tablespoons heavy cream
Sea salt, for sprinkling over caramel and bars

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 8' X 8' baking pan with parchment paper (or foil) leaving overhang. Spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda.
3. In the bowl of your stand mixer (or medium bowl), beat the melted butter and sugars together until combined. Add in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix on low, just until combined about 1 minute. Then stir in the chocolate chips for additional one minute.
4. Combine the caramels and heavy cream in a medium microwave safe bowl and melt in a microwave. Stir every 30 seconds until caramels are melted. This will take about 2 minutes, depending on your microwave.
5. Add half of the cookie dough to the prepared pan. Press gently and smooth the top with a spatula. Drizzle/pour the hot caramel sauce over the cookie dough and sprinkle with sea salt. Using a small cookie scoop or a tablespoon, drop spoonfuls of cookie dough over the caramel. Spread the dough with a spatula until the caramel is covered. Sprinkle again with sea salt.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top of the bars are light golden brown and the edges start to pull away from the pan. Cool bars on a wire rack to room temperature. Cut bars into squares and serve.

Enjoy!!!