Salted Caramel Cookie Bars

Along with my Guinness Brownies (and some other treats) I whipped these up last week to take to visit friends at uni. I didn't have time to slice them up nicely and take pictures before I had to leave so ended up leaving them in the tin, letting everyone tuck in for themselves, cutting off huge chunks at a time. Over the course of the weekend they steadily disappeared. 

Jess (remember the birthday cake I made her last time I visited?) was heard saying "there's nothing wrong with these" over a mouth full of crumbs, so I think they were liked.

The cookie on top is crisp and crunchy, but as you go through the layers there are chunks of softer, more dough like cookie which have baked in with the salted caramel sauce. As the cookie bakes, the caramel will bubble up around the edges to create a crisper boarder with a deeper caramelised taste. There's then some (alot of) chocolate chips floating about too so it's all pretty good.

Ingredients:

For the Cookie:
2 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
12 tbsp (170g) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips 

For the Salted Caramel Sauce:
125g caster sugar
65g salted butter
50ml single cream
a pinch of sea salt flakes (to taste)

To Make:

• Preheat oven to 165°C. Line and grease an 8×8-inch baking pan.
• For the cookies; mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. 
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugars together until thoroughly combined. 
• Beat in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla until just combined. 
• Add in the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until the mixture is just combined.
• Stir in the chocolate chips. 

• Spread half of the dough out in the bottom of the baking pan in an even layer and press down with a metal spoon.

• To make the caramel, dissolve the sugar in 5 tbsp water in a large pan. (recipe from my salted caramel chocolate torte, pictures here.)
• Stir in the butter, raise the heat a little, and bubble, stirring occasionally until it turns a light toffee colour; this may take 20 minutes. 
• Turn off the heat and stir in half the cream. When the bubbles die down, stir in the rest of the cream and a pinch of sea salt flakes. 
• Drizzle the caramel over the dough, gently using a spatula to form an even layer. 
• Drop the remaining dough in clumps over the caramel – the dough will bake together, so don't worry if the dough doesn't cover the entire pan. 
• Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the cookies are golden brown on top. 
• The centre may be slightly soft still, but the caramel will harden as they cool and set. Allow to cool completely before slicing.