dulce de leche — Housewife's Whimsy

I ran across these bars in the March edition of the the Food Network Magazine. I just knew I had to try making them. Alex really loves caramel and pecans together so I thought he’d really enjoy these cookie bars.We had friends over for dinner one night and I thought that would be the perfect excuse to make these bars. They were a hit! Everyone who tried them thought they were the perfect combination of caramel, chocolate and pecan.

This recipe will also work if you have a 9x9 pan. I do not so I’ve adapted everything to work in my 8x8. If you have the larger pan simply adjust your baking times down by a few minutes. If you are really worried about it make sure to pay attention the last 10ish minutes of baking and take them out when they look done.Originally I thought I had a can of dulce de leche on hand, but I remembered that I’d used it on a previous recipe. I then chose to make my own for the recipe. I’ve posted instructions if you would like to make your own. You can find the recipe HERE.

Dulce De Leche Cookie Bars:2 Cups + 1 Tablespoon Flour12 Tablespoons Butter (diced)1/3 Cup Powdered Sugar1 Tablespoon Vanilla½ Teaspoon Kosher Salt1 Cup Dulce De Leche¼ Cup Heavy Cream2 Egg Yolks¾ Cup Chocolate Chips¾ Cup Pecans (chopped)

Preheat the oven to 350. Line an 8x8 baking dish with tin foil leaving a few inches of overhang on each side. Spray the foil with cooking spray.

Pulse 2 cups flour, the butter, sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla and the salt in a food processor until it begins to clump together.

Press firmly and evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan, and ¼ inch up the sides. Bake until firm and lightly brown about 30-35 minutes.

While the crust is baking combine the dulce de leche, cream, egg yolks, remaining 1 tablespoon of flour and 2 teaspoons of vanilla in a medium bowl. Whisk until smooth.

When the crust has finished baking pour the mixture over the top of the crust and sprinkle with chocolate chips and pecans.

Return to the oven and bake until slightly jiggly, about 25-30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool on a cooling rack. Once the bars are completely cool, remove from the pan using the tin foil overhang. Remove the foil and cut into pieces.

[amd-yrecipe-recipe:21]

Source: adapted from Food Network Magazine, March 2015

Dulce De Leche is a smooth caramel flavored sauce popular in Latin countries. This caramel is very easy to make if you have a can of Sweetened Condensed Milk on hand. Most recipes I’ve seen call for you to use a crockpot to boil the can of milk for several hours. I didn’t want to do this because it can be dangerous and create rust lines in the bottom of your crockpot.I decided to do essentially the same thing, but with baking pans in the oven. Make sure that you put in enough water so that the pans don’t dry out. If your pans dry out they can shatter in the oven. I put in water about half way up my pans, and next time I think I’ll probably put in more. By the end there was very little water left in my pan.

Homemade Dulce De Leche:14oz Can Sweetened Condensed MilkPreheat the oven to 425.

Pour the condensed milk into an 8x8 baking pan. Cover with tin foil.Put the 8x8 pan into a 13x9 baking pan. Fill with water, about halfway up the sides.

Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, until the milk is golden brown.Remove from the oven, uncover and transfer to the bowl of a food processor or the cup of a stick blender.

Blend until smooth. Refrigerate until thickened, about 1 hour.If not using right away cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator 100_2017 - Copy

[amd-yrecipe-recipe:20]