Peanut Butter Caramel Candy Bar Squares
Another recipe from the very earliest days of Chocoholic Anonymous (circa 2008 or 2009 I think), this recipe was inspired by an over abundance of Halloween candy and a timely recipe post from one of my favorite food bloggers, Jennifer, over at Bake or Break (she actually updated her version just a few years ago in 2021). It is essentially a riff on the classic magic cookie bars (aka Hello Dolly Bars or Seven Layer Bars).
Jennifer’s recipe is fantastic and doesn’t really need any changing – especially if your excess candy tends toward the peanut butter heavy (which, to be fair, mine often does). That year, I happened have a more general mix of chocolate including a number that were caramel prominent like Twix and Milkyway bars. I didn’t often have store bought cookies, like Nutter Butters, on hand unless I had purchased them for specific purpose, but I did have some chocolate chip cookies on hand which I figured would do in pinch. I love peanut butter and caramel together so decided I wanted keep a strong peanut butter element in the bars, even adding a bit to the crust to compensate for not having peanut butter based cookies, and I wanted to incorporate caramel directly into the candy layer. I also wanted to make the cookie choice for the crust and the candy options a bit more of a generic, use what you have on hand kind of thing. Overall, the recipe doesn’t stray far from the original, but I think this version leaves a little bit more open to interpretation and playing with available ingredients.
If you decide to make these (and you definitely should!) here are a few notes for success:
- Make sure whatever cookies you choose to use in your crust are of a dry or crisp variety. Any soft-baked or chewy cookies will be too moist and will not create a crunchy, crumbly crust for your bars.
- Since the candy will measure differently depending on how coarse or fine it is chopped, make sure you are using 14 ounces by weight and not volume. In fact, all the ingredients listed in ounces should be measured by weight rather than volume.
- Do not be tempted to swap in caramel syrup for the caramel ice cream topping, it will be far too thin and runny to stay in the bars after they are baked and sliced. You want a caramel topping that is too thick to pour at room temperature.
Peanut Butter Caramel Candy Bar Squares
Equipment
- Baking pan (9" x 13")
- Mixing bowls (2 medium)
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- kitchen scale
Ingredients
Crust
- 16 ounce cookies crushed (crisp cookies such as Oreos, Nutter Butters, grahams or even homemade crispy chocolate chip cookies)
- 6 tablespoon butter room temperature
- 2 tablespoon peanut butter creamy
- pinch salt
Filling
- 14 ounce sweetened condensed milk
- 1/2 cup peanut butter creamy
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
- 14 ounce assorted candy bars coarsely chopped (Twix, Butterfinger, Milkyway, Milkyway Midnight, Three Musketeer, Snickers, Peanut Butter Cups)
- 12 ounce caramel ice cream topping not syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 13"x 9" pan with non-stick aluminum foil, allowing it to extend over edges of pan.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine crushed cookies, butter, peanut butter and salt. The mixture should hold together when pressed, but should look loose and crumbly until it is pressed. If the crust is too moist, add more cookie crumbs as necessary up to 1/2 cup. Press mixture into bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 4-6 minutes. Set aside to cool.16 ounce cookies, 6 tablespoon butter, 2 tablespoon peanut butter, pinch salt
- In another medium mixing bowl, combine condensed milk, peanut butter, and vanilla, stirring until smooth. Fold in mini chocolate chips. Set aside.14 ounce sweetened condensed milk, 1/2 cup peanut butter, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, 1 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips, 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Heat caramel ice cream topping in the microwave for about 30 seconds to soften it slightly, avoid over-heating as you do not want to melt the candy. Sprinkle chopped candy bars over prepared crust. Drizzle caramel over the chopped candy.12 ounce caramel ice cream topping, 14 ounce assorted candy bars
- Carefully spoon the sweetened condensed milk mixture over the caramel and candy. Gently spread it to the edges of the pan so all of the caramel is covered.
- Bake for 25-27 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool in pan on wire rack. Using foil, lift out of pan. Peel foil away, and cut into 2 – 3 inch bars.
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