OMG. Salted Caramel is my new favorite thing. It is so good. I have always been a big fan of the sweet-salty combination, I’m very happy it’s grown in popularity over the past few years.
Where I work is doing a week-long fundraiser to raise money for MS. One of our big events is a bake sale where all of our staff brings in homemade (or store bought if they’re lazy!) treats that we sell to our members for donations to the charity.
Now that I’m doing this blog, there was a lot of pressure to make something interesting! After throwing around some ideas and searching in my database of hundreds of saved recipes, I came across this Southern Living reinvented classic and decided this was “the one”. And oh… believe me… it is… THE ONE. YUM!!!!!
Salted Caramel-Pecan Bars
Recipe from: Southern Living, Dec 2010
Total Time: 1 Hour
Ingredients:
1 cup Chopped Pecans
12 Low-Fat Honey Graham Crackers, whole
1 cup Light Brown Sugar, firmly packed
3/4 cup Butter
2 Tablespoons Whipping Cream
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Bake the pecans on a foil-lined baking sheet for 10 minutes, stirring halfway through. Be careful, I almost completely burnt mine (they still tasted wonderful).
2. Line a 15- x 10-inch jelly-roll pan (I only had a 9×13 baking dish) with aluminum foil; spray the foil (Allow foil to go over edge 2 inches or so, you’ll need it later). Arrange graham crackers in a single layer in prepared pan, slightly overlapping edges.
3. Combine sugar, butter, and cream in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla and toasted pecans. Pour butter mixture over crackers, spreading to coat.
4. Bake at 350° for 10 to 11 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly.
5. Immediately sprinkle with kosher salt, and slide foil from pan onto a wire rack. *This will be VERY hot. Be careful and use the foil, folding it to contain the bars and keep their shape.* Let cool for 30 minutes, at least. Break or cut and serve.
Pot ‘o’ Gold!!
Pre-Baking Post-Pouring step
I let mine sit overnight just out of lack of time, and then cut them the next morning. They were really sticky but they cut into nice little squares.
For our bake sale, I wrapped two together into plastic wrap… put them all into a big bag and into the refrigerator. This kept them nice and cool, which was definitely needed since it’s been so hot lately!
They were a big hit, and not to mention every one of my typical taste testers approved it too!
Next time, I’d like to make more of the sauce. I think that part could have been a little thicker. Otherwise, they were fabulous. I loved the salt ontop. What a great non-chocolate dessert!
What a horrible update to get!
