Salted Caramel Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Bars

Wow- these bars were so, so good.  At Christmas, I made my usual caramels, but for some reason, they weren't really getting eaten. Not sure why- but I wanted to use them up in something soon after New Year's. I had seen some recipes on Mel's Kitchen Cafe using caramels, so I went and picked out the one that looked the easiest, lol. They were SO GOOD! They didn't taste "easy" at all (ha ha).  The cookie part had the exact perfect texture, and the caramel in this was amazing. I could not stop eating these.  I might make caramels again next Christmas just to make these with the leftovers. 

Salted Caramel Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Bars 

adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

¾ cup (170 g) salted butter
1 cup (212 g) packed light or dark brown sugar
½ cup (106 g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon table salt
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups (213 g) all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups (255 g) chocolate chips (I used 1 cup)
14-ounce bag (397 g) soft caramels, unwrapped (not caramel sauce) OR 14 oz homemade caramels 
2-3 tablespoons milk or cream (I used milk)
⅛ to ¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt, optional

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9X13-inch pan (I use metal) with parchment paper (to make cleanup easier with the caramel). Lightly grease the bottom and sides with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

2.  Brown the butter by cutting the butter into tablespoon-size pieces and placing in a skillet (preferably not nonstick so you can see the changing color easily.) Cook over medium-low heat until the butter melts, begins to sizzle, and the butter solids on the bottom begin to turn a toasty brown, 3-4 minutes. Watch closely; the exact time will vary. Do not let it get too dark. Remove from the heat and immediately pour into a medium bowl. Refrigerate the butter for 10 minutes or so (not too long or it will solidify) until no longer hot. Stir in the brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking soda and salt to the browned butter until evenly combined.  Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until well combined. Stir in the flour and chocolate chips until no dry streaks remain.

3.  Take about 2/3 of the dough and dot in large pieces across the bottom of the prepared pan. Press into an even, thin layer.  Add the unwrapped caramels and milk/cream to a microwave-safe bowl and cook for 1-minute increments at 50% power, stirring in between, until the mixture is melted and smooth (careful not to burn).

4.  Spread the caramel, while still warm, over the cookie dough in the pan. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt, if desired. Pinch teaspoon-size pieces of remaining cookie dough and sprinkle across the caramel. Bake for 20-27 minutes until the cookie dough is golden (the bars will be super gooey coming out of the oven – like molten lava because of the melted caramel; as long as the top and sides are golden, they'll set up as they cool. Do not overake). Let cool completely before cutting into squares.

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