Caramel Cookie Oopsie Bars

These gooey, chocolatey, salted caramel-y bars are one of the happiest accidents I’ve ever had in the kitchen. They’re a variation on caramel cookie bars, using the classic Nestle Tollhouse cookie recipe with caramel sauce sandwiched in between.

The story—why oopsie?

This is not a pretty dessert, if you’re a foodie-Instagram-Gordon-Ramsay-esque eater. I tried a shortcut with a normally pretty (and pretty tasty) dessert, and it was a gooey mess. A delicious, gooey mess. I almost just cut my losses, but everyone LOVED this delicious, gooey mess. And I think you will, too.

You see, recently, we decided to host a barbecue with friends less than 48 hours before flying to Maui with a 9 month old. Oh, and I was making a mad dash to finish painting our kitchen cupboards so we could then move everything out of the master bedroom and have the floors redone while we were in Maui. Yeah, that was fun.

To add to the funness (I’m making that a word), I decided to bake two desserts for said barbecue. Why do I do this to myself? I wanted to make two desserts I know are great literally just so I could photograph them and post the recipes. But of course, I had to go and try something new with these bars. (Also, I ran out of time to photograph so I snapped some shots of the three leftover bars the next day while packing…)

We had a jar of Trader Joe’s caramel sauce that we needed to use before it expired. I’m pretty sure I bought it over a year ago for the ice cream bar at my husband’s surprise 30th birthday party. It was time to eat this caramel sauce already.

Speaking of caramel, how do you pronounce it? Car-mel? Car-a-mel?

I pronounce it car-a-mel, because I like the sound and it seems more correct and doesn’t sound like Carmel, the city. I get teased about it sometimes. I regret nothing.

Anyway, turns out jarred caramel sauce reacts VERY differently when baked than sauces made from condensed milk and soft caramels. There’s a whole science of cooking temperatures and viscosity and such, but basically my experiment did not go as planned.

But it worked out so well.

See, I overbaked these bars. Remember that mad dash to finish the kitchen? I checked the bars early (as I always do), put them back in the oven, then forgot to set a timer because I was putting cupboard doors back on. They got a teensy bit too dark.

But no one knew because I had to turn them upside down due to the puddle of caramel sauce I found underneath. And it made them a gooey new creation, kinda like a caramel cookie bar meets lava cake.

Thus, I dubbed them oopsie bars. Because, oops! I made something amazing on accident.

I think our friends liked them more than the original recipe (which is also to-die-for).

Tips for this dessert

Salting the caramel is optional, but recommended

I added some sea salt to the caramel layer, since I wasn’t using the salted caramel sauce I usually make. It for sure draws out the sweetness, but if you don’t like salted caramel, feel free to leave it out.

The cookie layer is…yep, Nestle Tollhouse

I use all kinds of cookie recipes. But when it comes to a classic chocolate chip cookie, few are as good as Nestle Tollhouse’s. I mean, if it’s Phoebe’s secret family recipe, it’s gotta be good, right?

I do make some changes to it in this recipe. I used all brown sugar because there’s no risk of cookies that don’t risk or hold their shape. Plus, it tastes so good. I also use extra vanilla, which is what I always do to basically any recipe ever. Also, I use salted butter, again a staple trick of mine, to bring out the salted caramel flavor. And I also doubled the chocolate chips, because chocolate chips. ‘Nuff said.

Line your pan and grease it!

Given that you’re intentionally letting caramel sauce ooze out the sides and under your dessert, you need that protective layer of foil for your pan and to help with the flipping. Otherwise, you may end up with a giant pizookie you’ll have to eat from the pan with a spoon (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing…).

Whipping the butter and sugar until fluffy really makes a difference

I’ve learned so much about sugar over the years and especially since starting this blog. I feel it’s my duty to know what I’m talking about before telling you to just do something. Maybe it’s the teacher in me.

Anyway, making sure your sugar is incorporated into the butter is key. It begins to dissolve the sugar, which actually helps the final product taste better. It also adds air, which for a long time in baking was essential to getting your cookie, cake, etc. to rise.

The bars will shrink while cooling

This is perfectly normal, but I thought I’d warn you. Be sure to use a standard pan as they rise up quite a bit during baking and will spill over in a shorter or cookie sheet style pan.

Caramel Cookie Oopsie Bars

prep time: 20 minutes

cook time: 20 minutes

total time: 40 minutes

Servings: 16

Ingredients:

14 ounce jar thick caramel sauce (avoid bottled as it will ooze out too much)

1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, room temperature—always use fresh butter! (unsalted will do, but you may want to increase the salt to 1/2 tsp for that salted caramel taste)

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg, room temperature

1/2 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt (I prefer sea salt)

2 cups chocolate chips (or less if you don’t like it as chocolatey)

sea salt to taste

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 325* (a lower temperature helps prevent burning...unless you neglect your bars like I did...). Line an 8x8 square baking pan with foil and grease with butter or baking spray.

Make the cookie crust. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, cream the softened butter for about 30 seconds until it begins to get fluffy. Add the brown sugar and cream on medium (I used handheld beaters, but a paddle attachment in a stand mixer is ideal) for about 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy and most of the graininess is gone. Scrape bowl and add the egg and mix on medium until fully incorporated. Scrape the bowl, add the vanilla, and beat on medium until incorporated.

Using a wooden or rubber spatula, stir in flour mixture until combined (don't overmix!). Stir in the chocolate chips. I usually do this in 2-3 batches so I can get a feel for if I really have enough chocolate chips.

Press about 1/2-2/3 of the dough into the bottom of your prepared pan, making sure you have no gaps or holes in the crust. See tip above for using a spatula to avoid losing too much dough to your fingers (which you obviously have to lick off afterward).

Pour the jar of caramel sauce over the crust, spreading it to the edges and pondering how beautiful the word car-a-mel is. :) Sprinkle some freshly ground sea salt on top of the caramel layer, if desired.

Drop the rest of the dough by teeny tiny blobs on top of the caramel layer. Try to get it spread as evenly as possible, but don't worry about any gaps, as the top layer is able to rise and expand just like those beautiful timelapse commercials.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until the top begins to give that perfect, "Nestle Tollhouse" golden brown top but isn't too dark, checking early just to be safe. Let cool in the pan to give as much shape as possible to this gooey mess. Once cool-ish, turn upside down on a place, foil lining and all. Carefully peel off the foil, cut into 16 pieces (or, you know, grab a fork) and realize that all desserts should have something dripping off them.

Enjoy!