Name: Chocolate Caramel Pecan Bars
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Ingredients: 3 cups pecans, roughly chopped; 1 cup flour; 1 cup white whole wheat flour; 2/3 cup powdered sugar; 3/4 cup cold butter, cut into small bits.; 1 14-oz. can dulce de leche (here’s a recipe from The Fountain Avenue Kitchen to make it in the slow cooker); 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon salt; 2 Tablespoons butter, melted; Milk or fat-free half & half, as needed to thin the caramel; 1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

Ingredients

Scale

3 cups pecans, roughly chopped

For the crust:

1 cup flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
2/3 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup cold butter, cut into small bits.

For the filling:

1 14-oz. can dulce de leche (here’s a recipe from The Fountain Avenue Kitchen to make it in the slow cooker)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
Milk or fat-free half & half, as needed to thin the caramel
1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spread the pecans out on a baking sheet and set them in the oven for about 8 minutes or until they are fragrant. Remove from oven and set them aside.
Line a 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan with aluminum foil, allowing the foil to go up the sides of the pan a bit, then spray the foil lightly with cooking spray.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flours with the powdered sugar, then add the butter and use a pastry cutter or your hands to mix the butter into the mixture until it is all fine crumbs with no large chunks of butter. Press this crumb mixture into the bottom and slightly up the sides of the pan. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown then set somewhere cool.
Mix the dulce de leche with the vanilla, salt and butter and add a little milk or fat free half & half if it seems too thick. I added 2 – 3 Tablespoons of fat free half & half to mine because it was very thick. Pour the pecans into a medium mixing bowl and then add the dulce de leche and stir to coat all the pecans in the caramel.
When the crust is completely cool, spread the caramel pecan mixture over the crust, then sprinkle with chocolate chips and a few whole pecans if you like.
Bake at 350 F. for about 25 minutes. Allow the bars to cool completely, then pull the bars out of the pan by pulling the sides of the aluminum foil and cut into bars.

Notes

RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/

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Nutrition

Serving Size: 1 bar