Tell Your Story Recipe: Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Bars

Vicki Daines

My love of baking comes from my mother. After emigrating from Germany in 1948 at the age of 2, my mom grew up in very humble circumstances in Las Vegas. As an only child, there was never anything homemade or "made from scratch" at home. However, my mom had a strong, instinctual desire to cook and bake at a very young age. At age 13 she started babysitting for the Houston family, who were LDS and lived in her same trailer park. Whenever she would tend for them, she would cook and bake with the kids and they loved it! The parents, Ronnie and Alice, always told her to use whatever she wanted to make her tasty baking creations. This is where her love of baking began, as well as her introduction into the church, and at age 15, my mom was baptized by Ronnie. My mom is an amazing baker, the queen of bread making and everything is from scratch and finished with perfection. I am forever grateful to have a devout and courageous mother, who had righteous desires and the tenacity to develop her talents and wisdom, on her own, at such a young age.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Bars

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup packed light brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¾ teaspoon kosher salt

1 heaping teaspoon baking soda

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

10 ounces caramel squares, unwrapped

3 Tablespoons heavy cream

Kosher salt for sprinkling over caramel layer

Directions:

·        Beat butter with sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until well combined and fluffy. Add dry ingredients and beat until just incorporated. Add chocolate chips.

·        Melt caramels and add cream and mix well.

·        Press half the dough into a well-greased 9x13 pan. Pour melted caramel mixture over dough and sprinkle with kosher salt.

·        Drop remaining dough over caramel layer. Bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes until set. Sprinkle more salt over the finished bars if that’s your thing!

·        Cut bars when completely cooled. I firm them up in the refrigerator or freezer before I cut      them. Bars store well in freezer for up to one month.