Brown Butter Sugar Cookie Bars with Salted Caramel Frosting
These Brown Butter Sugar Cookie Bars with Salted Caramel Frosting are amazingly soft - melt in your mouth, ooey, gooey, & downright delicious
Servings: 24 bars
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, browned
- ½ cup vegetable shortening
- 1½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 eggs
- 3½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon sea salt flakes
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
Sea Salt Caramel Frosting
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 4 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoon heavy cream (or milk)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon sea salt flakes
Instructions
Brown Butter Sugar Cookie Bars
- Preheat oven to 350°F prepare and 9 × 13 pan by lining with parchment paper or lightly coating with cooking spray.
- Simmer butter in a saucepan. When the butter has melted it will begin to make a crackling sound. This is water evaporating out of the butter leaving only milk solids. Cook until the crackling sound slows down (it means water is cooked out) the fats that are left will begin to toast and turn golden brown. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Mix flour and remaining dry ingredients in bowl and set aside.
- Blend brown butter, shortening, sugar, eggs and extracts using a hand mixer/stand mixer. From there, incorporate the sour cream and continue blending.
- Add flour mixture to wet ingredients and blend well (dough will be soft like extra thick cake batter).
- Spread batter evenly into prepared baking pan from edge to edge.
- *Bake at 350° on middle rack for about 25-35 minutes. Cook time varies by oven.
- Cool cookies-then frost!
Sea Salt Caramel Frosting
- Add brown sugar, butter, and heavy cream to a sauce pan over low heat.
- Cook and stir until the butter has melted and ingredients are incorporated. (*stop stirring once butter has melted)
- Turn up the heat to medium (remember no stirring - it will ruin the caramel!)
- Cook for about 5 minutes until caramel begins to rapidly form bubbles in the center and it begins to change to an amber color.
- Remove from heat and transfer to stand mixer using the whisk attachment or a mixing bowl. Gradually begin incorporating the powdered sugar and sea salt flakes.
- Frost cool cookies and sprinkle with a little extra sea salt.
Notes
*It’s important to make sure you use sea salt flakes in this recipe, rather than table salt. Otherwise, the measurements will be off.*
Nutrition
Serving: 1sugar cookie bar