Way Too Sinful Caramel Crunch Bars

Total Time: 45 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 40
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract or 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup corn syrup
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 2/3 cup blanched slivered almond

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 350°f line a 13 x 9-inch baking pan with parchment paper for easier extraction and cleanup.
• 2 beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• 3 add the egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
• 4 beat in the vanilla.
• 5 at low speed, beat in flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until a dough forms.
• 6 i cannot stress enough how important it is to follow this step correctly, otherwise you will end up with flour all over your counter and a tough dough.
• 7 press the dough into the prepared pan.
• 8 bake the dough until golden, about 20 minutes.
• 9 transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool slightly.
• 10 to prepare the topping, in a small, heavy saucepan, cook the sugar, butter, and corn syrup over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved and bubbles appear around edges of pan.
• 11 reduce the heat to low.
• 12 cook without stirring until the mixture turns a deep golden color, about 1 minute.
• 13 watch carefully, it can go from golden to burnt and ruined very quickly.
• 14 remove from the heat.
• 15 stir in the cream.
• 16 sprinkle the almonds evenly over the prepared cookie base.
• 17 pour the cream mixture over the almonds.
• 18 return the pan to oven.
• 19 bake cookies until the topping bubbles, about 10 minutes.
• 20 transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.
• 21 cut the cookies into bars.