Candy Bar & Caramel Cookies

I recently received two boxes of City Farm Caramels as a gift.  They are delicious…but then how could anything whose main ingredients are butter, sugar, and cream be anything but perfection?  After the first box of caramels was gone, I searched the internet for recipes that used caramel candy.  I found two. The first one is from Cooks.com. The second one is from BettyCrocker.com.

CANDY BAR COOKIES:

3/4 c. butter
3/4 c. sifted powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tbsp. evaporated milk
1/4 tsp. salt
2 c. sifted all-purpose flour

Cream butter and powdered sugar. Add vanilla, evaporated milk, and salt; mix well. Blend in flour. If necessary, chill for easier handling. Roll out dough, half at a time, on floured surface to a 12×8 inch rectangle; trim sides. Cut into 3×1 1/2 inch rectangles or 2 inch squares. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for 12-16 minutes until lightly browned. Cool.

FILLING:
1/2 lb. light colored caramels
1/4 c. evaporated milk
1/4 c. butter
1 c. powdered sugar
1 c. pecans, chopped
Combine in top of double boiler caramels and evaporated milk. Heat until caramels melt, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Stir in butter, sifted powdered sugar and pecans. Spread 1 teaspoon filling on each cookie.

ICING:
1 (6 oz.) pkg. Nestle’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate morsels
1/3 c. evaporated milk
2 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. powdered sugar
Melt chocolate morsels with evaporated milk over low heat. Remove from heat. Stir in butter, vanilla and sifted powdered sugar. Top each cookie with filling with 1/2 teaspoon icing. Decorate with pecan half.

CARAMEL CANDY BAR COOKIES:

14 ounces caramels
1/3 cup milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts

Heat oven to 350ºF. Grease rectangular pan, 13x9x2 inches.

Heat caramels and milk in 2-quart saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently, until smooth.

Stir together flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, salt and egg in large bowl. Stir in butter with fork until mixture is crumbly. Press half of the crumbly mixture in pan.

Bake 10 minutes. Sprinkle chocolate chips and walnuts over baked layer. Drizzle with caramel mixture. Sprinkle with remaining crumbly mixture. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool 30 minutes. Loosen edges from sides of pan; cool completely. For 54 bars, cut into 9 rows by 6 rows.