Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
This Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars recipe is best served with ice cream and more caramel sauce on top. If you’re looking for indulgent bar cookies recipes, this is the one for you. You’ll love that this recipe is dairy-free and vegan, too.
These cookie bars are the best way to make any celebration better. If bar desserts are your thing and you’d love to see some more vegan options, be sure to check out my Vegan Neapolitan Bars. They’re colorfully delicious! Or then there’s my Vegan Magic Brownie Bars. They disappear… like magic!
What You Need
You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.
Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe:
- Vegan butter — I recommend using Earth Balance buttery sticks, Miyoko’s, or Homemade Vegan Butter.
- Peanut butter — I prefer using creamy peanut butter for this recipe.
- Light brown sugar — You can use either light, dark, or Homemade Brown Sugar.
- All-purpose flour — Use either all-purpose flour, Whole Wheat Pastry Flour, or gluten-free flour.
- Chocolate chips — Use this Dairy-Free Chocolate Chips Guide to help select the best chocolate chips for you.
- Cream together the vegan butter, peanut butter, and sugars with a mixer until fluffy.
- Mix in vanilla, ground flax seeds, cornstarch, water, and 3 tablespoons of plant-based milk. Push to one side of the bowl.
- Stir together the dry ingredients.
- Pour the peanut butter mixture in with the flour mixture and stir until you achieve a cookie-dough like consistency. Then stir in the chocolate chips.
- Spread batter into a prepared baking pan and sprinkle the top with sea salt.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is lightly golden on top.
- When done, remove from the oven and allow to cool before slicing.
- Make the Vegan Caramel Sauce by adding brown sugar and plant-based milk in a saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Bring to a boil while stirring then reduce heat to medium and stir occasionally until the desired thickness is achieved, usually around 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat, add the tablespoon of vegan butter, stir to incorporate.
- Serve individual slices with vegan ice cream and drizzles of caramel sauce.
Storage Tips
Store the bars in an airtight container. It will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to 10 days. They can be frozen for up to 2 months.
I recommend serving these bars with a cup of Tea-Infused Hot Cocoa or even a cup of almond milk.
More Bar Desserts
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Ingredients
- ½ cup vegan butter , softened
- ½ cup peanut butter
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 4 tablespoons water
- 3 to 6 tablespoons plant-based milk
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground sea salt
Vegan Caramel Sauce
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup plant-based milk
- 1 tablespoon vegan butter
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 375°F/190°C. Spray a 9-inch square baking pan with vegetable spray.
- In a large bowl, mix together the vegan butter, peanut butter, and sugars with a mixer until fluffy. Add vanilla, ground flax seeds, cornstarch, water, and 3 tablespoons of plant-based milk. Stir to combine.
- Push the wet ingredients to one side of the bowl. On the other side, add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir the dry ingredients together. Then incorporate the wet ingredients. If the batter is too crumbly, add additional plant-based milk until you achieve a cookie-dough-like consistency.
- Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared baking pan. Sprinkle the top with sea salt.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is lightly golden on top.
- When done, remove from the oven and allow to cool before slicing.
- Make the Vegan Caramel Sauce by adding brown sugar and plant-based milk in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil while stirring. Then reduce heat to medium and stir occasionally until the desired thickness is achieved, usually around 5 minutes. Remove from heat, add the tablespoon of vegan butter, stir to incorporate.
Recommended Equipment
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Notes
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Guess what? My national food day food blog friends and I plotted to help you celebrate National Caramel Day. That means today I’m sharing with you lots of fun caramel recipes! Now, I realize some of these recipes may not be vegan or even vegetarian. Feel free to reach out to me if you’d like ideas for veganizing them.
Are you a caramel lover? Then I have a feeling you are going to love this National Caramel Day celebration with over 21 caramelized recipes:
- Vegan Cinnamon Caramel Poke Cake via Namely Marly
- Chocolate Dipped Caramel Marshmallows by Ashlee Marie
- Coconut Chocolate Caramel Nests by Life Made Simple
- Vegan Caramel Date Sauce by Namely Marly
- Salted Caramel Bars by Baking with Blondie
- Turtle Cake via the Real Kitchen Mom
- Vegan Flourless Salted Caramel Cookies by My Whole Foodie Life
- Vegan Caramel Donuts by Namely Marly
- Caramel Pretzel Brownies by The Baker Upstairs
- Vegan Caramel Apple Pie by Healthy Happy Life
- Caramel Banana Bread by The Yellow Bliss Road
- Vegan Caramel Snack Mix by Namely Marly
- Caramel Sauce via Creations by Kara
- Caramel Stuffed Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies by Heart of a Baker
- Instant Pot Caramel Dipping Sauce by 365 Days of Slow Cooking
- Vegan Gluten-Free Sticky Buns by Namely Marly
- Vegan Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookies by Bakerita
- Iced Caramel Macchiato by Gather for Bread
- Chai Caramel Cream Brûlée by Foodie with Family
- Vegan Double Chocolate Cookies by Namely Marly
Your recipe makes me drool! What size is the square baking pan you are using there? Greetings from Finland!
Thanks, Roosa! I used a 9″ square baking pan, but an 8″ square pan would work too. Hope you love this as much as we do!
Oh I just love this recipe! Leave it to my beautiful daughter to come up with something so tasty.
Help! I’m craving cookie bars now. Delish!
mmmmm chocolate chip cookies and caramel together! amazing!