Next Post
Skillet Salsa Verde Chicken Tortilla Rice Bake.
This post may contain affiliate links, please see our privacy policy for details.
If there was ever a Friday treat, this is IT.
Hello… do you see that caramel dripping out of the center of these cookie bars? I mean, oh my gosh.
Nothing better! And on a Friday too, muahahaha!!
So here’s the deal. I am going to attempt to keep today’s post to the point because I am hopping on a plane in less than twenty-four hours to head off to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter with Asher… and somehow most of the fam in tow as well. Don’t ask me how six out of my nine family members also got included in this “sister’s only” trip, but they did! It’s cool though, cause I kind of like my family, and I never ever get to hang out with them as much as I’d like, so it’s a much-needed trip.
A little bummed about how the weather forecast is looking for Orlando though, like where the heck is the sunshine?!? Someone tell me that scattered thunderstorms are just the norm and that most of the day will be great.
Ugh.
Oh well, I am so excited to finally be taking Asher to Harry Potter World. She’s literally been talking about it all summer long, and with October arriving tomorrow, it’s the perfect time for some wizarding world fun!
And fellow Disney goers out there? What MUST we do/see/eat while we are there? We aren’t planning on hitting any other parks other than Harry Potter, but if there’s something we REALLY must see, our passes do take us to Universal as well. So let me know!! I’ll be posting all over Instagram and snapchat if you guys want to follow along! 🙂
Ok, man, already way off topic there!
Sorry!
Ok, let’s talk about these Mocha Caramel Crunch Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars. These incredibly chocolatey, incredibly gooey… and just incredibly over the top bars. Here’s how they break down layer by layer…
…start things off with a simple chocolate chip cookie base, BUT spike it with a little instant coffee for the perfect mocha cookie bar. If you didn’t already know this, chocolate and coffee are the perfect paring.
…next comes the caramel. I don’t really feel like I need to talk about the caramel, it kind of speaks for itself, but um, I’m still going to. It’s caramel season, and guys, this might just be the best way out there to make use of it. I mean, cookies + caramel + salt. life changing.
…finally, the CRUNCH, otherwise known as semi-sweet chocolate + Rice Krispies. Yes, more chocolate, and yes, it’s everything, literally… it’s the glue that holds these bars together.
So you see? Kind of a simple idea, but yet sooo good. Caramel really just doesn’t get any better.
On little note on these bars…they are messy, but in the best way possible. The cookie base is meant to baked so that the center of the bars is slightly underdone. The caramel is meant to be the perfect state of not too runny, but definitely not solid either. These two components create one seriously mess bar, BUT trust me, it’s worth every sticky caramel smear.
OH, and how fun would these be for a Halloween party? I don’t know why, but they kind of remind me of a homemade candy bar…maybe it’s that caramel center and chocolate layer on top?
Kind of like a snickers? But in cookie form?
YES, that’s it! And better too because homemade is always best, duh.
Mocha Caramel Crunch Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars.
Servings: 20 Bars
Calories Per Serving: 478 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Cookie Base
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon instant coffee
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4-5 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup Rice Krispies cereal
Salted Caramel (or 1 1/2 cups store-bought salted caramel sauce)
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup heavy cream + more if needed
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into chunks
- 1 tablespoon Kahlua optional
- pinch of sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar and sugar until combined. Add the eggs, vanilla and instant coffee, beat until combined and creamy. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and beat until combined. Stir in 2 cups chocolate chips.
- Spread the dough out in the prepared baking pan. Transfer to the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes, just until set in the center. Allow to cool.
- To make the caramel, in a large, dry, deep, heavy pot, cook the sugar over moderately high heat, stirring constantly with a heat proof rubber spatula until the sugar is melted and turns a golden caramel, about 8 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and let cool 5 minutes. Slowly add the chunks of butter in one by one, whisk until combined. The caramel will bubble, this is ok. Now slowly add the cream and then whisk until combined. Return the pot to moderate heat and cook the mixture, stirring until the caramel has thickened, about 5 minutes, or until the caramel reaches 235-240 degrees F. on a sugar thermometer. Remove from the heat, if using, add the Kahlua + a pinch of salt. Let cool 5 minutes and then pour the caramel over the cookie bars. Let the bars set at least 30 minutes.
- Melt the remaining 2-3 cups chocolate chips in the microwave or over a double broiler. Sprinkle the Rice Krispies over the caramel layer and then pour the melted chocolate over top. Place the bars in the fridge to set, about 15-20 minutes. Cut the bars into squares. Serve at room temperature. Store in the fridge or in a cool, dark spot in your kitchen.
Cheers to Friday, caramel cookie bars… and to the start of OCTOBER! 🙂
I hope that others read this comment before baking this recipe as is. Usually Half Baked Harvest posts high quality work, so I didn’t follow my instincts or read all of the comments. Unfortunately, as written, this particular recipe is only good for disaster. I am an experienced baker but- again- I ignored my instincts because I’ve had a lot of success with other recipes on this site. Lesson learned! If you do choose to make this, please keep a few things in mind:
-This particular strategy for making homemade caramel is not ideal. Heating, cooling, and reheating the sugar is bad science (and yes, I always use a candy thermometer). Instead, I would strongly suggest ignoring this part of the recipe. Go to a dedicated baking site and watch their process of making caramel at home instead. It is actually a quick and easy thing to do- when you do it properly. Just stir in a little bit of the liquor at the end.
-I don’t know how anyone managed cover the entire recommended baking pan with one cup of melted chocolate chips. It took me at least 2 1/2. Luckily, i had extra- but if I started with the original 3c? Half of my baking pan would be left with brittle caramel and naked cereal.
-The refrigeration process at the end doesn’t work. Because of the way the caramel is made, you can not harden the chocolate chips while maintaining a decent stretch on the caramel. You will end up with either messy chocolate at the top and decent caramel, or fully formed chocolate and rock hard caramel. I went with the first option, because at least that is edible.
-My last suggestion is nitpicky, but I am pretty salty over wasting time and ingredients on a recipe that was clearly not well tested. Creaming cold butter into sugar is a pain. Considering the chaos of temperatures in the rest of the recipe, I don’t think this was an intentional choice. It feels and looks like an oversight. I would suggest bringing all of your cookie ingredient to room temp before you start. I did this out of habit- and the cookie layer was the only thing in this entire recipe that turned out.
Again- I really like this site and will continue to use it (I even bought the cookbook!), but I wanted to warn others about this particular recipe. I also urge the editors of the site to look closer at some of the baking pieces you publish. Most of the savory dishes turn out fine, but this isn’t my first issue with a badly tuned baking recipe.
Hi Laura, I am really sorry you had so much trouble with this recipe. Caramel can be a little tricky if not done to an exact T or if done without a candy thermometer. It is hard to say what went wrong, but again I am really sorry for any trouble. Thank you for the feedback. Please let me know if you have other questions. Thanks! 🙂
Hi there,
I don’t have instant coffee on hand. I do have K-cups, but I don’t think that’s the same thing, is it? Should I just omit?
Thanks,
Sarah
Hi! Yes, Sarah just omit the coffee. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe. Thank you! 🙂
OMG…had to do it…it’s over 500 calories / piece 🙁
Might just be worth it though…
I think so!
Wowwie, I hope you had fun at The Wizarding World! My visit was absolutely incredible. Make sure you select your wand and try all of the amazing goodies! 😀 Also, these bars gave me a choco-gasm, if that’s even a thing! <3
I enjoy looking at your web sites. Thanks!
Thanks!
I made these yesterday and brought them to a chili cook off. When I first looked at the picture I thought they’d be hard to make. Not So! Made them in a jiffy and everyone loved them. They are divine just like all your other recipes. I just finished making the chicken pumpkin soup for dinner tonight. I love this website! I’ve made 3 other dishes the last 2 weeks from here. Thanks so much for all the work it takes to do this!
Sarah
WOW! Thats so amazing! So cool that you took them to a cook off!
Seriously amazing that your making all my recipes (:
Thank you Sarah!!
Hi Tieghan,
So I think I followed the recipe exactly as it’s written BUT I definitely did something wrong with the sugar temp or something. After adding the chocolate on top and letting it cool in the fridge…it’s like a caramel lozenge in the middle. :'(Absolutely rock hard with no sign of getting softer after I’ve taken it out of the fridge. Definitely not beautifully gooey like your pics.
Any caramel tutorials you’d recommend?
Thanks!
Hey Britt, I am so sorry the caramel is hard. Honestly, I am not sure why this happened. The caramel should not have been hard at all. Did you use a candy thermometer?
Here is a good tutorial: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/articles/how-to-make-caramel.html
Let me know how else I can help. So sorry!
Thanks so much! Would you recommend using th water and corn syrup like the recipe mentions?
HI! That is not something I like to do with my caramel as I have found it’s not needed. Did you use a thermometer?
I didn’t use one but I may need to invest in one. 🙂 I’m going to try it again whike watching the tutorial and see what happens. Thanks again!
So excited to make these bad boys! Happy October!
You too, I hope you love these! Thank you!
Hi, could hardly wait to try these bars! But after the sugar sat for 5 minutes to cool before adding butter it got rock hard. So I thought I’d try one more time I followed the recipe to the T and it happened again! Bummer! can anyone tell me what happened or if they had this bad result also??
Hi! I am SO sorry for the trouble. Did the sugar get hard once you added the butter? If so, that just means you need to let is cool a little long and make sure you are stirring vigorously when you add the butter. Hope this helps and again, so sorry for the trouble!
You’re site is dangerous… I never should have clicked on it… I am going to gain so much weight. Do you do a great job of creating such delectable foods. I can’t wait to start trying some it all!
Haha awh! I am happy you did though! I hope you love all the recipes Jenn! ?
These look like the best! Caramel gets me every time!
Thanks so much Lindsay!
Take your sister to The Chocolate Factory at Universal City Walk – eat at CowFish as well – SO GOOD! Harry Potter is amazing- do both sides (Diagon Alley and Hoagsmeade)- numerous times. Fit in as much as possible – stay as long as you can – and then go eat at City Walk and take in the Blue Man group show too!! Disney is completely separate from Universal though – two different locations entirely
Thanks for the tips Teresa! We did end up eating at CowFish, so good! Thanks so much!
These bars look epic! I’m so in love with that caramel. Wish I had a couple right now!
Happy you are loving these!! Thanks Laura!
Yum is a sad understatement, I’m off to the kitchen to see if I have all the ingredients.
Hope you love them, thanks Charlie!
WOWZA Girl, these look great can’t wait for it to cool off down here, so I can make caramel with the windows open. Hope you have a lovely time at Universal and your stay is not to terrible in Florida. I guess you weren’t aware that this is hurricane season down here until sometime in November. Oh and a helpful tip when your shoes get soaked from the rain. Stuff newspaper in them at night, it helps dry them quicker.
Hope its delicious when you get to!!
Hoping the rain avoids us somehow!We will have a great time either way!! Thanks!!