February 25: Chocolate Chip Pecan Dulce de Leche Bars

Chocolate Chip Pecan Dulce de Leche Bars

Ingredients:
8 tablespoons (4 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 (17.5 oz) pouch oatmeal cookie mix, such as Betty Crocker
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup dulce de leche, La Lechera Milk Caramel Spread, or thick sundae topping
1/2 cup toasted and chopped pecans
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and place a rack in the center. Line a 9-inch square metal pan with nonstick foil.
2. In a large mixing bowl, using a handheld electric mixer on low speed, mix the butter, cookie mix, egg, and cinnamon until you have a soft and crumbly dough. Press about three-quarters of the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 12 minutes, or until just set.
3. Spread the dulce de leche over the baked cookie dough. Stir the pecans and chocolate chips into the remaining oatmeal mixture ad crumble over the dulce de leche. Return the pan to the oven and bake for another 15-17 minutes, or until the top is cooked. The bars will be jiggly, but will firm as they cool and chill. Let cool completely in the pan, then chill for 2 hours or until ready to serve. Using the foil as a handle, lift from the pan, set on a cutting board, and cut into 24 bars.

Before...

And after...

Caramel topping

Crumbly topping

Thoughts: I tried two stores and couldn't find dulce de leche so I just went the thick sundae topping route. I'd imagine the only difference is that maybe it would be thicker? When I poured the topping on (which was the whole jar), it seemed a little runny. Otherwise no issues. They were good and very well received :)