Christmas Cookie Bars (Dulce de Leche Cookie Bars)

Close up of Dulce de leche bars with a missing corner on parchment

4.85 from 20 votes

Christmas Cookie Bars (Dulce de Leche Cookie Bars)

These Dulce de Leche bars are layers of shortbread, chocolate and milky caramel cream for a decadent bite! They are the perfect Christmas cookie bars for a party and are inspired by a Millionaire's Shortbread.

Prep Time50

Total Time3 10

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cookie bars, cookies, dulce de leche

Servings: bars

Calories: 175kcal

Author: Tara Teaspoon

Ingredients

For Crust:

1 cup unsalted butter softened
½ cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon salt

For Filling and top layer:

7 tablespoons unsalted butter
⅓ cup packed dark brown sugar
2 cans (14 ounces each) sweetened condensed milk
Pinch salt
10 ounces semisweet chocolate chopped

For decoration (optional):

4 ounces white chocolate melted
Red and green food coloring
Red and green mini M&M candies
Red and green fruit leather

Instructions

Make Crust:

Heat oven to 350°F; place rack in center. Line a 13-by-9-inch baking pan with parchment paper, allowing paper to extend on two sides.
In a mixer bowl, beat together butter and confectioners' sugar on medium speed until light, about 2 minutes. Beat in extract, then flour and salt until combined well. Press along bottom and ½ inch up sides of prepared pan. Bake until just golden brown around edges, 12 to 18 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Make filling:

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar, milk, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and gently simmer, stirring constantly, until thickened and a deep caramel color, about 15 minutes. Pour over crust and spread evenly; refrigerate until completely cool, about 1 hour
Melt semisweet chocolate; let cool slightly. Using a spatula, evenly spread over filling (for swirled top, see below). Refrigerate until set, about 1 hour.
Using a knife, score chocolate layer into 1½-inch squares. Run a sharp knife under hot water; dry. Following score marks, cut into squares. Wipe knife after each cut (run under hot water and dry as needed).

For swirled top:

Divide white chocolate into three parts. Tint one part red and one part green. Leave remaining part white. Dollop red, green and white chocolates over semisweet layer. Using a toothpick, gently swirl together colors.

For Decoration:

Using white chocolate, adhere candies to squares, making holly or wreaths. Using a small, clean paintbrush, make a snowman out of white chocolate; decorate with candy. Let stand until set, about 20 minutes.

Notes

Can be made ahead. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 1 week

Nutrition