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Oh.my.goodness! These are wicked! Yummm . . . next time I am going to double the sauce. Silly, but if one can is good (and it is yummy), then 2 cans are better š At least that is the vote in our home š Can there be TOO much caramel? Nope, nada, no way!
Sallie
Awwhhh snap.
These are gooooood.
Like, chocolate-on-caramel, ate-5-before-dinner, don’t-need-no-Valentine sort of good.
Not like I’m thinking about Valentine’s Day or anything. My mind is continuously replaying what it was like to slurp up the warm, creamy, dulce de leche filling straight out of the pan.
Burned tongue? Totally over it.
I promise I’m not really thinking about Vee-day. But since I brought it up again, let’s have a word. If you want to go the traditional Valentine’s route of flowers and cards, you just go right ahead and do that. Flowers are always nice and they will make someone happy.
But I’m not going to lie to you. Flowers get a whole lot nicer when they are served alongside a pan {a.whole.pan.} of these dulce de leche bars.
Who – me? Use my blog to send a secret message to my husband?
Come on.
Milk Chocolate Dulce de Leche Bars
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 24 1x
Description
These milk chocolate dulce de leche bars are layers of sweet perfection – shortbread, dulce de leche, and milk chocolate frosting. Dreamy.
Ingredients
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- 2 tablespoons softened butter
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- 1 bag milk chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375. Grease a 9×13 pan.
- Place the coconut, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. When melted, pour over the dry mixture and mix until a crumbly dough forms. Stirring with a rubber spatula helps spread the butter into the dry ingredients. Press into 9×13 pan and bake for 15-18 minutes, until golden brown and lightly set. Let crust cool completely.
- Heat sweetened condensed milk with butter (2 tbs) and light corn syrup for about 5 minutes over medium-high heat. Liquid should turn a deep beige color. Pour and spread sauce over cooled crust and bake for 12-14 minutes. The sauce will be a light golden brown color and there will be bubbles when you remove it from the oven. Cool completely or until sauce has set enough to frost over the top.
- Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler. Pour over the bars and spread evenly.
Notes
Refrigerate for a period of time (I did mine overnight) to help the frosting set. Then store at room temperature for easiest cutting and serving.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: dulce de leche bars, milk chocolate dulce de leche bars
OK, fine.
Cute bar butt. Happy now?
Lindsay,
If I make 1/2 the recipe should I use a smaller pan? Can I use that Dulce de Leche condensed milk or will that make them too sweet?
Sorry about the repeat, but just saw that Dulce de Leche condensed milk at the store, has anyone used it for this recipe yet?
Lindsay,
If I make 1/2 the recipe should I use a smaller pan?
Yes, for 1/2 the recipe use an 8×8 inch pan.
Do you think this would work with unsweetened coconut ?
Yes, we think that would be just fine!
I must not have the technique right for the dulce de leche layer – by the time it’d turned a darker color, it had also considerably reduced & thickened, leaving me with more of an icing-smear’s worth, rather than a full layer. Are you supposed to stir the milk/butter/corn syrup mixture continuously? (I’d assumed so, so it’d cook evenly, but that made it take longer, and so cook down more.)
How big is the bag of chocolate chips that’s needed in this recipe? I have a bake sale for work on Tuesday and I can’t wait to make it. Thanks.
Hi, Rita! The bag of chocolate chips should be about 11.5-12 ounces. Different brands have different sized bags. š As always, a high quality chocolate like Ghirardelli will give you the best result (these come in 11.5 oz bags). Good luck with the bake sale!
These are amazing! I’ve made them many times now and they’re everybody’s favorite. I just have one question: How exactly do you cut them to make them look so pretty? I always shatter the chocolate layer when I try. Don’t get me wrong- they’re still smashing- but I have tried sawing motions, dragging the knife straight through, even using a pizza cutter…maybe I’m trying to cut them too small?
I think, if I remember right, I lined the pan with parchment paper, lifted them out, and then used a huge, sharp knife to just press straight down in lines. Does that make sense? Hope that helps!
Hi, I’ve been looking for a safe way of making dulce de leche and I am glad I’ve finally found it. Thanks a lot. Could it be possible if I make it as a frosting by adding whipped cream? By the way, I made it this today and OMG, it was a divine. Thanks for sharing this worth-keeping recipe to us, Teacher Lindsay.
Oh.my.goodness! These are wicked! Yummm . . . next time I am going to double the sauce. Silly, but if one can is good (and it is yummy), then 2 cans are better š At least that is the vote in our home š Can there be TOO much caramel? Nope, nada, no way!
What is the texture of your crust? I made these last night and they are delicious; however, I expected the crust to be more crumbly, like a shortbread. Perhaps I baked too long?
Thanks!
It was similar to a shortbread texture.
i left out the coconut and crushed up a cup of graham crackers to add to the crust. came out perfectly! i’m about to feed them to my husband and his shift of hungry police officers (but of course i had to try one first–dee-licious!). š
Oooh, yum! Love the graham cracker idea!
Absolutely amazing!!!! My husband made them in celebration of finishing planting our crops and it was as sweet as ever watching him share with our family! Thank you!
How sweet! I love this comment. š
Anyway I can leave the coconut out of these? Would the crust be ok or should I sub something else? Any thoughts?
I think you could. There’s kind of a lot of it in the crust, but as long as the consistency of the crust still seems good and bakes up nicely, I think it could be fine! If the crust seems too buttery and not crumbly enough, I might add more flour or ground up graham crackers or something to give it more texture.
I’m feeling sorry for myself and you’re cheering me up. (Present tense, as in right now..) How? Why? My eye condition has recurred, so was laying in a darkened room, looking like a pirate, and feeling a mopey combination of tired and bored… Until Kevin turned down the light on my iPhone. Now, I using my one eye to happily browse all of the desserts on your site and I’m cheering up by the second.
Oh no! So sad… I was wondering what was up with your Friday absence, I thought maybe one of your kids was sick or something. Hope you feel better soon! Maybe if you ask nicely Kevin would make these for you! š
Just made this amazing confection. My kitchen smells luscious! Like Willy Wonka’s factory. The crust only took 13 mins, and the baked dulce de leche layer was ready at 10 mins. (I used a 13×9.) It’s all cooling up now and we are waiting impatiently for the first taste. Thanks for sharing this recipe!!
Yes! Awesome. Glad you liked it Ingrid!
Just had to report back…..AMAZING!!! Kind of a cross between a Heath Bar and a Twix Bar. On steroids. Definitely a keeper. Thanks again!
On steroids, for sure. š Glad you liked them!
I don’t want to buy corn syrup for 1T. Could I use sugar?
Love your site, btw!
Sure, or I would say you could just omit it altogether. I sometimes sub honey for corn syrup, but I’m not sure how that would affect the flavor of this one. Good luck!
Oh wow – these look sinfully delicious.
Do you find you need to add butter to your Chocolate chips to get them to melt without seizing? I always end up having to add 1 to 2 tablespoons depending on the quality of my chocolate. Usually I use the Ghiradelli baking bars, and still need butter.
No, usually if I use a double boiler (or
my fake makeshift double boiler) I don’t need the butter. But I’m certainly not opposed to adding some! š the chocolate chips that work best for me are Guittard. Soooo good!
OH, and just to add…. My husband is going to die when I make these for him! THANK YOU for the yummy looking recipe!
These look delicious! New to your site and looking forward to seeing more tasty recipes!
Thanks so much!
These bars look divine!
I wish I could like Grants comment because I agree, these look sooo good!!!
Dad’s birthday treat? I’ll make you some extra.
*Heehee!* You mooned your Hubby with a dessert! Classic….
I’m really glad I have all of the ingredients for this already in my pantry. Because I can’t possibly live another second without these.
I’m glad you understand the urgency of this situation. š