Chocolate Chip Cookie and Caramel-Peanut Butter Bars

The other day, I drank a homemade Vanilla Latte a little too late at night and I was up tossing and turning until 2AM with one thing on my mind, layered cookie bars. #Riskyfat. For my own self respect and waist line, I waited until the following day to bake my masterpiece.

Although I love over-the-top desserts, I wanted to bake something that everyone would love… Mostly so that I wouldn’t eat it all by myself… But I wanted to be nice, too. 😉

Since making Knock You Naked Brownies I haven’t been able to stop thinking about them. Something about that gooey, delicious caramel layer was magical and I wanted to recreate it. Except this time with a little extra pizazz… Peanut Butter! Fact: Peanut butter always makes things taste better (i.e., toast, waffles, pancakes, oatmeal, brownies, ice cream, fruit, etc.)

As I said before, I didn’t want this dessert to be too over the top, so I decided to sandwich that heavenly mixture of caramel, peanut butter, and chocolate in between two layers of chocolate chip cookies. Simply amazing.

Original Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies:

2 ¼  cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

¾ cup granulated sugar

¾ cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

Caramel-Peanut Butter inspired by The Pioneer Woman:

½ cup Evaporated Milk

60 whole caramels, Unwrapped

½ cup peanut butter, melted

1/3 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

1. Preheat oven to 375° F and grease 9 x 13-inch jelly-roll pan.
2. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate morsels.
3. Spread half of cookie dough into prepared pan and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and set aside.
4. Meanwhile, in a double boiler (or a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of boiling water) melt caramels with ½ cup evaporated milk.
5. When melted and combined, add ½ cup melted peanut butter and pour over cookie base. Sprinkle chocolate chips as evenly as you can over the caramel.
6. Turn out remaining cookie dough on work surface. Use your hands to press it into a large square a little smaller than the pan. Use a spatula to remove it from the surface, then set it on top of the caramel and chocolate chips.
7. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and edges are set. Cool in pan on wire rack. Makes 2 dozen bars.