Want more easy desserts? My Caramel Cookie Bars, Salted Caramel Pecan Oatmeal Fudge Bars, and my Caramel Chocolate Chip Oat Bars are just a click away! Alrighty, break out the elastic-banded pants folks. I mean, these are called butter bars. That’s not a cute nickname, they actually have a truckload of butter in them. So no, I don’t recommend working these into your weekly diet. But every once in a while, ya gotta live. And when that once in a while rolls around, consider these salted caramel pecan butter bars. They’re heaven on earth and a 100% un-regrettable way to splurge in the dessert department. Some people say you shouldn’t reward yourself with food. Meh, not my favorite piece of advice… In fact I’m a poster child for rewarding yourself with food. See the trick is that it can’t be every five minutes. And it’s not always butter-loaded desserts either. Sometimes (read: in fact, quite often) I reward myself with tacos. Steak tacos, chicken tacos, thai tacos, shrimp tacos, pork tacos. (Obviously I love tacos). And sometimes I reward myself with my favorite soup and salad shop, Zupas. That hardly breaks the calorie bank (unless I splurge for the million dollar bars in the glass case. ahem.) But then there are times when I reward myself with butter bars. The crumbly flavor of the crust is mmmmmm good. And salted caramel steals my heart every time. Actually, funny story, last night I took these bars to a church group activity and a bunch of teenagers practically inhaled them. One of the junior-high aged girls came up to me afterwards and said they were amazing, but that the first bite was weird and she had to get used to it before she decided they were really delicious. Took me a minute to figure out what she was talking about. But then…. Baha! It’s called salted caramel sweetheart. I do agree that it could be considered an acquired taste, it took me …. 4 seconds to decide that I wholeheartedly love it. Are there really people who haven’t tried salted caramel?! That’s nuts! Speaking of nuts, you can actually leave them out if you’re allergic or just aren’t in the mood. The butter bars loaded with gooey caramel are more than enough to keep you satisfied. But I love the extra crunch and flavor from the nuts so I highly recommend them! Recipe adapted from American Heritage Cooking
