Bready or Not Original: Mixed Nut Bars
This has been a nutty year. Time to make it nutty in a delicious way with these Mixed Nut Bars.
The amount of nuts here is the equivalent of the can size found in many American stores, but I buy my nuts in bulk. (I’m cheap like that.)
Use whatever combination of nuts you like. I would recommend having at least two kinds mixed in, to make it fun. Really, throw in what you like.
If you’ve followed Bready or Not for a while, you know I love caramel chips. They are awesome in this recipe! They make these bars sweet without it being overkill.
Make this to share with numerous folks. You essentially end up with a 13×9 pan of little candy bars. I imagine that they will keep well for days or even a week, but I can’t testify as to how long. When my husband took these to his work (in those halcyon days when that was allowed), they were gone in hours.
Bready or Not Original: Mixed Nut Bars
Equipment
- 13x9 pan
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 stick
Nutty layer
- 11 1/2 ounces mixed nuts
- 1 cup caramel chips plus extra 1/2 cup for top, optional
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a 13x9 pan with aluminum foil and apply nonstick spray.
- In a small bowl, stir together flour, sugar, and salt. Cut in the cube of butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Dump into prepared pan and compress into an even layer; a strip of waxed paper and a heavy glass make this easier.
- Bake base layer for 10 to 12 minutes, until it looks set. Sprinkle nuts over the baked dough.
- In the microwave, melt 1 cup caramel chips with the 2 Tablespoons butter by cooking for 20 second increments and stirring well between each pass, until smooth. Stir in corn syrup and vanilla extract. Pour over the nuts to cover as much as possible.
- Bake for 12 minutes. If adding extra caramel chips, do so now, covering any thinner areas atop crust. Bake another 5 minutes.
- Cool completely at room temperature. Use foil sling to lift contents onto a large cutting board. Slice into bars.
- Store at room temperature in sealed containers.
