Gooey and delicious keto salted caramel butter bars, with a tender, buttery crust and a rich layer of sugar free caramel. So rich and delicious, you won’t believe it’s low carb. This post is sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill.
You’re going to hate me when I tell you that I’ve been holding onto this recipe for salted caramel butter bars since last August. I really have no excuses. I’m sorry. Please still be my friend?
I have a long list of keto recipes waiting to be published, and as I am always creating new ones, I am constantly adding to this list. Some recipes, no matter how amazing they are, get put aside in favor of other ones. I am always trying to strike a good balance of sweet and savory, and of nourishing meals vs. decadent keto treats.
One cannot live on keto desserts alone. As much as one might want to.
So in any particular week, I might pair something like my Keto Crab Cakes with the well loved Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake, and the Keto Chocolate Cereal. Just so I am not giving you desserts all day every day.
Why I put this particular keto caramel bar recipe on hold escapes me now. All I can say is Oh. Em. Gee. It is so insanely good. It is perfect gooey, crumbly, deliciousness and it makes me swoon just thinking about it.
The Inspiration for Keto Salted Caramel Bars
I adore my sugar-free caramel sauce and I know so many of you do as well. It may very well be the most popular keto caramel sauce out there. I basically want to put it in, on, and over everything.
So when I saw a recipe for Salted Caramel Butter Bars on Cookies and Cups, I knew I had to find a way to ketofy them.
Yes, that’s a real word. Ketofy: (verb) To take a high carb recipe and magically make it low carb and grain-free.
That is what I do best. Just call me the Ketofier!
Obviously, this was more than just switching out the caramel. I needed to make a crumbly buttery crust with a melt in your mouth texture. So of course I turned to my trusty keto baking side kick, Bob’s Red Mill. I simply cannot do without their fantastic keto friendly almond and coconut flours.
How To Make Salted Caramel Butter Bars
Make the sugar-free caramel: You want to do this first, because it should be cooled to room temperature before pouring over the crust. And if you really want THE BEST keto caramel, you do need a mix of the two sweeteners.
All Swerve will cause your caramel to re-crystallize. All Bocha Sweet or allulose, and it will be too soft and gooey, and will ooze right out of the bars. Plus too much allulose could cause some serious tummy upset (trust me, I know this from experience).
Make the crumb crust: For this, I highly recommend a combination of both almond and coconut flour. It helps achieve that perfect crumbly consistency. Coconut flour alone won’t work in this, it’s too dry and absorbs far too much moisture.
But adding just a few tablespoons helps offset the moisture in the almond flour. So you end up with a crust that’s both tender and crumbly at the same time.
Press in the bottom crust: You want to take about half, maybe a little more than half, of the crumb mixture and press it firmly into the bottom of an 8×8 inch pan. It should cover the entire bottom of the pan. It’s okay to use a little more if you have to, the rest is just for a scattered topping.
Then par-bake the bottom crust for 10 minutes. This helps the crust be firm enough to not soak right into the caramel sauce.
Let the bottom crust cool a bit: Patience, my hungry friends! I know it’s hard but this also makes the difference between a soggy crust and crisp one. Keto baked goods can be very soft when they first come out of the oven but they firm up as they cool.
Pour on the caramel: Now for the fun part! Pour your gorgeous keto caramel sauce over top of the crust. Try not to just pour it straight into your mouth. That would defeat the purpose of making salted caramel butter bars.
Add salt: This is salted caramel, after all. How much salt you add is up to you. I recommend at least 1/4 teaspoon but if you love salt and caramel together, go for 1/2 teaspoon.
Sprinkle on the remaining crust: It should be enough to cover most of the caramel, with some peeking through. Press lightly to adhere and bake another 20 minutes or so. The filling should be bubbly and thick and the topping should be light golden brown.
Let it cool! Trust me, I know just how hard this is. It’s going to be torture to let the bars cool enough for cutting. But if you don’t, they will be far too soft to cut properly and to lift out of the pan. And you might burn your mouth on the hot caramel sauce! So don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Cut into bars and enjoy. These bars are so gooey and good, you may find you don’t want to share. I don’t blame you one little bit.
Ready to make some oh-so-fabulous keto salted caramel bars? What are you still doing here. Go on, have at it. You can thank me later.
What else can you do with my keto caramel sauce?
Salted Caramel Cheesecake Bars
Salted Caramel Butter Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1/2 cup Swerve Sweetener
- 2 tbsp coconut flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 6 tbsp butter melted
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 recipe sugar-free caramel sauce
- 1/4 tsp sea salt (more if desired)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F and grease an 8x8 inch baking pan well.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, coconut flour, and salt. Stir in the melted butter and vanilla until the dough begins to clump together.
- Press a little over half of the dough into the prepared baking pan and bake 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool 10 minutes.
- Pour the caramel sauce over the crust and spread to the edges. Sprinkle with the salt (add more if you like). Then take the remaining crust and crumble it over the filling, pressing lightly to adhere.
- Bake another 20 to 25 minutes, until the filling is bubbly and the topping is golden brown. Remove and let cool completely in the pan before cutting into bars.
Notes
Nutrition
