Recipe: Cinnamon Walnut Dulce de Leche Bars

By HazyWaters

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 1/8 cups unsalted butter (2 1/4 sticks, or 18 tablespoons), softened and divided
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar, divided
• 2 tablespoons dark rum, divided
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon, divided
• 1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from thekitchn.com

Preparation

Step 1

Maker Talks

I added a little more salt to the shortbread base, and some walnuts and cinnamon to the topping. I cooked the filling longer to make sure it darkened into that truly dark and gooey dulce de leche that I loved.

These might still look a little tricky, but they come together incredibly fast. The dough makes the base of the cookies, but then you add a little more butter and flour and make a crumb topping to sprinkle over top as well. I made these twice in the last two days and both times they were

Heat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking pan and then line the pan with parchment paper so the ends hang over the long sides.

Make the filling:

Whisk the butter, honey, brown sugar, and sweetened condensed milk in a 1-quart saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 15 minutes. The mixture will turn from a creamy pale caramel color to a darker, browned-toast color (see photo above). Whisk frequently to prevent too many scorched bits from developing. After 15 minutes, whisk the mixture thoroughly one more time and remove from the heat.

Make the dough:

While the filling is simmering, make the dough. Beat 1 cup unsalted butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 1 tablespoon rum in the bowl of a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Stir in 2 1/4 cups flour, the salt, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Stir just until a soft dough forms and the dough pulls away from the bowl.

Pat 3/4 of the dough into the prepared baking pan. Pat and spread it into an even layer. Pour the finished filling over the dough and use an offset spatula to spread it evenly.

Make the crumb walnut topping:

Add the remaining 1/2 cup flour to the dough that is left in the bowl. Add the walnuts, the remaining teaspoon of cinnamon, and the remaining 1 tablespoon rum. Drop in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and use your fingers to mix everything together until it forms soft, clumpy crumbs.

Remove and let cool for 15 minutes. The use the parchment paper ends to lift the cookies out of the pan and place them on a rack to finish cooling.