Home » bars » Dulce de Leche Bars
December 20, 2011 (updated May 2, 2022) by Jennifer McHenry //
24 Comments
These Dulce de Leche Bars are wonderfully sweet, rich, buttery, and gooey!
Rich, Gooey Dulce de Leche Bars
Here we go again with bars. I know, I know. I just can’t seem to help it. In defense of bars, they’re easy to make. They make enough for a crowd. And, they’re usually pleasing to that crowd.
The flavor of these bars is a bit different than my usual bar recipes. Dulce de leche is definitely underused in my kitchen. I love its caramel-like, smooth flavor.
Much like those Blueberry Jam Bars from earlier this month, these bars are made mostly of a crumb crust and topping. It’s hard to go wrong with a buttery, sugary crumb crust. Sandwiched between two layers of that is a whole lot of dulce de leche goodness. A sprinkling of toffee bits tops it all off. All of that adds up to some kind of good.
If you like a bit of salty with your sweet, then you might sprinkle a bit of kosher salt over the dulce de leche layer before baking. With or without that, these are truly delicious and hard to resist. While they would make great gifts or party food, you are likely to want to keep these all for yourself.
Get the Recipe:
Dulce de Leche Bars
Yield32 servings
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time44 minutes
Total Time1 hour 9 minutes
These dulce de leche bars are easier to make than you think, and full of gooey, rich dulce de leche in every bite!
Ingredients
- 1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 & 1/2 cups quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 13.4 ounces dulce de leche
- 1 cup toffee bits
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar and salt. Using a pastry blender or fork, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Reserve 1/4 of crumb mixture for topping. Press remaining crumb mixture into bottom of ungreased 9″x 13″ baking pan. Bake 10 minutes.
- In a small saucepan, heat dulce de leche over low heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently, to soften slightly.
- Spread dulce de leche over crust. Sprinkle evenly with toffee bits. Then, sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture.
- Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 15 minutes.
- Run a knife around sides of pan to loosen bars. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker.
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Cousin Tim December 20, 2011 @ 8:19 pm Reply
Just went to a party and both desserts were from B or B. Yay!!!
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Hannah December 20, 2011 @ 8:45 pm Reply
oh my goodness, i LOVE dulce de leche. these must be amazing! xoxo
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Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar December 21, 2011 @ 5:47 am Reply
These bars are lovely! Great recipe 🙂
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Blog is the New Black December 21, 2011 @ 6:03 am Reply
YES PLEASE!!!
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Amanda @ Once Upon a Recipe December 21, 2011 @ 9:17 am Reply
Heck yes! These look amazing!
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Choc Chip Uru December 21, 2011 @ 1:23 pm Reply
Your bringing Christmas early Santa 🙂
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Mern George December 22, 2011 @ 3:23 am Reply
I’m going to eat the screen.
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thelittleloaf December 23, 2011 @ 2:46 pm Reply
These look absolutely incredible – I love dulce de leche and would definitely add a sprinkle of salt for the ultimate salty sweet experience 🙂
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Christy Bergeron March 8, 2012 @ 9:27 am Reply
I made these last night & they disappeared! Thanks for sharing all of your delicious recipes.
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Dani @ andcute October 25, 2012 @ 5:33 am Reply
This sounds perfect. I will make these today for my sister who is a dulce the leche addict (and having a baby right now)! 🙂
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Yasmin November 20, 2012 @ 5:51 pm Reply
I made these this evening and can confirm that they are as scrumptious as they look in the photos! Absolutely delicious and I will definitely make them again. Thank you for sharing such a fantastic recipe
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Kris December 16, 2012 @ 8:39 pm Reply
Can you share the recipe for the Dulce de Leche..tnx! i love all your posted recipes. Godspeed!
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Glo September 6, 2013 @ 8:22 pm Reply
Can’t wait to try these as soon as I drop everything to go to the grocery store for some dulce de leche. Your recipes are superb and always right on. I can just taste these already. Mahalo for the recipe.
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Patty March 17, 2014 @ 5:17 pm Reply
What is Dulce de Leche? How is it packaged and where do I get it? I live in Indiana. I am old and must make these before I die!
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Jennifer McHenry March 17, 2014 @ 11:01 pm Reply
Hi, Patty. Dulce de leche is much like caramel. It’s usually in a can or jar. Look for it near the condensed milk or maybe in the Hispanic foods section.
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Evelyn Harrington July 18, 2016 @ 5:40 pm Reply
My family loves these. They last about a day here and they barely wait for them to cool. Also, I found chocolate toffee bits and use them instead of straight toffee. Could that be why they go so fast?
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Jennifer McHenry July 20, 2016 @ 9:27 am Reply
Chocolate is always a good idea! 🙂
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ann blystone April 21, 2020 @ 5:17 pm Reply
In this time of Covid-19, my daughter made these for our Sunday Family Dinner this past Sunday. This is one of the only bar cookies I absolutely ADORE! Simply delicious! I’m not a big sweets person at all and I swear, tho it would make me sick as a dog, I could eat the entire tray!
Because of Covid-19 we couldn’t find toffee bits at the grocery store (went to 2, gave up – and who knew there’d be a run on toffee chips!), my daughter went to the gas station down the street to get 3 Heath bars as a substitute. Only 1 Heath bar left, so she also got a Score bar (also toffee) – last one as well, and to fill in the rest, a butterfinger bar (All 3 were about 2 oz. each). I’m sure this is delicious with the toffee bits, but with these three different candy bars crushed and used in place of the bits, the dessert was spectacular! Followed the rest of the recipe to a T. Desperate times call for desperate measures! You need to repost this for 2020! It’s THAT good! Thank you!-
Jennifer McHenry April 22, 2020 @ 9:41 am Reply
I’m glad you liked them, Ann! And bravo for your improvising!
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Ann Blystone May 4, 2020 @ 1:37 pm Reply
I meant a Skor candy bar. Dang that auto-correct!
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Michelle December 13, 2020 @ 8:56 pm Reply
can these be made in advance? if so, how many days and how should they be stored?
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Jennifer McHenry December 14, 2020 @ 4:24 pm Reply
Hi, Michelle. They should keep for 3 or 4 days at room temperature in an airtight container. Longer than that, and I would freeze them.
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Mary November 29, 2021 @ 5:31 pm Reply
These are absolutely delicious. But don’t forget to run knife around edge and cut into bars before they are cool. Otherwise you will need a chisel to get them out of pan.
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Jennifer McHenry December 1, 2021 @ 9:42 am Reply
I’m glad you liked them, Mary!
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