Butterscotch Peanut Bars

Butterscotch Peanut Bars are a sweet, chewy cookie bar that almost qualifies as candy. The buttery cookie base is crowned with salted peanuts coated in butterscotch. These shiny bars are a delicious treat for party platters and cookie exchanges, as well as for filling care packages with tempting snacks.

Why you'll love this recipe

This recipe for Peanut Bars is adapted from one that appeared in the St. Louis Post Dispatch newspaper food section in an article about great care package baked goods. This sturdy bar cookie, is delicious and stays fresh for shipping.

With a beautiful shine, chewy butterscotch, crunchy peanuts, and a buttery crust, these treats are impressive on party platters and for cookie exchanges!

Butterscotch Peanut Bars stay chewy for about a week, but are unlikely to stick around that long. These tempting bars disappear quickly! Luckily, they are quick and easy to make, just in case you need another batch!

Instructions

This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.

1. In a medium bowl, stir together melted butter and brown sugar. Add flour and salt and mix well.
2. Press dough in an even layer onto the bottom of a foil or parchment paper lined pan. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes.
3. Remove from the oven, and sprinkle with peanuts. Press the peanuts gently onto the crust.
4. In a large saucepan, add the chips, corn syrup, butter and water. Cook over medium heat, stirring continually, just until chips and butter are completely melted.
5. Pour the topping over the prepared crust and gently spread the top of the bars with a spatula. Don’t worry about covering every tiny spot, as the topping will fill in while baking.
6. Bake for 11-12 minutes or until topping is golden brown and bubbly around the edges.

Storage

Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to one week.

Tips

• The flavor difference between butterscotch and caramel, is due to the kind of sugar used. Butterscotch is made with brown sugar. Caramel is made with white granulated sugar.
• If you aren’t a fan of butterscotch, Butterscotch Peanut Bars can be made as Caramel Peanut Bars too. Ghirardelli now makes caramel chips which can be substituted for the butterscotch chips in this recipe.
• In order to achieve the shiny surface with a chewy texture, it is essential to follow the instructions for baking time and temperature. Baking too long will make the topping too hard to bite into.

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Butterscotch Peanut Bars

This sweet, chewy cookie bar has a butter cookie base topped with butterscotch and roasted peanuts.

5 from 1 vote

Print Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 22 minutes

Total Time: 52 minutes

Servings: 25

Calories: 196kcal

Author: Wendy Sondov

Adapted From: Taste of Home magazine

Ingredients

Cookie base

• ½ cup unsalted butter melted
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar
• 1-½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 cups salted peanuts or another favorite nut

Topping

• 1 package butterscotch chips or caramel chips
• ½ cup light corn syrup or golden syrup
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon water

Instructions

• Line a 9” x 13” baking pan with parchment or non-stick aluminum foil. Preheat oven to 350° F.
• In a medium mixing bowl, stir together melted butter and brown sugar.
• Add flour and salt and mix well.
• Press the dough evenly onto the bottom of the pan.
• Bake at 350° for 10 minutes.
• Remove from the oven, and sprinkle with peanuts. Press the peanuts gently onto the crust.
• In a large saucepan, add the chips, corn syrup, butter and water.
• Cook over medium heat, stirring continually, just until chips and butter are completely melted.
• Pour the topping over the prepared crust and gently spread the topping with a spatula. Don’t worry about covering every tiny spot, as the topping will fill in while baking.
• Bake for 11-12 minutes or until topping is bubbly around the edges. Remove from the oven.
• Cool completely in the pan.
• Remove from the pan onto a cutting board. Cut into bars.
• Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to one week.

Notes

Packing tips

Wrap bars individually in plastic wrap and stack in a freezer weight ziplock bag or layer bars between wax paper in an airtight storage container.

Nutrition

Calories: 196kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 12mg | Sodium: 129mg | Potassium: 149mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 141IU | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 1mg

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First Published: November 11, 2017. Last Updated: July 24, 2022. Updated for additional information and better reader experience.

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