Make my sweet potato dessert bars with swirls of gooey salted caramel for the best sweet treat for fall. This easy dessert does not last long in my house!
Making dessert with sweet potatoes does not get enough shine in comparison to pumpkin but it really should. My salted caramel sweet potato blondie bars recipe will convert anybody and they mama to team sweet potato with just one bite. Let's get into the delicious details!
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What do Sweet Potato Blondies Taste Like?
You'll taste earthy sweetness from the sweet potatoes and a deep buttery richness balanced by saltiness in the caramel. Vanilla helps all the flavors really pop and you'll also pick up a touch of molasses from the brown sugar. My easy sweet potato bars have a soft, dense, and chewy texture, with a bit of stickiness from the caramel swirls.
And if you enjoy this recipe, you'll love my Sweet Potato Pecan Pie!
What You'll Need for this Recipe
The ingredients for making gooey sweet potato bars is short and simple. Here are a few things to add to your grocery cart.
Sweet Potato is the star here! I reach for Jewel sweet potatoes but you can also use Garnet Sweet potatoes for nearly identical results.
Caramel Candies combine with sea salt for the salted caramel ribbon that runs through each bar and adds to the ooey gooey factor. Easy yet effective. Be sure to use the soft, chewy caramels and not hard caramel candies.
Vanilla Extract enhances all the other flavors at play so don't skip it!
Check out the recipe card below for full ingredients list, measurements, nutrition facts, and step-by-step instructions!
Substitutions & Variations
Sugar - Brown sugar adds to the rich caramel taste of these bars. You can make the recipe with granulated sugar, if needed. Just note that the flavor will be slightly different and the texture will be more crisp.
Vegan - This recipe for sweet potato blondie bars without eggs can easily be made into vegan sweet potato blondies by using plant-based caramel, butter, and milk!
Toppings - Can I make changes to this recipe? Baking is a delicate balance and this recipe combination yields the most consistent results so I don't recommend playing with the proportions but you can add things like chocolate chips or nuts over top.
How to Make Sweet Potato Bars with Salted Caramel
Step One: Start by roasting the sweet potato. Prick it all over with a fork and roast until tender.
Step Two: Peel and puree the roasted sweet potato to your desired consistency.
Pro Tip: You can make the sweet potato mash as smooth or as chunky as you prefer!
Step Three: Mix all the sweet potato bar ingredients to form a batter, which will be sticky.
Step Four: Melt down the salted caramel ingredients in a saucepan until uniform and smooth.
Pro Tip: You'll notice that the batter for these sweet potato caramel bars is thick and a little sticky. I recommend using a silicone spatula to mix and spread the batter.
Step Five: Transfer the sweet potato bars batter into a square baking dish then pour the salted caramel over top and swirl it through using a knife.
Step Six: Bake until the top of the bars is golden brown and a toothpick inserted between the swirls of caramel comes out clean.
Pro Tip: Line the baking pan with parchment paper to keep the bars from sticking to the pan and make for easy cleanup.
Step Seven: Let the bars cool completely the cut into nine equal square pieces.
If you're into fall baking ideas, try my Pumpkin Snickerdoodles with Chai Spice next!
Frequently Asked Questions
Serve these bars for dessert or a sweet snack. They make a great Friendsgiving idea just prepare for no leftovers and lots of requests for the recipe!
Refrigerate them in an airtight container and they'll keep for about 10 days. And they stay soft so you can enjoy them cold or at room temperature but I prefer them warm for extra gooeyness.
These bars freeze well for one month or longer, maintaining their flavor albeit with slightly different texture over time. I recommend cutting and wrapping them individually then placing in an airtight container. To thaw, set a bar out at room temperature for 30 minutes to one hour before enjoying.
More Sweet Potato Dessert Ideas
Making egg free blondies with sweet potato might pique your interest in more ways to use sweet potato in baking. Here are a few more sweet potato desserts to try!
I hope you'll try this treat with family and friends before the fall baking season ends. And sharing is caring so be sure to pin this sweet potato caramel bars recipe for later and follow me over on Pinterest. Thanks for reading!
Salted Caramel Sweet Potato Dessert Bars
Equipment
- 1 Food Processor
- 1 mixing bowl
- 1 kitchen spoon or whisk or spatula
- 1 saucepan
- 1 square baking pan
Ingredients
For the Sweet Potato Bars Batter
- 1 sweet potato about ½ pound
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup milk
- ½ cup butter melted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the Salted Caramel
- 11 ounces caramel candies
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
Instructions
- Line a square baking dish with parchment paper and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pierce sweet potato in several places with a fork or knife. Place in oven to roast over a sheet pan for 40 minutes or until skin is wrinkled and flesh is tender. Remove sweet potato and lower oven temperature to 350 degrees.
- Allow sweet potato to cool until safe to handle (about 10 minutes) then carefully remove skin. Cut sweet potato into a few large pieces and place into blender or food processor. Pulse until a puree forms (about 30-45 seconds).
- While sweet potato is cooling, add caramel candies, 2 teaspoons sea salt, and one tablespoon milk to a nonstick saucepan and melt over medium heat. Stir together until uniform to form a salted caramel sauce, which will be very sticky (about three minutes).
- Mix together flour, ½ teaspoon sea salt, baking powder, and cinnamon.
- Add sweet potato puree, brown sugar, milk, melted butter, and vanilla extract to bowl. Stir until uniform and no dry pockets remain. Batter will be thick and sticky.
- Spread batter into prepared baking dish. Pour salted caramel back and forth over batter then use a butter knife to swirl the caramel throughout the batter.
- Bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted between caramel swirls comes out dry (not clean). Bars will be dense and gooey. Let cool completely then cut into nine pieces.
Diana says
Can you freeze these okay? Has anyone tried this with plant butter?
Jazzmine Woodard says
Hi Diana! These sweet potato bars freeze well for up to one month--perhaps longer, I just haven't been able to resist any longer than that. I recommend cutting and wrapping them individually before freezing for easier thawing and have updated the recipe card with freezing information. Hope this is helpful.