Salted Caramel Sweet Potato Dessert Bars

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 1 30

Total Time: 1 40

Servings: bars

Calories: 422kcal

Author: Jazzmine Woodard

Decadent sweet potato blondie bars sweetened with brown sugar and swirled with sticky salted caramel

Print Recipe

Equipment

1 Food Processor
1 mixing bowl
1 kitchen spoon or whisk or spatula
1 small saucepan
1 square baking pan

Ingredients

For the Sweet Potato Bars Batter

1 sweet potato about ½ pound
2 cups all-purpose flour sifted or fluffed (see notes)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
¾ cup brown sugar
¾ cup milk
½ cup unsalted butter melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the Salted Caramel

11 ounces caramel candies
1 tablespoon milk
2 teaspoons fine 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.
1 sweet potato
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).
*I recommend using a non-stick pot and cooking over no higher than medium heat to avoid burning the bottom of the caramel and winding up with a difficult mess to clean up later.
11 ounces caramel candies, 2 teaspoons fine sea salt, 1 tablespoon milk
Mix together flour, ½ teaspoon sea salt, baking powder, and cinnamon.
2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, 1 teaspoon ground 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.
¾ cup brown sugar, ½ cup unsalted butter, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, ¾ cup milk
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.

Video

Notes

How to Measure Flour

Flour tends to get compacted, which can lead to too much flour in your baked good and result in a denser or drier texture than desired. To avoid this, it's important to sift the flour before measuring it. This can be accomplished by running the flour through a sifter or mesh sieve or fluffing the flour in its original container, then using a small measuring cup to scoop the flour into the size measuring cup you need (example: using a half-cup to scoop flour into a one-cup), then leveling off the excess with a knife or leveler.

Tips

You can make the sweet potato mash as smooth or as chunky as you prefer!

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.

Substitutions

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!

Storage

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.

Nutrition