Recipe: Cinnamon Walnut Dulce de Leche Bars

Do you like dulce de leche? I mean, how could you not. Creamy, rich, and sweet — it's caramelized milk and sugar with just a hint of tanginess. And these cookie bars are oozing with this Latin American sweet treat — plus just a dash of cinnamon and walnuts.

I adapted these bars from Nick Malgieri's recipe for Caramel Crumb Bars. These are fabulous (I believe Nick says that if had to choose just one cookie this would be it). But I found the recipe as written slightly confusing and when I made them the caramel filling didn't turn out as dark and rich as I would like. So I started tweaking.

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 very well received! They're chewy, with a bit of crunch from the walnuts, and gooey in the middle with all that creamy dulce de leche. They are definitely my new favorite go-to dessert!

Cinnamon Walnut Dulce de Leche Bars
About 24 bar cookies

Filling
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
One 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
Cinnamon
Kosher salt

Dough & Crumb Walnut Topping
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

1/2 cup dulce de leche, to serve (optional)

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.

Sprinkle these crumbs over the filling in the pan. Bake for 35 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned.

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.

Serve at room temperature or slightly warm. If desired, you can drizzle warm dulce de leche over the bars before serving. Slice into 2-inch squares to serve.

Adapted from Nick Malgieri's The Modern Baker, via Smells Like Home

More Bar Cookie Recipes
• Sour Cream Raisin Bars
• Nanaimo Bars
• Halfway Cookies
• Raspberry Hungarian Pastry

(Images: Faith Durand)

Comments (10)

YUM! I'm drooling! These Dulce Le Leche Bars look absolutely Scrumptious!!!

OHMYGODWOWGOTTOGETTOTHERE

I've found that dulce de leche is a good add-in to any bar recipe that you would like some more chew from. It works just like peanut butter in that respect, except it adds a nice butterscotchy flavor instead of a peanut butter flavor, which isn't always appropriate for bar cookies. It also helps to keep the bars moister for longer (just like honey or molasses).

You mention cinnamon and salt in the list of filling ingredients, but they are not mentioned in the instructions.

The cinnamon and salt are in the instructions for the crust.

From this cook, here are my notes, after making these today, with an important side note, my stove is electric, so I don't know if that makes a difference:

I found that to get that dark caramelly color for the filling, I had to cook FAR, FAR longer than 15 minutes, and, in fact, it was closer to 30.

Also, the filling was very greasy and even when I whisked (carefully... hot butter splats hurt), as soon as I stopped the butter separated from the rest. I poured out some of the butter before spreading it in the pan.

Let the filling cool a bit before pouring it over the crust if you've had to cook it a long time.

WARNING!!!! These are SERIOUSLY addicting, and you should probably make two pans worth, since you're going to eat the entire first one by yourself.

is it possible to omit the rum? what can i substitute it with? (forgive me if you've mentioned it in this post already!)

A stunning array of cookies, but this dulce de leche has my vote! Decadent!!!

Is this bar cookie sturdy enough to be held in the hand and eaten, or does it need to be served on a plate with a fork?

these look absolutely delicious...i'm afraid i'd have to substitute pecans, since i absolutely despise walnuts, but still...YUM!

Just wondering, where does the last quarter cup of brown sugar go to after the first half of three quarters were added in? I'm guessing the crumb part?