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Turtle Shortbread Bars

34 Comments
Wanna know something??
I’m kinda jealous of the Mom’s who have kids in school now. You’re back to a schedule. Back into a routine. As much as you hate it, I know you secretly love it! 
I sooooo desperately need to get back into a “routine”. 
I’ve already got my day routine for when my daughter starts school on SEPTEMBER 6th!
7:30 wake up
8:30 leave house
9:00 drop off kid and head over to Park
Walk / Run / Bike for an hour
Home to garden, shower, shop, (bake?)
3:00 head back out to pick up kid
5:30 make dinner
7:30 get kid ready for bed
9:00 lights out for kid
BLOG TIME!!
11:00 lights out for me
Here’s hoping I can stick to it! 
This past summer it’s been more like:
9- ish… maybe later, wake up
Maybe brush my teeth and put on bra at some point…
Surf Internet, Pintrest, Blogs, games, etc…
Oh, is it lunch time already?
Do “Stuff”
Crap, where did the day go? Dinner time??
Whew, it was a long day! Time to chill out with the laptop.
Wait a second, it’s 10 pm? Why is the kid still up?
Crap, tomorrow, you’r going to bed at 8!
Darn it! Another day lost.
At least it wasn’t a complete loss the day I made these Turtle Bars!

Turtle Shortbread Bars – Adapted from BH&G Cookie Classics

Preheat oven to 350 deg F.

For the Shortbread Crust
1 C flour
1/2 C packed brown sugar
1/2 C butter

Mix together to form a crumble mixture. Press into 13 x 9 inch pan. Bake for 15 minutes

For the Turtle Filling
1 14-oz can  sweetened condensed mild
2 tea vanilla
1 C chopped pecans
1 C coconut
1 C chopped pretzels

Combine Condensed Milk and vanilla. Once crust is done, add pecans, coconut, and pretzels on top. Drizzle milk mixture over fulling and bake for 25 – 30 minutes until filling is set.
Cool 10 minutes.

For the Topping
20 vanilla caramels
2 Tbls milk
1 C chocolate chips

In a small saucepan combine caramels and milk and cook over med-low heat until caramels are melted. Sprinkle 1/2 of the chips in the pan then drizzle caramels over the bars. Add remainder of chips. Cool completely and then cut into 48 (36) bars.

These little bars were sweet and salty with the added pretzels. (The original recipe called for 2 cups of pecans.) Also, I used three different sized chocolate chips – mini and regular chocolate chips and mini Hershey Kisses. 
And with these buggers around, it’s no wonder why I don’t get anything done.



Turtle Shortbread Bars

by Karyn Granrud
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Keywords: bake coconut caramel shortbread bars
Ingredients (24 bars)

    For the Shortbread Crust

    • 1 C flour
    • 1/2 C packed brown sugar
    • 1/2 C butter

    For the Turtle Filling

    • 1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
    • 2 tsp vanilla
    • 1 C chopped pecans
    • 1 C coconut
    • 1 C chopped pretzels

    For the Topping

    • 20 vanilla caramels
    • 2 Tbls milk
    • 1 C chocolate chips
    Instructions
    Preheat oven to 350 deg F.

    For the Shortbread Crust

    Mix together to form a crumble mixture. Press into 13 x 9 inch pan. Bake for 15 minutes

    For the Turtle Filling

    Combine Condensed Milk and vanilla. Once crust is done, add pecans, coconut, and pretzels on top. Drizzle milk mixture over filling and bake for 25 – 30 minutes until filling is set.
    Cool 10 minutes.

    For the Topping

    In a small saucepan combine caramels and milk and cook over med-low heat until caramels are melted. Sprinkle 1/2 of the chips in the pan then drizzle caramels over the bars. Add remainder of chips. Cool completely and then cut into 48 (36) bars.
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    Aimee - ItsOverflowing.com

    Thursday 6th of September 2012

    These look SO GOOD! Thanks for sharing at It's Overflowing!

    XO, Aimeehttp://www.itsoverflowing.com

    Trish

    Wednesday 5th of September 2012

    I can't wait to try these out! They look divine! Pinning and featuring tonight :) Thanks so much for sharing at Mom On Timeout!

    Paula

    Wednesday 5th of September 2012

    I'm pretty sure you should come to my house and make these for me! :-) We'd love for you to link these up at our party! http://housewivesofriverton.blogspot.com/2012/09/riverton-housewives-round-up-31.html

    The Mandatory Mooch

    Wednesday 5th of September 2012

    These look like a terrific treat. Thanks for linking up to Tasty Thursdays at The Mandatory Mooch. I hope you will link up again this week. The party will be live tomorrow night. www.mandatorymooch.blogspot.com I would also love it if you could add my party to your Linky Parties list.

    Thanks, Nichi

    Marlys-thisandthat

    Monday 3rd of September 2012

    Although I have no kids, I can't wait for my husband to be back in school (he going to University) as then we can get back into a routine of such...We have been sleeping in... not getting anything accomplished.... etc.etc. these bars looks spectacular. Thanks for sharing on Foodie Friends Friday and hope you will join us next week with more great recipes. http://marlys-thisandthat.blogspot.com