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Turtle Shortbread Bars

Posted on Published: Categories Bars

By: Author Karyn Granrud

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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