If I ever want something rich, delicious and incredibly decadent this is what I make. The addition of peanut butter and salt makes this a very grown-up version of a childhood classic that my Grandmother used to make most school holidays. This is not for the faint of heart, or the dieting inclined, but it’s excellent comfort food with a cup of tea on the sofa of an evening and, as we’re all doing quite a bit of that at the moment, I thought I’d share my recipe for these little squares of happiness.
This was one of the most requested recipes way back when I was writing my first cookbook, Alice in Bakingland. And, as my books are now out of print, I thought I’d share with you one of my favourite recipes.
I use a high sided 17×27 slice tray to make this in as I like a really thick layer of caramel. If you’d prefer a thinner layer, use a larger slice tin. You could also halve the recipe quite easily but really, where’s the joy in that!
Make sure you use good quality condensed milk for this recipe. House or budget brands are usually very runny and will make your caramel too thin. If you only have thin condensed milk available (for example, the varieties in the UK are quite thin in comparison to NZ condensed milk), then cook the caramel on the stovetop for a wee bit longer to thicken it up.
Peanut Butter and Caramel Slice with Salted Chocolate
Ingredients
- 150 grams (1 cup) plain flour
- 120 grams (½ cup) brown sugar
- 40 grams (½ cup) desiccated coconut
- 125 grams butter melted
Caramel Filling
- 240 grams (⅔ cup) golden syrup
- 125 grams butter
- 2 x 395 gram tins sweetened condensed milk
- ½ to ¾ cup crunchy peanut butter see note below
Chocolate Topping
- 200 grams dark cooking chocolate
- 30 mls 2 tablespoons netural oil (eg vegetable, bran)
- ½ – ¾ teaspoon rock or flaked salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180˚C. Grease and line a tin with baking paper. I use a high sided 17×27 cm tin, but a 22x30cm (or larger tin) would work just as well (it will just give you a thinner layers).
- Place flour, sugar, coconut and melted butter in a bowl and mix well.
- Press mix into lined tin and bake for 12-16 minutes or until light golden brown.
- To make the caramel filling place golden syrup, butter and condensed milk in a medium pot and stir over a low heat until butter is melted – I find a silicone spatula to be the best thing for this as it stops the caramel sticking and burning.
- Continue to stir for approximately 7-10 minutes until caramel has thickened slightly and is coming away from the side of the pot.
- Stir in half a cup of peanut butter until smooth. Taste caramel and add more peanut butter if desired.
- Pour hot caramel over base and bake for 8-12 minutes until caramel is getting brown on top and moving towards looking too brown/a bit burnt (watch carefully during last few minutes of cooking!).
- Cool on the bench then refrigerate until cold.
- Melt chocolate and oil together until smooth and pour over cold slice. Leave to set for a few minutes (no more than 5) and then sprinkle over rock salt to taste.
- Put slice back in fridge until chocolate is set then remove from tin and cut with a large sharp knife into small squares. To get a clean, sharp cut, run your knife under hot water and wipe dry every two to three slices. Store in the fridge in an airtight container with baking paper between the layers for up to three weeks (not that it will last that long…).
Notes
Photography by Alice Arndell © 2013-2020. All rights reserved. Post may contain affiliate links.
