Salted Caramel Butter Bars

Buttery, soft crumb bars filled with salted caramel! I dare you to stop at one bite.. it's irresistible!

Ingredients

2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup white sugar

background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;">1 & ½ cups powdered sugar

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 (11.5 oz) jar salted caramel sauce (I like Smuckers Brand Simple Delights, but Trader Joe's Fleur de Sel is great, too!)

Sea salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 13x9" baking pan with foil, extending the sides of the foil over the edges of the pan. Spray the foil liberally with cooking spray and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the powdered sugar and vanilla. Lastly, beat in the four (4) cups of flour until a soft dough has formed. Press HALF of the dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Refrigerate the remaining dough.