Gingerbread Caramel Bars

I really love how different seasons have their own special flavors, like pumpkin in the fall and peppermint and gingerbread for Christmas. It makes them more special when you wait all year for them! I love gingerbread anything and I collect gingerbread recipes all year, so when Christmas rolls around it's always a struggle to decide which one I'm going to make.

This recipe is very similar to a chocolate chip caramel bar I made a few weeks ago that was DIVINE, so I was pretty sure this was going to be awesome, too.  It was chewy, gooey, caramel-y, and had a delicious gingerbread flavor. Everybody who tried it loved it!  Next time I might pretty up the squares with a little swirl of decorative frosting, but it definitely doesn't require any extra sugar.  It is tooth-rotting sweet but oh so good!

Gingerbread Caramel Bars
Prep time: 15 min  Bake time: 30 min
Serves 25

1 (15.25 oz) box yellow cake mix
1 egg
3/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
(or just add more molasses to light brown sugar)
1/2 cup flour
1 1/4 tsp ginger
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
5.5 oz caramels (about 20 caramels)
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

Combine cake mix, egg, molasses, butter, sugar, flour and spices and mix until smooth. Batter will be thick and sticky.

Line a 9x9 pan with parchment paper, extending the paper up the sides of the pan.
Add half of the gingerbread batter to the pan and spread evenly. Batter will be sticky, so it might help to drop spoonfuls into the pan, then spread.

Melt caramels in a microwaveable bowl until mostly smooth, with a few chunks left.  Add melted caramel to sweetened condensed milk and combine.  Pour caramel mixture over the gingerbread dough in the pan.

Drop spoonfuls of remaining dough over the caramel layer, spreading a bit to mostly cover the caramel layer.

Bake at 350 for 30-33 minutes.  Allow to cool in the pan, then cut into squares.

199 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!