Caramel Cashew Bars

So I have always had this thing for caramel. In fact I worked at a pie shop as a teenager where we served apple pie with caramel sauce and I would buy cups of caramel and just eat it with a spoon. No joke. It was homemade and awesome. Well throw some cashews in caramel and it can only make it better. I recently had a caramel cashew cookie from a bakery and thought "I could make that!" So I did. This one is simple and delish. Give it a try for one of those summer BBQ's.

Here is my happy caramel bubbling away. Mmmmm. Way too hot Rebecca you have to wait!

Here they are just before they went in the oven layers of butter cookie caramel and cashews woo hoo!

Caramel Cashew Bars
Crust:
4 1/2 Cups Flour
1 C Powdered Sugar
2 Cups butter softened

Mix and press into a greased cookie sheet. Bake alone for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Caramel:
2 Cups Brown Sugar
2 Sticks Margarine
1 3/4 Cup Light Corn Syrup

Bring these to a boil and stir boiling for three minutes. Remove from heat and add 1 can sweetened condensed milk. Boil for an additional 3 minutes.

Remove crust from oven and cover with 5 cups roasted cashews. (Chop them if you like. I liked the look of whole ones.) Then pour on the caramel. Bake for an addition 12 minutes. Caramel will be bubbly all over the cookies. Remove, cool and enjoy. I put melted chocolate on half and loved that too.

* I made these in a cookie sheet because I can never have too many cookies. Feel free to half the recipe and bake it in a 9x13 pan.