Sweet, Salty Peanutty Gooey Cookie Bars

These bad boys are headed to Yosemite...

One of my all time favorite cookie bar recipes, even though the use of premade chocolate chip cookie dough is sorta cheatin' like "Almost Homemade" star Sandra Lee does.

Who cares?

They're to die for.

And totally calorie free.

Yeah, right.

SWEET SALTY PEANUTTY GOOEY COOKIE BARS

recipe from Betty Crocker website

Cookie Base 1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® chocolate chip cookie mix

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 egg

Filling

24 caramels, unwrapped

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)

Topping

60 small pretzel twists (2 cups)

1 1/2 cups dry-roasted salted peanuts

chopped 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom and sides of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray.

2. In large bowl, stir cookie base ingredients until soft dough forms. Spread dough in bottom of pan. Bake 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, in 2-quart saucepan, heat filling ingredients over medium-low heat 5 to 10 minutes, stirring constantly, until caramels are melted. Remove from heat.

4. As soon as pan is removed from oven, press pretzels firmly into partially baked base, slightly overlapping pretzels. Sprinkle chopped peanuts evenly over pretzels. Pour caramel filling over top; spread evenly.

5. Bake 20 minutes longer until caramel filling bubbles. Cool completely, about 2 hours.

6. In small microwaveable bowl, microwave chocolate chips uncovered on High 1 to 2 minutes or until melted. Dip fork into melted chocolate; drizzle chocolate over bars. Refrigerate 30 minutes or until chocolate is set.

For bars, cut into 8 rows by 4 rows. Store covered at room temperature.