Cranberry Turtle Bars

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place oven rack in the middle to bake.

For the crust:

Line a 10 x 15-inch shallow baking pan with foil, butter all 4 sides, except the bottom.

Blend the flour, brown sugar, and salt in a food processor, add butter and pulse until mixture resembles cornmeal. Layer the mixture into baking pan, pressing down firmly with a metal spatula to form an even sheet.

Place in oven and bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until golden in color. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.

For the topping:

Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, stir in sugar, corn syrup, and salt and bring to a boil. Stir occasionally, and continue heating until caramel registers 245 degrees F on a candy thermometer, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, add the cranberries, coating them entirely in caramel sauce. Return to stove and boil until caramel cranberry mixture reaches 245 degrees F.

Remove from heat, stir in vanilla mixing well, add the pecans stirring into caramel mixture and coating well. Quickly, pour the caramel topping onto the shortbread base. Make sure to gently spread pecans and berries evenly. For the final layer, sprinkle chocolate chips throughout to cover.

Cool completely, it’s important to allow the topping to set. Once completely cooled, cut the bars into equal pieces and serve. Now only if I could keep from eating them all.