Salted Caramel Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake in a Jar

Photo: Driscoll's

Today is Caramel Day, and there are so many ways to celebrate -- Caramel sauce on ice cream or cake, Caramel Hot Chocolate, and more. I often say that product sites have great recipes, and Driscoll's Berries certainly does. I'm partial to Driscolls because their berries are always good! Today I'm posting their recipe for Salted Caramel Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake in a Jar. Wow! This is a great recipe for Spring when berries are at the finest! Terrific presentation, too, in half-pint mason jars.

For Caramel Sauces, I love Fat Toad Farm (Goat Caramel Sauce) and Recchiuti (Burnt Caramel Sauce), but there are many more that are fabulous. Here's a chance to try out a few. As always, use the very best ingredients in the following recipe for the best flavor!

SALTED CARAMEL CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE IN A JAR

Salted Chocolate Biscuits 
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup Dutch process cocoa
1 1/4 tsp baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
6 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces plus 1Tbsp melted
1/2 cup dark chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons cold buttermilk
1/4 tsp coarse salt or more to taste

Caramel Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy cream
3 Tbsp prepared caramel sauce
1/2 tsp Madagascar vanilla extract

Additional Ingredients
1 package (16 ounces) Driscoll's Strawberries, hulled and quartered plus 4 Driscoll's Strawberries, each cut in half for garnish
8 wide-mouth 1/2-pint mason jars
Salted Chocolate Biscuits

Directions
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl or blend in bowl of a food processor. Cut in butter with pastry cutter or pulse in food processor until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Transfer mixture to large bowl. Stir in chocolate chips and buttermilk until dough just comes together. The dough will be wet.
On floured surface, with floured hands, pat dough into circle 3/4-inch thick. Cut out 8 biscuits with a 2 1/2-inch round cutter and place each on ungreased cookie sheet. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with salt. Bake about 15 minutes or until firm. Let cool on a wire rack.

Caramel Whipped Cream
Meanwhile, place cream, caramel sauce, and vanilla in large mixing bowl. Beat with electric mixer until stiff peaks form, making sure all caramel dissolves into cream. Keep chilled until ready to use.

Assembly
Split each biscuit lengthwise in half. Place each biscuit base in mason jar and evenly divide quartered strawberries among jars. Reserve 1/2 cup caramel whipped cream for garnish and divide remaining cream among jars, spreading on top of strawberries. Place biscuit top over whipped cream in each jar. Dollop 1 tablespoon whipped cream on each biscuit top and finish with halved strawberries.