Shelly's Recipe

CHOCOLATE TOFFEE SHORTBREAD BARS

Category: Bars

Crust:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 oz bittersweet, semisweet or milk chocolate, finely chopped (if you don’t have a scale, use about 1/2 cup)

Topping:
6 oz bittersweet, semisweet, or milk chocolate, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
1 1/2 cups toffee bits (or about 4-6 Heath bars, chopped)

Preheat the oven to 375. To make the crust, combine the flour, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Whisk together and set aside.

Beat the butter until smooth. Add the brown and sugars and beat for an additional 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and mix briefly.

Add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture. Beat in gradually. Mix until the flour is almost incorporated. Add the chocolate and mix until the rest of the dry ingredients are incorporated. Do not over mix. Line a 13x9 inch pan with foil, leaving long foil ends on the side. Lightly grease the foil.

Scrape the dough into the prepared pan and press down the mixture with a spatula and/or your fingertips. Bake the crust for 18-20 minutes, or until the crust is bubbling. Remove the crust from the oven and place the hot pan on a cooling rack.

Sprinkle the 6 oz of chocolate over the hot bars and cover the pan with foil to let the chocolate melt. Let the pan sit for 5 minutes. Using an offset spatula or the back of a spoon, spread the softened chocolate over the crust. Sprinkle the toffee pieces (or cut up Heath bars) over the chocolate and press down gently with your fingers.

Let the bars cool to room temperature. If the chocolate is not set by the time the bars are cool, just pop the pan in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Using the long edges of foil as handles, lift the bars out of the pan and cut into bars.