Chocolate, caramel and shortbread bars reminiscent of Twix candy – how can you go wrong with those 3 epic layers?
Am I reading my calendar correctly? Is it really May? Please don’t tell me that this year is almost half over! There is still so much to do and not enough time for it all. Right?
And although I always make time to bake desserts on a weekly basis, there are some days where I don’t have that much time to get it done. One day I had a bunch of time and a whole pint of heavy cream so I made some caramel sauce (I gifted some to Addie’s teacher). I was craving candy bars and wanted something caramel-y so I baked these Twix shortbread bars.
The crust layer was quick and easy to make and hardly took any time. Since I already had caramel sauce, I poured that on top of my crust and popped it in the refrigerator to cool. Then I melted some chocolate chips in the microwave and spread it on top of the caramel and allowed the chocolate to harden. That was it.
These shortbread bars were reminiscent of a Twix bar with the 3 distinct layers. While these didn’t have the traditional crunch of a Twix bar, I didn’t mind.
This was a super simple, no-fuss bar recipe that took very little effort. This month’s What’s Baking challenge also happens to be bar recipes so please take a minute to visit Nichole’s blog and see what the other baking ladies created.
Twix shortbread bars
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
Caramel filling
- Store bought or homemade
Chocolate topping
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F. Generously grease a 9"x13" baking pan and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer, cream the butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Then add the salt, vanilla and powdered sugar until smooth. Turn the mixer to low and and slowly add the flour and mix until everything comes together.
- Spread the batter into your prepared baking pan and bake in your preheated oven for about 35 minutes or until the edges start to turn golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool completely.
- Pour the caramel on top of the cooled crust and place in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes or until the caramel has solidified.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips in the microwave in 30-second increments. Spread this on top of the caramel and put the pan back in the refrigerator until the chocolate has completely hardened.
- Once the chocolate has hardened, remove the bars from the refrigerator to cut and serve (you may want to use a warm knife for easier cutting).