I first made this recipe back in 2015, after my twin sister called me going on and on about some homemade Twix bars that she had at a little sweets shop in Utah called “The Sweet Tooth Fairy”. She described each detail of their homemade treat: a shortbread crust, a thick caramel layer, and chocolate on top. If that’s not your cookie bar love language, then I don’t know what is! I wasn’t the first to share a similar recipe online, but I may be the first to use an incredible homemade caramel layer, rather than melting store-bought caramel. That layer of homemade caramel is completely what sets these apart.
Start be making an easy shortbread crust. You only need five ingredients: flour, butter, powdered sugar and vanilla. This shortbread crust recipe is adapted from King Arthur Flour, and it’s just as excellent as it is EASY. Press the dough into the bottom of a parchment lined 9×13” pan. I like to line the pan with parchment paper so that I can lift the bars from the pan once they’re completed, and cut them much easier. While the shortbread crust cools, make the caramel.
Add all of the caramel ingredients to a saucepan and bring to a gently boil. Boil, stirring often, until the caramel is golden colored and passes the “soft ball” ice water test. Grab a cup of ice water, spoon some of the caramel into it. Use your fingers to try and pinch the caramel sauce together into a ball. If you can for a really soft ball with your fingers, it’s ready. Pour the hot caramel over the cooled shortbread crust. Allow to cool, for a few minutes, and then refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or even overnight. Smooth melted chocolate over the caramel and allow it to set. All chocolate is not created equal, when it comes to melting, so use a chocolate with a higher ratio of cocoa butter. I like to use baker’s chocolate bars, a good quality chocolate bar, or melting chocolate. If you want to use chocolate chips, you will need to add more butter to get them to melt properly, and I’d choose a high quality brand, like Ghirardelli. Store the bars in the fridge.
These bars really are incredible, and they get rave reviews wherever I bring them. Hope you love them!
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You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST for more great recipes! Shortbread crust recipe is from King Arthur Flour. The material in this blog post references the trademarked brand “Twix.” The use of this trademark is for informational and editorial purposes only and does not imply sponsorship or endorsement by The Mars Company or any of its affiliates.” *I first shared this recipe in April 2015. Updated April 2018.
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