Toffee Squares

Toffee Squares

3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 Tbsp butter
2 tsp vanilla
1 12-oz package semisweet chocolate pieces
1 cup almond brickle pieces or toasted chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan; set aside.
2. For crust, in a large mixing bowl beat the 3/4 cup butter and the brown sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined. Beat in the egg yolk. Stir in the flour and salt until well mixed. Using floured hands, press the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake about 20 minutes or until light browm. Cool in pan on wire rack while preparing the filling.
3. For filling, in a medium saucepan heat and stir the sweetened condensed milk and the 2 Tbsp butter over medium heat until bubbly. Cook and stir for 5 minutes more. (Mixture with thicken and become smooth.) Stir in the vanilla. Spread over the crust. Bake 12 to 15 minutes more or until top is golden brown.
4. Sprinkle evenly with chocolate pieces. Bake 1 to 2 minutes more or until chocolate pieces are shiny and melted. Remove from oven; set on a wire rack. Using a flexible spatula, immediately spread the chocolate evenly over baked layers. Sprinkle with brickle pieces. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cover and chill 30 minutes or until chocolate is set. Cut into squares.

Makes 36 bars.

I really like toffee. It's sweet but not overwhelming and sticky. The fact that it's wonderfully crunchy doesn't hurt either. This recipe was touted as, "Inspired by the 1990s coffeehouse craze, these irresistible layered delights continue to pop up in espesso bars across the country." I was intrigued to say the least.

The ingredients:


You might be noticing a trend: I tend to procrastinate. I started these really late and was glad that they're bars instead of cookies I would have to bake in batches.

The creamed butter and sugar always smells nice.

The finished dough:

Here's the dough after it's been pressed into the pan. I was glad to have an excuse to play with it a little.

The filling took quite a while to start bubbling. Once it did, it really got to going and had a strong, rich scent.

The finished filling looked and acted a lot like warm pudding.

It bubbled and browned nicely.

The chocolate pieces started to melt a little as I sprinkled them over the warm filling. I enjoyed dispersing them evenly though I now realize that all my work was a little silly, I spread it all out with a spatula anyway. I chalk that up to it being late and my tendency to get really particular when I'm tired.

I love playing with melted chocolate! Doesn't it look like a really shiny frosting?

The brickle pieces are awesome. I managed to eat only a minimal amount before applying them. Yum!

Since it was late and I was tired, I just covered the pan and stuck it in the refrigerator. When I went to cut them in the morning, they were HARD. It took quite a bit of work to get that knife in there and then it stood up on it's own.

I let it sit out for a while in hopes that it would soften just a little. I also switched to a very large, very sharp knife. That seemed to do the trick and it cut up quite nicely. I was really glad I thought to use my glass dish for this because we ruined a metal pan once while trying to cut up scotcheroos in a very similar incident.

Check out those layers!

The finished product: these bars are very rich so cut them small. The chocolate and brickle combination is great. The filling was a little too sweet for me but the bars on the whole seemed to be quite a hit with everyone else who tried them. I will probably make these again as they are an awesome companion to a warm cup of coffee.