Twix Bars

Yesterday, we had our work Christmas Party at Boulevard Brewing Company in Kansas City.    We had Italian food catered and freshly brewed Boulevard beer.  I work with some really great people – my cheeks hurt from all the laughing.  Another perk was that we obviously couldn’t go back to work after having a few beers so we got to go home a little early.

View from the brewery...

What to do with a little spare time?  Uh, bake.

Twix candy bars are my most recent weakness.  Okay, almost all candy bars are my weakness, but Twix would be the one I would pick from a line-up.  So when I found this recipe/picture on Pinterest it was a keeper.

This is the start of my Christmas Baking.  Future posts will include…

Kiss Cookies
Cherry Mash
Magic Bars
Grandma’s Fudge
And maybe a few others…

Back to the Twix Bars.  You really need to make these!  Super easy and soooo good!

One of these days I need to capture my husband’s ‘approval face’.  It might only be cute to me, but he nods his head, raises an eye brow, puffs his lips, and usually says something like ‘those are good’ or ‘dang good’.  That is when I know the recipe is a keeper and the goods can be taken to my friends.

Here we go…

Twix Bars
Adapted from King Arthur Flour

Cookie Layer

1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, at room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups All-Purpose Flour

Caramel Layer

2 cups caramel, cut into small chunks

3 tablespoons milk

Chocolate Layer

1 regular size bag chocolate chips (milk, dark, or simi-sweet), melted

1 tablespoon butter (optional)

2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter (optional)

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.  Spray a 9" x 13" pan lightly with cooking spray and set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl, beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla.  Add the flour.  The mixture may seem dry and crumbly but it will come together.  Take the dough (it will be somewhat stiff and even still crumbly) and press it evenly into the pan.

Prick the crust all over with a fork. The holes will allow steam to escape and the crust will bake evenly with fewer bubbles.  Bake the crust until it's lightly golden brown on top and the edges are deeper golden brown, about 35 to 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and run a knife around the edges to loosen the crust. Set it aside to cool completely.

Melt the caramel and milk in the microwave – 30 seconds, stir, 30 seconds, stir, and repeat until melted completely.  Pour the caramel over the cooled crust and set in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to chill and firm up.

Melt the chocolate, butter (optional), and peanut butter (optional) slowly in a double boiler.  OR, in the microwave - 30 seconds, stir, 30 seconds, stir, and repeat until melted completely.  Pour evenly over the chilled caramel layer and spread to cover all of the caramel.

Return to the fridge until the chocolate is well set. Cut into 2" x 2" squares to serve. It's best to store these bars in the refrigerator – when they warm up the caramel tends to ooze.

Next time, I do think I’ll do the extra work and cut into the ‘Twix shape’ bars and coat in chocolate.  That would also keep the caramel in place and make them look just like a Twix.

Like my lamp?!?!  White Elephant gift from last year but I LOVE it...and I love The Christmas Story.

Thanks for stopping by!