Last week, my family (like my kids, husband, and I, not the whole circus of a fam damily) went to Utah for Spring Break. In true Spring Break fashion, we had a wild time filled with crazy things like trying to find a cotton rather than a mesh men’s polo in the BYU Bookstore, falling asleep at 8:30 pm while my husband and his brother were at a movie, re-reading The Hunger Games series, and, after realizing that my parents’ neurotic dog was never going to like me, walking down the hallway toward his room saying, “Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike” in a demonic voice. If my dad reads this, he may disown me–he’s way nicer to those dogs than he is to any of his children. Seriously. There were a few nights when he came in to a room full of his children and grandchildren and asked, “Have these guys had anything to eat?” Yeah, he wasn’t talking about the humans.
So we got home yesterday and all of us were kind of experiencing the post-vacation blues–piles of dirty laundry, no groceries in the house, kids missing their cousins and Grandma and Grandpa, exhausted little people (and, let’s face it, grown-ups), and piles of bills and junk mail. We all needed a little pick-me-up that required just a few on-hand ingredients and not a lot of time, so I picked one of our old-school favorites. After a little corn chowder, we snacked on these while we watched The Muppets and we kind of eased back into reality.
These bars are super easy and I didn’t have to buy a single ingredient for them. Part of this is because apparently my subconscious thinks that when we are faced with a zombie apocalypse, sweetened condensed milk will be in short supply and high demand because I always seem to come home from the grocery store with 3 cans of it whether or not I need it for anything I’m making that week.
In a large bowl, combine 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour and 2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar.
Combine the mixture with your fingers…
and then grate 3/4 cup cold or frozen butter.
Add it into the mixture and combine it with your hands so it resembles coarse crumbs.
Whisk one egg and drizzle it over the flour mixture. Combine it with your hands until evenly distributed. Take a bag of chocolate chips and measure out 1/2 cup of them.
Sprinkle the rest of the bag into the flour/sugar/butter mixture.
Mix it with your hands and then reserve 1 1/2 cups of the crumbly dough mixture. Gently press the remaining dough mixture into the prepared 9×13″ pan and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven. Pour the can of sweetened condensed milk over the hot crust and spread it out evenly.
Reserve 1/4 cup of a bag of toffee chips and sprinkle the rest of the bag over the sweetened condensed milk. Sprinkle the reserved dough over the toffee chips and then top with the reserved chocolate chips.
Yes, I realize that I did not follow the directions and put things in the wrong order. It’s okay. My bars still tasted as good as a newborn baby smells. Place the pan back into the oven for another 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
Allow the bars to cool completely (you can even pop the pan into the refrigerator–kind of like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Popsicles, these bars are way better cold) and then cut into squares and serve.
Toffee Chocolate Chip Bars
Recipe from Hershey’s Best-Loved Recipes
Ingredients:
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled with a knife
2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup cold salted butter
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 12-ounce package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup toasted, coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans (optional; for real…I don’t use them)
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 3/4 cups toffee bits
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9×13″ pan with non-stick cooking spray.
In a large bowl, combine the flour and brown sugar. Grate the butter and add it to the flour mixture. Combine the mixture with your hands to form what resembles coarse crumbs. Lightly beat the egg and pour it over the flour mixture and combine it.
Reserve 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips and add the remaining chocolate chips to the dough mixture. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the dough mixture. Lightly press it into the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes. Pour the sweetened condensed milk over the hot crust. Reserve 1/4 cup of the toffee bits and pour the remaining bits over the sweetened condensed milk. Sprinkle the reserved dough mixture over the toffee bits and the remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Return to the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and top with remaining toffee bits. Cool completely and then cut into bars.
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I love anything with toffee! It’s too underused!
I would definitely feel better coming home from vacation if I had a batch of these on the way!
I could eat about 50 of these. Ok, maybe 49…
So do you ever watch the Saturday Night Live segments with Stefon on Weekend Update? I had a dream last night that you and I were at a blogging event and they kept taking us to places like Stefon talks about and we were totally weirded out.
OK so I know you weren’t talking to me, but Stefon is my FAVORITE part of SNL!! I think he is so funny:)
Also-I’m making these today to take to a friend that just had a baby…. but they might not all make it to her house…. :)
Did you see the time Stefon totally broke character and started laughing? That was my favorite one. :)
oooh, those look divine. i don’t care about this personally because i have a nut-allergic kid anyway, but you list nuts as an optional ingredient and then don’t mention them in the directions. (i am an editor by trade and apparently i can’t stop looking for stuff like that, NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY.)
as always, i love your work! hope you get the laundry tamed soon (mine is still a wreck, and i’m not going to tell you how long ago spring break was around here. :))
Love The Hunger Games! Those books never get old, do they? Suzanne Collins is brilliant. Also, I have to say I love the idea of grating the butter for this recipe. Although I’m not normally a sweets person, I will have to try this.
Yum!
Yum! Except I don’t usually have toffee bits on hand… Maybe we’ll have to change that!
Wait a minute – back up. The dogs have their own room?!
Well, they’ve taken over my parents’ room. And bed. These people let my brother have one outdoor hunting dog while I was growing up, so I’m not quite sure who they are anymore…
Sometimes I’m forced to speak to them on the phone. Just ask Sara–she was there once.
Who won the Bosch mixer? (obviously it wasn’t moi since I didn’t get an email, but I’m curious anyways). I don’t see it posted anywhere….
These look great! Would these be okay without toffee bits? I want to make them now but don’t have any toffee.
If you do, I’d replace them with something else (like more chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, butterscotch, white chocolate, etc.)
These look divine! I’m going to make them with my kids this week (we are on Spring Break). :) I had the pleasure of meeting you in Florida at Time Out For Women (I was tagging along with Tennisa, my BFF). Hope you are doing great! Thanks for all the yummy recipes!
These are my husbands favorite squares – thanks for reminding me it’s been awhile since I made them!!
I was thinking these would be perfect for my egg-allergic son. But then in the recipe at the bottom, it says to include one egg….just curious – did you leave it out when you made yours?
I’m so sorry–that was a mistake on my part. I did use the egg and corrected the recipe.
These look completely wonderful, but is anyone else out there ready for a sugar break? I OD’d on sugar last weekend and am looking for something delicious that won’t put me into a sugar coma.
Honestly, and I’m not trying to be snarky or anything, just laying my cards all out on the table: this was kind of like McDonald’s for dinner at the end of a busy day–I would have LOVED to have posted a dinner or salad recipe, but it just wasn’t in the cards. :)
I’m so glad this is what you chose!! They are wonderful!!
Um serious light bulb moment when you said grate the butter!!! Why oh why have I never thought of that because I seriously despise cutting butter into things and almost always avoid recipes that call for that even though they are so good! Thank you for that life saver tip (or should I say life taking tip since now I will be looking at all the horribly unhealthy recipes lol)!!!
Okay, always looking for an easier way of doing anything, so using a food processor for cutting in the butter would be a lot faster.
Agreed, food processor is the fastest way to cut butter.
just pulled my batch out of the oven and waiting for them to cool. Seriously, the smell in my kitchen is intoxicating and I’m having a hard time waiting to cut into them. My son loves anything with toffee, Heath Bars are his favorite, so I’m thinking I’ll be earning some extra points for dessert tonight!
Grating the butter…Seriously I think I just witnessed genius. That is brilliant.
Oh wow, looks so Yummy. I can’t eat toffee (allergy) so will have to figure out something else that will work. Sadly all nuts are off limits. I have some mint chocolate chips in the freezer I could try. I’ve never grated butter before so this could be an interesting adventure!
Kristine, same at my house. What about salted caramel, you think?
Haven’t tried salted caramel before. Interesting. I’ll have to do some checking for something suitable.
Oh my goodness, yes please! Why is toffee + chocolate such a perfect combination??
Just wondering about your zombie reference, do you watch TWD??
What’s TWD?
Just kidding. Yep, we do! :)
your my new best friend…I’m having TWD withdrawals!!
P.S. love your site!
You’re evil. Those look WAY too good.
This is one of my all-time favorite bar recipes. I have been making them for several years and absolutely love them. And you’re right – they are so good cold!
Grated butter. The thought of grating butter is very intriguing. Will my hands be greasy afterward? Only one way to find out.
I just made some with butterscotch chips because I couldn’t find toffee bits at my grocery store. They are DELISH!
Holy wow, your post sounds like my week! And your dad and my dad sound EXACTLY ALIKE when it comes to their dogs. The dogs are the new children.
I have everything for this recipe except the toffee bits and that will be remedied shortly. Hopefully they will help *us* back into reality, too!
Made these today and it might just be one of the most delicious things I have ever had! Seriously— so good!!
Any recommendations for toffee substitutes (or where to get toffee without almonds)? I can’t find plain, no-almonds toffee anywhere, in either the baking or candy aisles of Walmart, Target, or my local grocery store, and my son has nut allergies. Maybe crushed Werther’s?
I just made these with Heath bits (the only toffee they had in the baking section) so chopped Heath bars would work if you have those. I actually left out the extra half cup chocolate chips because they were chocolate coated already. Or, skip the chocolate and almonds part of this recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/best-toffee-ever—super-easy/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=toffee&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page
FYI–Stay away from the Heath bars or Heath bits–they have almonds in them. (I’m allergic as well and found out the hard way).
I made these a couple hours before I left for Time Out for Women in Arlington (so fun) and my husband pretty much ate the whole pan.
Looks amazing! Must try it!
These are dangerously good. Somehow I wasn’t picturing them accurately but felt the draw to make them anyway. I’m both so glad I did, since they were easy and are my new favorite, and so sorry, since I ate SO many of them. Even now, even knowing i almost felt sick after eating a fourth of the pan over 8 hours, they’re calling my name….
I used the pecans (in the dough with the chips, since I didn’t see where else to use them and the recipe didn’t say), and I used Heath baking bits. Since they had chocolate already, I skipped the extra chocolate chips (hubby’s not a fan). Dangerous, I tell ya.
Yummy!!! Just what I’m looking for. Could I add coconut?
For sure! I bet it would be awesome.
I’m so sorry to be one of those people who ask an annoying question, but here I go….. If I use unsalted butter instead of salted do you have a guess of how much salt I should add? (I am not opposed to salted butter I just never think I buy it and have everything else on hand for these bars!) Thank you so much!
Not an annoying question at all! In fact, I don’t think those words have ever preceded an ACTUAL legitimate question, haha! Anyway, I’d probably add 1/2 teaspoon. Hope that helps!
Thank you so much for your quick reply! I’m going to make them for dessert tomorrow night (if they last that long!) and your beef stew for dinner! Yum, yum!
These were SUPER-DUPER delicious!! I added marshmallows and used walnuts and pecans with no toffee bits-because I didn’t have them. So I renamed them, “ooey-gooey delicious bars”. Then I took them to my office and the girls devoured them and all asked for the recipe!! :)
I made these yesterday for the dessert at a Mother’s Day cookout we had with some friends. Loved them!! They are very rich, so I should have cut them a bit smaller. Everyone raved though. Thank you ladies for always making me look like a star. :-)
I know the nuts are optional…..but if I exercise my option, when do I add them?
i used to make these all the time when i was little (before internet) because it was on the back of the toffee chips bag. these are definitely one of my favorite cookie/bars.
These are MOST delicious! those who taste them always love them! easy to make and a crowd pleaser can you ask for more?