When pressed for time, would you rather make a recipe you know by heart or one hiding in a cookbook or messy recipe file? If you’re like me, you go with what you know.
Good news! You won’t need a recipe long for these incredible bars. It’s easy to memorize.
Just remember 1/4. The “1″ stands for 1 cup of flour. The “4″ stands for the 4 ingredients in the shortbread base. Put them together and you have 1/4 which indicates the amount needed for each ingredient: 1/4 cup powdered sugar, 1/4 cup butter, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. I generally eyeball the chocolate chips so no need to memorize that measurement.
The possibilities for toppings are numerous. Bars in the top photo are covered with semi-sweet chocolate chips and pecans. My oldest son went crazy for them. My husband like the bars pictured below featuring half chocolate chips and half white chocolate chips. Next, I may try peanut butter chips marbled with chocolate chips. And how about melted chocolate chips topped with toasted almonds? Yum!
The best news about these chocolate-covered shortbread cookies is the calorie count. Based on 16 squares, each square costs you only 89 calories (96 with nuts). Perfect for satisfying an after-dinner sweet tooth without blowing your calorie budget.
Toffee Bars Made Easy
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or flavor of your choice
1/8 cup chopped nuts (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
First: Make a parchment paper or foil sling for 8-inch pan. This is essential if you are to have any hope of getting the bars out of the pan without crumbling. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Second: Stir flour, sugar and salt together in small bowl. Pour in melted butter and stir. Use fingers to thoroughly mix butter with dry ingredients.
Third: Dump butter/flour mixture in to pan and pat down smooth. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.
Fourth: Immediately after removing from the oven, sprinkle chips evenly over the surface of shortbread cookie base. Allow to sit until all chips are completely melted and soft.
Fifth: VERY carefully use a knife or back of a spoon to spread soft chips in an even layer. If desired, sprinkle chopped, toasted nuts over the top. Put in refrigerator until chocolate layer hardens. Remove cookies and sling from pan carefully. Slice into 16 pieces.
Thanks again to Pam Anderson and her fabulous cookbook, The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight & Eating Great for inspiring this recipe.
If you like shortbread cookies, don’t miss these blog posts:
Coconut Shortbread cookies
Pink Shortbread Cookies
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Um…. you use gloves. (good thing I don’t take prep photos of my desserts)!
I love, love, love toffee bars – they are so classic. I love your “twists” and variations – especially the pecans. So many toffee recipes call for walnuts (not a big fan) so I usually sub almonds. The peanut butter/chocolate combo sounds like a winner as well. Photography is fabulous!
M, I use gloves a lot–feels natural because I wear them all day long at work too.
That looks very easy and delicious. I would love to try this and share with friends. Thanks for sharing.
Those look REALLY GOOD! Thanks for sharing such an easy version.
Love easy…love easy especially when teen boys drop by to visit with son and enjoy a treat like this one. Thanks for the recipe!
Mmm! Nothing like simple AND delicious!
Oh, what a great tip. I will remember that 1/4. Those do look yummy!
Ellie and I actually made these…. and they are YUMMY and EASY! I wished I had some crumbled Heath bar to put on top. We put marshmallows on 1/3, chocolate chips on 1/3, and M&Ms on 1/3. M&Ms were the best but dont spread well – haha.
Thanks for the recipe and I LOVE your pics of course!
These look great and the fact that they are a lower calorie dessert makes them even more appealing before bathing suit season! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
These look irresistible!
beautiful,very decadent and dangerous!!!
I just made these and they are delicious! I’m quite a novice baker so I’m a little confused as to how these should be stored – in the refrigerator or in an air-tight container? It is currently winter where I’m from (New Zealand), so could these be kept outside? Thanks!