english toffee bars

October 7th, 2009

chocolate-english-toffee-bars

Wow, this has been a week.  In addition to a number of other things going on, this has been one of our busiest weeks of the year at work preparing to kick off our annual leadership institute tomorrow.  I absolutely love this event, and the wonderful people and energy and inspiration it brings, but whew – it definitely puts our staff on overdrive!

So during some extra hours or preparation last night, I decided I needed to bake something sweet and simple for a little extra motivation!  So I pulled out this recipe I’d bookmarked from Hershey’s that (I admit) looked so yummy in the picture.  And even better — called for ingredients that I almost always have in the pantry!

While it’s probably not going to go in my super-healthy file, it definitely proved to be super-delicious!!  I don’t know how you can go wrong with toasted pecans mixed with the sweet toffee and chocolate.  But just to be sure, I did bring a plate of these in for my coworkers to taste-test today, and they happily agreed.  :)  Also, (especially with the help of my food processor) I’m happy to report these were a breeze to prepare.  Will definitely be revisiting this recipe again…

english-toffee-bars-ready-to-bake

English Toffee Bars Recipe
(Adapted from Hershey’s)

Ingredients:

Toffee Bars Ingredients:
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup lightly-packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
  • 1 cup pecan halves
  • 1 cup chocolate chips (milk, bittersweet or dark)

Toffee Topping Ingredients:

  • 2/3 cup butter
  • 1/3 cup lightly-packed brown sugar

Method:

Heat oven to 350°F.

Combine flour and brown sugar in large bowl. With pastry blender or fork, cut in butter until fine crumbs form, although a few large crumbs may remain.  (See Ali’s Tip below for shortcut.)  Press mixture onto bottom of ungreased 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Sprinkle pecans over crust. Prepare toffee topping (instructions below); drizzle evenly over pecans and crust.
Bake 20 to 22 minutes or until topping is bubbly and golden; remove from oven. Immediately sprinkle milk chocolate chips evenly over top; press gently onto surface. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. About 36 bars.

Toffee Topping: Combine 2/3 cup butter and 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar in small saucepan; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Continue boiling, stirring constantly, 30 seconds. Use immediately.

english-toffee-bars-in-pan

Ali’s Tip:

My favorite method for making crusts (especially the cutting-in-cold-butter step) is to use a food processor!  It magically takes your ingredients to the “fine crumbs” stage with just the push of a button.  I happen to have a tiny food processor, so often have to divide things into two batches, but it still saves time and I think mixes much better than I could by hand.  :)

Leave a Reply

18 Responses to “english toffee bars”

  1. 1
    VeggieGirl says:

    I hear ya on the busyness – so overwhelming!! Hang in there.

    On a brighter note, those bars look SPECTACULAR!! Yum.

    [Reply]

  2. 2
    ABowlOfMush says:

    Oh these look gorgeous! I love English toffee!

    [Reply]

  3. 3
    sherri says:

    Sounds and looks great and just 5 ingredients- yeah!

    [Reply]

  4. 4
    nina says:

    Health factor 0!!!! Yum factor 100!!!! I will make this for sure, but will have to hide them from myself!!!!

    [Reply]

  5. 5
    jessica says:

    I love how this dessert has so few ingredients!

    [Reply]

  6. 6
    msmeanie says:

    Wow! Those look amazing. I will definitely try that recipe. Thanks!

    [Reply]

  7. 7
    CakeSpy says:

    Oh my goodness…these look amazing. Right up my alley: I love a good, dense, rich bar cookie.

    [Reply]

  8. 8

    Love the toffee bars… They look fantastic! Love the pictures.

    [Reply]

  9. 9
    Jeff says:

    I need to make these ASAP! Toffee and coffee/chai are the perfect combination for fall evenings..

    [Reply]

  10. 10
    sophia says:

    The pictures…are just…KILLING me. Wow. I know those are worth ever damn calories right there!

    [Reply]

  11. 11

    yum-yum=yum! I thought I had made every variation possible on the bar cookie thing, but this sounds amazing! Toffee and chocolate are my favorite combo, so can’t wait to try these!

    [Reply]

  12. 12

    Omg this looks aaamazing–and actually seems like I could manage it! lol

    [Reply]

  13. 13
    Natalie says:

    just found your blog via foodgawker.com and i LOVE it…you have so many great recipes! can’t wait to try your pumpkin black bean soup!

    [Reply]

  14. 14
    Ivonne says:

    Oh, sweet mercy! That looks like I could just take a bite out of it right my screen. I adore English toffee … thanks for sharing!

    [Reply]

  15. 15
    Hélène says:

    Oh my, I’ll have to make this delicious treat :)

    [Reply]

  16. 16
    Polprav says:

    Hello from Russia!
    Can I quote a post in your blog with the link to you?

    [Reply]

  17. 17
    Kathy says:

    Made these and took them to work today and they were scarfed down! Thanks for the recipe!

    [Reply]

  18. 18
    Evin says:

    I know this is an older post but I saw these and “pinned” them immediately on Pinterest – so then I made them and blogged about them! SO AWESOME. Here’s my post, complete with links and credit! YUMMY! http://www.foodgoodlaundrybad.com/2011/09/pinterest-challenge-english-toffee-bars.html

    [Reply]


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