Homemade Twix

I was sitting there with my dad the other day, and he looks at me with sad eyes and then asks "What are you going to make today? All of the cookies are gone" And then he does his sad face.....how could I say no?!  I wasn't prepared and didn't bring any of my cookbooks so I started looking through what my parents had for cookbooks.  I found a cookbook I had given to my mom, "The Golden Book of Baking", because it had a misprint in it and I had gotten a new one so I knew we could find something in there to make. And then I found it - a version of how to make a Twix bar - but they call it Chocolate Caramel Squares.  I knew this was going to be good to make, because I get my love of caramel from my dad.  I actually had this recipe marked off to make in my book at home so I was super excited to finally make it.

Thankfully my mom had still left her stand mixer out so I get going on the cookie base.  Always easy to make and its ready to bake before I know it.  Now, the recipe says to line the pan with tinfoil, and I did.  But as I found out the caramel really sticks to the foil and doesn't want to let go, so I suggest using parchment paper instead - that's what I plan on doing next time I make these.

cookie base

Once that's baked off and cooled, I get going on making caramel.  This part was really fun for me.  I love caramel and I've never really made it before - always took some short cuts.  It is a super rich and tasty caramel - I'm a fan of it.

bubbling away

Once its been simmered and cooled a little, I pour it over the cookie base and spread it out.  This is where I find out that it likes the tinfoil - a lot.  I finally got the idea to smoosh all the foil against the pan but that didn't really help either.  Parchment paper is the way to go my friends.

oh yeah :)

Once the caramel set up, I melted some chocolate and poured it on top.  Sadly I didn't use enough chocolate so some of the edges didn't have enough to cover the top :( But it was still delicious.



yum yum

Now there are things that when I make this again I'm going to change, like using more chocolate and doubling the cookie base because the caramel just overpowered everything else.  But it was amazing anyways.  I kept it in the fridge or freezer so the caramel wouldn't melt all over the place.  I had brought some of these in to a few of my sisters and mine favorite people at a local bar/restaurant and when they opened it up they were too funny - it was like little kids opening presents on Christmas Day.  I wish I had taken a picture of it.  But they were huge fans of the treats.

oh yeah - food porn shot :)

Here's the recipe.  I highly suggest this one!!! :)

Chocolate Caramel Squares

makes 16-20 bars

Cookie Base:

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, room temp

1/4 cup sugar

Caramel Topping:

1/2 cup butter, cut up

1/2 cup sugar

2 tbsp light corn syrup

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

8 oz chocolate, dark or milk, whatever you prefer, coarsely chopped

1. Cookie Base:  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Line a 9" square pan with aluminum foil (trust me - use parchment paper!)
2. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.  Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until pale and creamy.  With mixer on low speed, beat in the dry ingredients.
3. Spread mixture evenly in the prepared pan.  Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown.  Let cool in the pan on a rack.
4. Caramel Topping:  Melt the butter with the sugar, corn syrup and condensed milk in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly.  Bring to a boil then simmer gently for 5 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.  Spread the caramel topping evenly over the cookie base.
6. Melt chocolate in a double boiler over barely simmering water.  Pour the chocolate over the caramel topping and let stand for 1 hour or until set.
7. Cut into bars