Salted Caramel Toffee Chip Cookie Bars With Milk Chocolate Ganache

Wow. That title is quite a mouthful. But I figure the best way to describe these delicious, decadent bars is to disclose everything I put in them right off the bat.

It all started a couple of days ago, when I found myself craving a thick, chewy chocolate chip cookie bar. (Don’t get me wrong – I love cookies. But I happen to be an even bigger fan of the cookie bar.) I thought about making a batch, but when I started digging through my pantry in search of semisweet chocolate chips, I was shocked to find that I was completely out. I did, however, spot a few bags of toffee bits, and hence the idea was born.

What you’ve got here is a classic chocolate chip cookie base that features toffee pieces instead of chocolate chips. Then, in the middle, you’ve got a soft layer of salted caramel that adds the perfect amount of contrast to an otherwise sweet concoction. And then, to top it all off, you’ve got a nice layer of milk chocolate ganache – just in case you were missing the chocolate.

These babies are everything a cookie bar should be: chewy, somewhat gooey, rich, and just plain yummy. Don’t be intimidated by the fact that this recipe has multiple steps. Each one is fairly simple, and the bars don’t take very long to set up. You can easily start this recipe at some point in the morning and have a nice supply of cookie bars handy for an afternoon snack.

Salted Caramel Toffee Chip Cookie Bars With Milk Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

2 cups AP flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 tablespoons (1 and 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 and 1/2 cups toffee bits (alternatively, you can chop up some Heath bars or substitute for chocolate chips if you prefer)

For the salted caramel:

1 cup Kraft caramels, unwrapped (other brands are fine, of course, but Kraft tends to be the easiest to find in my neck of the woods)
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 and 1/2 teaspoons course sea salt

For the milk chocolate ganache:

6 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped
1 tablespoon confectioners sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream

Method:

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9×9 baking pan and set aside.
Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
Cream the butter and sugars until well-combined. Add the eggs and vanilla; mix until well-blended.
Add in the dry ingredients in two to three batches, mixing at a low speed until just combined. Stir in the toffee bits.
Combine the caramels and heavy cream and heat in the microwave in 30-second increments until melted. (Make sure to stir the mixture in between each zap.)
Press half of the cookie dough into your prepared pan.
With an offset spatula, spread the caramel sauce over the bottom cookie dough layer. Sprinkle the sea salt evenly over the caramel. Then, press the remaining cookie dough over the caramel layer.
Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the top of the bars start to turn light golden brown. Cool the bars in their pan for about 90 minutes at room temperature. Then, place the bars in the refrigerator while you make the ganache.
To make the ganache, combine the chocolate and confectioners sugar in a small bowl. In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream until it gets hot without bubbling too much. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and sugar, and stir or whisk until the mixture turns smooth and glossy.
Remove the bars from the fridge. Use an offset spatula to evenly spread the ganache over the tops of the bars.
Return the pan to the fridge for 30-60 minutes to set. You may want to cut them while they’re slightly cold, but not straight out of the fridge. I like these bars at room temperature, or even slightly warmed. And you can’t go wrong throwing a few of them in a bowl, heating them up, and topping them off with a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Dec 6

Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Looking for a fun and simple kid-friendly recipe? These gooey chocolate chip cookie bars easily fit the bill.

The great thing about this recipe is that it gives you a huge batch of cookie bars with minimal work. If you have a stand mixer, the dough is really a snap. And because these babies are really sweet, you can cut them into small pieces and serve a decent-sized crowd.

Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Recipe from RecipeGirl

Ingredients:

For the filling:

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
One 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the cookie dough:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 9×13-inch pan with parchment paper, allowing enough overhang to lift the bars from the pan.
Prepare the filling by placing the chocolate chips and condensed milk in a small saucepan over the lowest possible heat. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until the chocolate has melted and the mixture has thickened. Turn off the heat, add the vanilla, and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
Prepare the cookie dough by combining the butter and sugars in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla, and beat well.
Whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Add to the butter mixture and beat until well-incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Stir in chocolate chips.
Pour half of the cookie dough into your prepared pan. Pour the cooled chocolate mixture over the dough and then add small dollops of the remaining cookie dough on top. Don’t worry if the dollops don’t completely cover the chocolate mixture; just spread it together as much as you can, and let some chocolate peek through.
Bake for about 25 minutes, at which point the tops should be lightly browned. (The toothpick method won’t really work here because the gooey chocolate layer will still come out pretty runny even once the bars are done.)
Let the bars cool for at least two hours before cutting and serving. I recommend sticking them in the fridge for 30 minutes or so – they’ll be much easier to slice that way.

Apr 10

Samoa Bars

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted a recipe. That’s what happens when life gets in the way of baking. But this is a good one, promise.

Ever since my Girls Scouts cookies were delivered back in March, I’ve been indulging on a pretty much regular basis. But this year, I decided to be conservative and only order one box of Samoas—my favorite. So when it came to my attention that I was starting to run out of my beloved Samoas, I decided to take matters into my own hands by whipping up some homemade Samoa cookie bars.

I’ve seen a few different recipes for these bars, some of which involve dipping the bottoms in chocolate. Since I didn’t have a ton of time, I opted to skip that step and instead just drizzle chocolate on top of the bars—a little less Samoa-like, but delicious nonetheless.

Although this recipe is incredibly simple, there are several steps involved, and you need to wait for each layer to cool/set before moving on to the next. But as long as you leave yourself enough time, you should have no problem throwing these together over the course of an afternoon.

Samoa Bars
Recipe from Baking Bites

Ingredients:

For the shortbread cookie base:
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups Ap flour
1/4 tsp salt

For the topping:
3 cups shredded sweetened coconut
12 oz chewy caramels (I used Kraft)
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp milk (I used whole)
10 oz semisweet chocolate

Method:

To make the shortbread cookie base:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan, or line with parchment paper.
2. Cream together sugar and butter until fluffy.
3. Beat in egg and vanilla extract.
4. Gradually beat in flour and salt at low speed until mixture is crumbly.
5. Pour crumbly dough into prepared pan and press into an even layer.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until base is set and edges are lightly browned.
7. Cool completely on a wire rack before adding the topping.

To make the topping:
1. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.
2. Spread the coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet and toast for about 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until coconut is golden. Let cool and set aside.
3. Unwrap your caramels and place them in a microwave-safe bowl along with the milk and salt. Cook on high for about 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt evenly. Once smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.
4. Pour dollops of the coconut-caramel topping over the cooled shortbread base. Using your spatula, spread the topping into an even layer.
5. Let topping set at room temperature until cooled, about 1 hour.
6. Melt your chocolate – I used the microwave method. Place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and cook on 50% power in 30-45 second intervals, stirring in between.
7. Once melted, drizzle chocolate over the tops of the bars (it won’t cover them completely).
8. Let the chocolate topping set before cutting the bars, either 2 hours at room temperature or 1 hour in the fridge. Once cooled, use a sharp knife to cut into individual bars.