I finally worked through the last of several bags of Heath toffee baking chips I had hanging out in my freezer. I can never resist a sale, and I hadn’t resisted one featuring those yummy bits several months ago.
It was the first time I’d purchased them—especially since I’m generally too cheap to buy most name-brand items—and they did not disappoint.
I have to admit, there was probably a time in my childhood when I would have said I didn’t really care for toffee. I think it probably stems from the Heath bar being one of my least favorite in a variety bag of fun-sized candy bars and it always seeming to be a “grown-up” kind of candy bar to choose from the array of brightly colored packages.
I suppose I can say I’ve reached the level of maturity where a toffee candy bar sounds pretty nice, though, and when I finally cracked that last bag of toffee bits, I might have snuck a few of them into my mouth.
Quality control, you know.
The recipe I used comes from the blog “Can’t Stay Out of the Kitchen.” You can find the original at https://cantstayoutofthekitchen.com/2013/03/12/chocolate-chip-toffee-bars/. I stuck to the recipe but did try to give a bit more clarity to the directions.
Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup butter melted
- 1 egg
- 2 1/3 cup flour
- 12 ounces chocolate chips divided
- 1 cup chopped pecans or nuts of your choice, divided
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
- 8 ounces toffee bits baking chips or chop 8 ounces Heath bars into small pieces, divided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 9-by-13-inch baking pan by coating with cooking spray.
- Beat the brown sugar and butter together until smooth. Beat in the egg, and then beat in the flour.
- In a separate bowl, combine the chocolate chips and nuts and then incorporate about 1-1/2 cups of them to the batter (it will be crumbly).
- Set aside 1-1/2 cups of the batter and press the remaining batter into the bottom of the prepared pan.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Pour the sweetened condensed milk over top of the baked crust, and sprinkle all but 1/4 cup of the toffee bits on top, then sprinkle on the rest of the batter, chocolate chips and nuts.
- Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown.
- Top with the final 1/4 cup of toffee bits, and press them gently into the top. Cut into bars once the pan has cooled completely, and store them in an airtight container.
- You have to trust the golden brown color on these bars to know they’re done, because it’s impossible to use the toothpick trick with the gooey sweetened condensed milk in the middle.
These turned out really well, and I highly recommend enjoying one with a hot cup of coffee. They were a hit with family, too. I noticed, though, that some of the kids in the group were much more interested in the other desserts on the table than my toffee bars.
Apparently, the hesitancy to choose toffee over other desserts is a family trait.
I was perfectly OK with it, though. Those kids don’t know what they’re missing, and that leaves more for me.
This piece first appeared in print on Feb. 27, 2020.
Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.
