Foodie Blogroll

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Chewy Toffee Bars

 I don't bake much but I just love bars or slices, besides it's something I can actually bake. I saw this one from Jamie Deen, and I just had to try it. I used Heath Bar pieces that I had pick up and have not  used yet, and some chocolate chips instead of just the toffee pieces. I didn't use as much brown sugar as it called for...and I used a lot less pecans just because I don't like too many...or any nuts in my bars.

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
  • 2  cups light brown sugar
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • Pinch salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/4 cup pecans (the recipe calls for 3/4 cup)
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips
  • 1 cup Heath milk chocolate toffee bits
Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare an 8-by-8-inch baking pan with nonstick spray.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and stir in the brown sugar until melted together. Let cool for 5 minutes. ( I cooled a little bit longer so the chocolate won't melt so much)

While the mixture is cooling, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.

Toast the pecans in "tiny" skillet over medium heat. Remove to a plate once toasted.

Stir in the eggs, one at a time, and vanilla extract into the cooled sugar and butter mixture. Add the dry ingredients into the saucepan until combined. Fold in the toffee and chopped pecans; the batter will be very thick.

Spread the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before slicing into squares.



42 comments:

  1. Dear Lyndsey, It is difficult when you have to wait your turn for the computer. I had to do that for years! I would have to wait until my daughter was finished to have my turn which by the time I got a turn I was too tired to use it! I was so happy when I got a computer. I baby it.
    I don't know what that is growing in your garden at first I thought it was some kind of squash.
    The toffee bars do look good. They will be nice with a cup of coffee or tea in the afternoon after all the chores are done. I guess baking season has returned.
    It is difficult juggling so many schedules. Take care and try to find time to rest.
    I hope you have a nice weekend. Blessings dear. Catherine xo

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    1. Thanks Catherine, so nice that you can relate...and yes the hard part is staying awake to do anything! :)

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  2. hi lyn, how are you? had a little jump when i saw your comment just now! LOL! yea,it's been really long. i thought you are on holidays again! well, you dont bake that much but i'm sure you can bake well, these brownies are lovely, i love the sound of toffee..i dont mind a cakey or chewy type and i like gooey ones. hope some readers here can help you to identify what's that flower and good luck with your galaxy! happy weekend!

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    1. Isn't it really late there Lena? Is this how you get everything done by staying up so late? :D Thanks for catching me so quickly! I only wish I was on Holiday! Gooey is good! ;)

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  3. Nice to see you again Lindsay how are you?

    These bars look delicious!!

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  4. much love and great to see yours posts, these look so good and what an interesting plant

    have a great rest of the weekend

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  5. Quite a while did not see you, glad to have you back..This sound easy to prepare and yummy too!

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  6. Hi Lyndsey, your toffee bar look tempting. Nice to go with a cup of coffee. Thanks for sharing the interesting plant, something new to me.

    Have a nice weekend.

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    1. They go perfect with a cup of coffee! I still don't know what it is, but it was fun discovering it...I'm sure it's a weed!

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  7. So glad to see you're back in action. What a wonderful bars! My son will love this for sure...

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    1. Thanks, they taste so buttery, but I guess toffee does too!

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  8. Lyndsey I have also not been around as much as I would like. We have been renovating the barn, there's has been masses from the garden taking up my time bottling (well over 100 bottles now) and my laptop has been hiccuping along with one problem after the other. I have also still been battling with my cough, then a dose of shingles in my mouth and ear, and now I have been bitten all over by what I gather are harvest mite which only appear in October. I have never been in France in October before! I am already planning a holiday for next October !!
    I am now hoping that we can afford a new computer for me but we might as well wait until windows 8 is on the shelf!
    Love this recipe it sounds very yummy, anything toffee like goes down well with me. I also do not bake much, but sometimes I see recipes that really encourage me to make them and this is one of them.
    Take care and have a good day. Diane

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    1. I was surprised how easy it was to push it(blogging) to the back burner, but also easy to slip back into it. I was usually too tired to do anything by the time my husband was home and dinner done to go on the computer. So sorry to hear about your health, shingles are so painful, hope you are feeling better! So glad we don't have harvest mites, I've been trying to spend more time in our yard, but it's not cool enough yet.

      Let's hope we both can save up for a new computer soon...I'll keep in touch. Let me know how the bars turn out! :)

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  9. omg, those bars look soo delish!
    love me some. thanks for sharing that recipe with us:)

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  10. Love moist chewy toffee bars! Yours look really wonderful.
    Hopefully you will get a new computer soon!
    Have a great week ahead, Lyndsey.

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  11. I think you should keep baking! Especially toffee...LOVE toffee!!

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  12. I would have missed you if I would have been blogging myself - glad we have both returned at the same time. Sounds like your life is just as busy as mine - it stinks! Love the bars, they sound great! I have those same vines growing wild on my fence. I don't know what they are either but they are kinda cool don't you think? Hope Santa will bring you a new computer for Christmas this year. It's back to the grind tomorrow ::sigh:: Have a great week :)

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    1. LOL! At least we don;t have to catch up with each other....except for work!!!

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  13. Hi Lyndsey, so nice to see you back blogging again. I know exactly how you feel about an old computer. Mine is nearly ten years old, and I cannot upgrade a lot of stuff on it, because some of the new stuff my computer cannot accept it...seriously need to upgrade, but as long as it still runs, I'm gonna have to hang on to it, now that I cleared out all the old programs, not needed.

    I love your toffee bars with the Heath candy bar bits in it. Totally droolworthy, and yummy; just the simple easy desserts that I like to make. I kind of figured you were busy with work, and school, and the every day hassles of life itself! Take care, and hope to see some more posts from you:)

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    1. Yes...I know how it is to keep plucking away!!! We do what we can!!! :)

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  14. those bars look delicious! yum! chewy, cakey, anything brownie related and I'm in! :)

    that pod thing is really interesting - did you ever figure out what it is?

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    1. Yes, I'm with you on the anything brownie related! No, I don't have a clue what it is yet!

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  15. The words "chewy" and "toffee" have awakened my appetite but when I saw your bars.. they look fabulous! Is the pod thing edible? It looks very beautiful and mysterious.

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    1. So far I still have no idea what the yellow pod is!

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  16. I'm all for chewy and sticky stuff .... yum!
    I was just as out of blogging as you were. But hope your time off was less depressing as mine.
    On a happier note ... I've found out what that curious plant is ... balsam apples! A kind of weed. Not sure if they're edible. You can google to find out more.

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  17. Thanks Ping, I'll look it up. I was thinking it was a weed, but then sometimes we do eat weeds! :) Even if you can't eat this one it is pretty cool to look at. Speaking of cool to look at...I just planted a purple haze dragon fruit...it will go with my other cactus.

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  18. What an interesting plant/fruit! Glad someone knew what it was! It reminded me of the one zi found in our mountain house, turned out to be called passion flower. Would be nice to find out the fruit is edible and super nutritious!~
    the bars look sinfully decadent, just what i'd love to nibble on around 4 PM every single day! glad you're back and with more electronic gadgets :)

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  19. Just dropping in to say hello and thanks for leaving a comment. I do not know what that plant is, but when you find out, please let me know.

    I am not a baker, but these really look delicious.

    i AM NOW A FOLLOWER....

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  20. Oh Lyndsey - I know what you mean about computers. Welcome back anyhow! This is my first week with good internet connection in months. The bar sounds great! Stay well

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  21. Hi Lindsey! Glad to hear you are doing okay. I wondered how you are doing too. I'm having some server issues and feeling very stressed as my site sometimes show database errors while there is no error! So much to work on... What an interesting flower and seeds! At first I thought is part of bougainvillea...haha. Chewy Toffee bars! YUM! Eat these bars and take it easy!

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  22. Lyndsey, I have not seen that plant before but I love the color of the flower. I totally can relate what it is like to have to wait for my turn to use a computer. I don't I do very well without my own computer... I get very edgy. LOL! Chewy toffee bars is a treat.

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  23. Good to see you back, Lindsey! I love toffee and this is a great recipe to use up. Hope your computer problem will be solved soon, maybe a good excuse to get a new one.

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  24. Hi Lindsey,
    My grandfather used to call that pod "cundeamor" and I have no translation for the word but looked up online an they call it balsam apple. Birds love it. We used to eat the ripe red seeds, they are very sweet!
    Sandra

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    1. Thanks for the info. The bogenvillea that it is growing on houses a lot of birds. We have feeders out front near it. I should try one of the seeds!

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  25. Oh dear Lyndz, miss you dearly. I'm actually facing some blogger problems lately and yet still not settle. But I will force myself to write at least something. haha.... To keep in touch with everyone.
    Btw, those little fruits are under bitter gourd catagory. It tastes like bitter gourd and even more bitter. It's a good medicine for sour throat & heaty body or chicken pox. It helps the reduce the heat of your body when you're not feeling well and the leaves can be dried & cook it with plain water. Bath with cooked water can help to reduce skin rashes or chicken pox. Yeap, it's a very useful plant. You can actually dry the leaves and keep in store for later use.
    Hugs & kisses, Kristy

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