Quick and Easy Toffee Bars (Chocolate-Topped Shortbread)
Sneak Preview: These quick and easy Toffee Bars consist of a shortbread base covered with melted chocolate chips and chopped pecans. Impressive but quick to make when time is short! Less than 100 calories each.
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What recipe do you pull out when you need a quick dessert? For me, the recipe must be easy and contain ingredients I already have. Three dozen drop cookies are not the first thing that comes to mind. How about you?
I prefer to skip the brownie mix and go for these Toffee Bars. The shortbread base is simple to assemble and only requires flour, butter, and sugar. When the base is baked, spread chocolate chips (or another flavor of your choice), let them melt, then spread evenly with a spatula.
Bonus: The base is thinner than the average toffee bar recipe, so you can eat these without much guilt.
How to easily memorize this shortbread toffee bar recipe:
When pressed for time, would you rather make a recipe you know by heart or one hiding in a cookbook or messy recipe file?
Yep! That’s what I thought. Like you, I go with what I know to save time.
Given the above, I have good news…
You won’t need a written recipe for long with these easy cookies. Here’s a trick I use so I don’t have to look up the recipe.
Remember 1/4.
The “1” stands for 1 cup of flour. The “4” stands for the 4 ingredients in the shortbread base. Put them together, and you have 1/4, which indicates the amount needed for three of the ingredients:
1 cup flour + 1/4 cup powdered sugar + 1/4 cup butter + 1/4 teaspoon salt
I’m unsure if this explanation makes sense, but it works for me.
Conveniently, I eyeball the chocolate chips. No need to memorize that measurement.
Variations:
The possibilities for topping these bars are numerous. The cookies in the top photo are covered with semi-sweet chocolate chips and pecans. My oldest son goes crazy for them.
My husband likes the bars pictured below featuring half chocolate and half white chocolate chips.
Next, I may try peanut butter chips marbled with chocolate chips. And how about melted chocolate chips topped with toasted almonds? Yum!
How to line a pan for clean and easy removal of chocolate toffee bars:
A parchment paper(paid link) or foil sling is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to enable you to remove these cookies from the pan without crumbling. With that in mind, see the directions in the picture tutorial below.
Parting Thoughts: If you happen to have leftovers you don’t want to throw away, try making these Leftover Chocolate Chip Cookie Truffles using these cookies instead of chocolate chip cookies. They freeze well.
Recipe Help at Your Fingertips: For questions or suggestions, email Paula at saladinajar.com. If you need help, I’m happy to troubleshoot via email (faster than leaving a comment). Attach pictures and as many details as possible for the best advice.
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Quick and Easy Toffee Bar Recipe (Chocolate-Covered Shortbread)
Ingredients
- 1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup (30 g) powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup (56 g) melted butter
- ½ cup (90 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips or flavor of your choice
- ⅛ cup (18 g) chopped nuts – optional
Instructions
- Make a parchment paper or foil sling for an 8-inch pan. This is essential if you want any hope of getting the bars out of the pan without crumbling.
- Preheat oven to 350˚F (170˚C).
- Stir 1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup (30 g) powdered sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt together in a small bowl. Pour in 1/4 cup (56 g) melted butter and stir. Use your fingers to mix butter with dry ingredients thoroughly.
- Dump butter/flour mixture in to pan and pat down smooth. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.
- Immediately after removing from the oven, sprinkle 1/2 cup (90 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips or flavor of your choice evenly over the surface of the shortbread cookie base. Allow to sit until all chips are completely melted and soft.
- Carefully use a knife or the back of a spoon to spread soft chips in an even layer. If desired, sprinkle 1/8 cup (18 g) chopped nuts over the top. Put in refrigerator until chocolate layer hardens. Remove cookies and sling from the pan carefully. Slice into 16 pieces.
Paula Rhodes, author
I’m a retired home economist, wife, mother, grandmother, and creator of Saladinajar.com. I believe you don’t have to be a chef to find joy in creating homemade food worth sharing. Here you’ll find time-saving tips, troubleshooting advice, and confidence-inspiring recipes to make life in the kitchen more fun, appetizing, and satisfying.