Easy Chocolate-Topped Shortbread Toffee Bars

Sneak Preview: These easy Chocolate-Topped Shortbread Toffee Bars have a shortbread base covered with melted chocolate chips and chopped pecans. Impressive but quick to make when time is short!

Quick Toffee Bars in a coffee cupPin

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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 Chocolate-Topped Shortbread Toffee Bars. The shortbread base is simple to assemble and only requires flour, butter, and sugar. When the base is cooked, 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 as 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 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.

making a slingPin
Make a parchment paper or foil sling for an 8-inch pan. This is essential if you hope to get the bars out of the pan without crumbling.
melting chips on top of the shortbreadPin
Immediately after removing from the oven, sprinkle chips evenly over the surface of the shortbread cookie base. Allow the cookies to rest until all chips are completely melted and soft. Leave as is or spread with a spatula until smooth.

If you have questions or suggestions, email me privately for a quick answer: Paula at saladinajar.com. Hope to see you again soon! 

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Quick Toffee Bars in a coffee cupPin

Easy Chocolate Toffee Bar Recipe

Paula Rhodes
These layered toffee bars have a shortbread base covered with melted chocolate chips and chopped pecans.

Rate this recipe here

5 from 3 votes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Cookies
Cuisine American
Servings 16 squares
Calories 100 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • ¼ cup powdered sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ cup melted butter
  • ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or flavor of your choice
  • cup 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.
  • Stir flour, sugar and salt together in small bowl. Pour in melted butter and stir. Use fingers to thoroughly mix butter with dry ingredients.
  • 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 chips evenly over the surface of shortbread cookie base. Allow to sit until all chips are completely melted and soft.
  • VERY carefully use a knife or back of a spoon to spread soft chips in an even layer. If desired, sprinkle chopped, toasted nuts over the top. Put in refrigerator until chocolate layer hardens. Remove cookies and sling from pan carefully. Slice into 16 pieces.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 | Calories: 100kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 8mg | Sodium: 62mg | Potassium: 45mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 92IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 1mg
Keyword chocolate toffee bars, easy toffee bars, low-calorie toffee bars, toffee bars recipe, toffee bars with chocolate chips and pecans, toffee layered over shortbread
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14 Comments

  1. i make tofee plz guide me

  2. I just made these and they are delicious! I’m quite a novice baker so I’m a little confused as to how these should be stored – in the refrigerator or in an air-tight container? It is currently winter where I’m from (New Zealand), so could these be kept outside? Thanks! 🙂

  3. beautiful,very decadent and dangerous!!!
    🙂

  4. These look irresistible!

  5. These look great and the fact that they are a lower calorie dessert makes them even more appealing before bathing suit season! Thanks for sharing the recipe!

  6. Ellie and I actually made these…. and they are YUMMY and EASY! I wished I had some crumbled Heath bar to put on top. We put marshmallows on 1/3, chocolate chips on 1/3, and M&Ms on 1/3. M&Ms were the best but dont spread well – haha.
    Thanks for the recipe and I LOVE your pics of course!

  7. Oh, what a great tip. I will remember that 1/4. Those do look yummy!

  8. Mmm! Nothing like simple AND delicious!

  9. Love easy…love easy especially when teen boys drop by to visit with son and enjoy a treat like this one. Thanks for the recipe!

  10. Crystal's Cozy Kitchen says:

    Those look REALLY GOOD! Thanks for sharing such an easy version.

  11. That looks very easy and delicious. I would love to try this and share with friends. Thanks for sharing.

  12. Um…. you use gloves. (good thing I don’t take prep photos of my desserts)! 🙂 I love, love, love toffee bars – they are so classic. I love your “twists” and variations – especially the pecans. So many toffee recipes call for walnuts (not a big fan) so I usually sub almonds. The peanut butter/chocolate combo sounds like a winner as well. Photography is fabulous!

    1. M, I use gloves a lot–feels natural because I wear them all day long at work too.