Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Homemade Twix Bars

(photo by my very talented friend Steev)

I don't eat a lot of candy.  Give me a nice dark chocolate bar from Europe or some chocolate covered almonds, occasionally I will even eat a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup or a Twix bar.  Lately I have seen many people blog about making homemade candy bars.  Homemade Reese's, Snickers, Mounds, Butterfinger and many, many postings of homemade Twix.  A Twix bar is basically a layer of shortbread cookie with a layer of caramel that is covered completely in milk chocolate.  Not your typical candy bar and I was pretty sure it would be more like a cookie if it were homemade.  I love trying new cookies and that is how I approached this task, as though I were trying a new cookie recipe.  I love shortbread, I love caramel, and I love chocolate!  Basically, even if it doesn't taste like a Twix bar, it is bound to be delicious with all of those components!


First task....find a recipe.  After reading through several, I decided to try the recipe from instructables.com.  The recipe was easy to follow and there were a lot of pictures to guide me.  I liked the shortbread cookie recipe but I will probably try my regular recipe next time I make these, only because I think the shortbread should be crunchier and these cookies were a little on the soft side.



The only other issue was how to deal with the chocolate.  Should I dip the entire cookie in chocolate so that it is just like a Twix bar or should I drizzle chocolate over the top?  I really couldn't decide and ended up doing half dipped and half drizzled.  I think they looked fabulous drizzled!  Plus....it was easier than dipping each of them.  However, all of the dipped cookies held their shape and were easy to store and transfer, while all of the drizzled cookies were oozing with caramel.  As they sat a bit, the caramel slid down the sides of the cookies.  They still look great but are a little messier to handle.  You choose which way you would like to make yours, I will probably still go with the drizzle!


Homemade Twix Bars

Shortbread Crust:
1 cup  butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons (1oz) milk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Cover baking sheet in parchment paper and set aside.

Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy.  In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt.  Over slow speed, add flour mixture to butter mixture just until blended.  Mix in vanilla and milk.  Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.  

Roll dough directly on parchment paper  and bake until edges become golden and cookie is set, about 20-25 minutes.  Set aside to cool

Caramel Layer:
14-15 ounce bag of soft caramels
2 tablespoons cream

In a small saucepan, melt caramels with cream over low heat.  Stir often until smooth.  Spread evenly over cooled shortbread crust.  Let caramel set completely.  When it has set, cut into desired shapes.  I cut mine into 1” by 2 ½” bars.

Chocolate Layer:
12 ounces milk or dark chocolate , chopped
1 teaspoon shortening

Place chocolate and shortening in microwave safe bowl and melt over 50% power, stirring ever 30 seconds until chocolate is melted.  Dip bars in chocolate and place on wax paper to set or drizzle chocolate over each of the bars and allow to set.

Enjoy!!  ;-)

37 comments:

  1. Twix are my ABSOLUTE favs!! I must try these!

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  2. Welcome Sweet and Salty! Glad you are enjoying my recipes! I just joined your blog too! Looking forward to sharing recipes with you both!

    Becky ;)

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  3. I LOVE Twix! These look really good, not only tasty, but neatly made. Yummy.

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    1. Thanks Sheila! I thought they were very yummy! Hope you try the recipe!

      Becky

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  4. How clever! Love this! They look so perfect and uniformed as well! Bookmarking this page and following you now :) x

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    1. Thanks Nish! I'm so happy to have you as a new follower! Looking forward to sharing more recipes together!

      Becky

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  5. Since I do like the store bought version, there is not doubt that I would really like the homemade version here. You did a great job on your cutting as well as drizzling. They look fantastic as well as addictive!

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    1. Thanks so much Tina! They were addictive, actually "were" is appropriate....they are all gone! Couldn't stop myself!

      Thanks for the compliment, I was very patiently cutting these bars and happy to see they turned out so well!

      Have a fabulous day!

      Becky

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  6. I love a good piece of dark chocolate too, but I can always go for a gas station candy bar :) I always have a stash of reese's at home! Your homemade Twix bars look so good! And I bet they taste even better than the original!

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    1. Kristina,

      I may just have to try drizzling dark chocolate on them next time! I'm sure they will be even better!

      Enjoy!

      Becky

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  7. I tried my hand at homemade Twix once too, and my shortbread ended up being soft, as well. I kind of liked them better that way!

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    1. Peggy- Everyone who ate them agreed with you, it must just be me! ;)

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  8. Ooo these look delicious! I love Twix and I never thought to try and make them on my own, but NOW I know I have to try them. I also love the drizzled chocolate instead of the full-dip. :D

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    1. Thanks Jess!!

      I do hope that you try to make them, so yummy! I am drooling over your Strawberries'n Cream Muffins this morning. They look delicious!
      Have a happy Monday!

      Becky

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  9. I love Twix bars, and these look amazing! Very well done, and definitely bookmarked!

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  10. Twix has always been my favorite candy bar. I'll bet your version is far better than what I buy at the convenience store. Bookmarked!

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    1. Adam- Thanks so much for visiting my blog! I find it so funny that while you were writing this yesterday, I was drooling over your chile rellenos on food buzz!!

      Keep on sharing those great recipes!!

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  11. MMMMM, I love twix, bet these are better!!! yum, thanks for posting this!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! Glad enjoyed the post....hope you try the recipe!

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  12. These look great, I will have to make them for my son, he loves twix bars.

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    1. You will win "Mom of the year" award for sure....my sons went crazy for these!

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  13. Oh yumm!! I don't mind a little oozing caramel! These sound great, my fav candy bar - I'm not sure I even have that anymore since I rarely eat candy but if I did I'd grab one of these - homemade version please!

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    1. I find that all of the candies and cookies I enjoyed as a child do not compare to the homemade versions I make as an adult! I just love these! ;)

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  14. Wow this is awesome! Your homemade looks better than store bought (extra drizzle of chocolate ;))
    YUM!

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru
    Latest: Rich Sticky Date Pudding w/ Butterscotch Sauce

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  15. Looks easy and hard at the same time. Great idea for surprising guests and colleagues though as everyone loves TWIX.

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  16. Oh my gosh!! Just what I needed to be staring at at 10 AM :) Now I'm totally craving candy!!

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  17. Yeah these look amazing! Love the blog. If you have a minute check out my blog its all about beer and wine. http://grapesandbarley.blogspot.com and if you like it become a member! Keep these awesome recipes coming my way!!!

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  18. What a great idea! They look really yummy :)

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  19. I love Twix bars. I can make my own? What! I'm in awe. They look wonderfu.

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  20. I really appreciate your homemade, comforting iteration of this classic treat. It's wonderful to see these outside of a wrapper and in a kitchen. Brava!

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  21. I'm definitely trying this one! My niece and nephews would love it.

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  22. One of my favorites - Twix Bars. I like the recipe. It looks quite easy to follow.

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  23. WOW! Awesome recipe... I def have to try this!

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