Brown Sugar Toffee Bars

Toffee and the dentist. These two are not friends.

My mom’s homemade toffee is the best. Something about that caramelized brown sugar and butter is so much more than the sum of its humble parts. But I recently found myself in the dentist’s chair — as in, I went in for a checkup and left numb, drooling down one side of my face, and sporting a “chipped” filling repair. (To be clear, chipped filling was NOT from mom’s toffee, but dentist said to steer clear.) My fear of the dentist had me wondering if I could recreate that signature brown sugar/butter heaven in cookie form. Same flavor…less tooth chipping.

VOILA! It only took three tries. These taste just like toffee, but are so much easier on the teeth #oldpeople

I made them nice and thin, just like toffee, which works out because they are pretty rich. These were actually my first cookie of the season, and I was pretty sure they could be my favorite. It helps that they’re ridiculously easy. Dump, mix, press in pan. DONE!

BROWN SUGAR TOFFEE BARS
Okay to refrigerate or freeze these, but MUST let them come back to room temp before cutting. If you don’t the chocolate layer can separate and pop off the top when cutting. You could also use dark chocolate for the top layer if you prefer!

1 cup salted butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg yolk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips or 5-6 Hershey Bars
1/2 cup milk chocolate toffee bits

Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9×13 pan. In large bowl, mix butter, brown sugar, vanilla and egg yolk. Stir in flour and salt.

Bake bars 25 to 30 minutes or until light brown (crust will be soft). Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips (or lay Hershey bars) on hot crust. Let stand about 5 minutes or until chocolate is soft; spread evenly. Sprinkle with toffee bits.

Cool bars 30 minutes in pan on wire rack. For bars, cut into 8 rows by 4 rows.

Makes 32 bars.