Homemade Twix Bars

It's another lonely night at the apartment for me, since Clayton had to work all day today :( I guess it's a good thing because I was actually semi-productive and studied all day for my test on Monday. But I took a study break to make some Homemade Twix Bars. They have a nice shortbread layer that's just the perfect texture, a salty-sweet caramel layer, and smooth, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate layer. If you like Twix Bars, then you will definitely like these! Well, enjoy :)

Homemade Twix Bars

For the Shortbread:

1 Stick + 3T Unsalted Butter, Softened

¼C Sugar

1 ¾C AP Flour

¼t Salt

2T Ground Rice, Sifted

For the Caramel:

2C Sugar

¾C Light Corn Syrup

½C Water

1t Lemon Juice

1C Heavy Cream

1C Sweetened, Condensed Milk

¼t Salt

Salt, For Sprinkling Over Caramel Layer

For the Chocolate Topping:

1 ½C Bittersweet Chocolate Chips

4T Butter

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and line a 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper and spray with Pam.

2. To make the Shortbread: in a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy. Gradually add the flour, salt, and ground rice. To make the ground rice flour, blend any rice that you have in your kitchen until it is a fine powder. Sift this rice power, so that there are no large rice pieces. After the dough is incorporated, press it into the prepared pan. Bake for 12 minutes, then rotate and bake for another 10 minutes until the shortbread is lightly golden. Let this cool while you make the caramel layer.

3. To make the Caramel: Combine sugar, corn syrup, water, and lemon juice in a sauté pan and cook over medium-high heat until the mixture comes to a boil (do not whisk). Once this mixture begins to turn caramel brown, insert a candy thermometer and when the mixture reaches 300 degrees F, remove from heat and let it sit for 1 minute. Whisk in the heavy cream, then the condensed milk, then salt until smooth. Return the pan back to the heat, and cook until the caramel reaches 240 degrees F. Remove from heat and pour over the shortbread. Let it set at room temperature for 2 hours.

4. For the Chocolate Topping: Heat the chocolate chips and butter in a bowl in the microwave in 30 second intervals until the chocolate is just melted, then whisk until incorporated. Spread this chocolate mixture over the caramel layer until an even, thick layer of chocolate covers the caramel. Cool in the refrigerator until you are ready to cut.

5. Cut the Twix Bars into small rectangles. When I’m giving these Twix Bars to friends, I like to wrap them in wax paper, so they look like individual candies. But you can easily just cut them and keep them in your refrigerator for easy snacking.

6. Enjoy!

source: homemade twix bars