Chocolate Toffee Bars

4.48 from 279 votes
Jump to Recipe

This post may contain affiliate links. Please see myย disclosure policy

Chocolate Toffee Bars – crispy toffee flavored bars topped with chocolate and lots of bits of toffee. Just 6 ingredients, and so easy to make!

There are a few flavors that I am obsessed with during the holidays. Anything Peppermint; I put together 19 of my favorite peppermint recipes all in one place. Chocolate and peanut butter is a favorite all year round, but for the holidays we have Reese’s Fudge and Peanut Butter Chocolate Balls. And then Toffee is another. I have been making these Heath Toffee Bars for years.

chocolate toffee bars on a board

 

And you can’t forget about Chocolate Saltine Toffee. That is a must, and so easy. So why not add more toffee recipes to my holiday baking, because I know we will love them!

These Chocolate Toffee Bars are so darn easy to make. You mix together 5 ingredients and then bake until crispy. This layer is kind of a cross between shortbread and toffee. So buttery and delicious. Then when it is hot out of the oven you sprinkle on the chocolate! What is toffee without chocolate, right?

What You’ll Need

Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the post for the FULL PRINTABLE recipe card.

  • Butter
  • Brown Sugar
  • Egg Yolk
  • Flour
  • Vanilla Extract
  • Milk Chocolate Chips
  • Toffee Bits
chocolate toffee bars on a board

How to Make Toffee Bars

  1. Cream Butter. The butter, brown sugar, and egg get mixed together until it is light and fluffy. You want your butter slightly softened when you start, but not warm or super soft. The bars are thin when you put them in the pan, the more you work with the butter the more it will melt and be harder to work with.
  2. Add Dry Ingredients. Mix in the flour and vanilla until it is well combined. 
  3. Bake. Press into a greased pan until it is an even layer.  Then just bake until the edges are golden. If your dough is sticky, the butter is probably too warm. Chill the dough before pressing into the pan. You can also sprinkle a little flour over the top to make it easier to press into the pan.
  4. Add Chocolate. Once it is baked immediately sprinkle over the chocolate chip and place back in the oven (it should be turned off) and let it sit for 2-3 minutes for the chocolate to get soft.  Spread the chocolate evenly over the bars and then sprinkle with your toppings.  
  5. Set Up. Let the bars sit at room temperature for a couple of hours until the chocolate is set or place in the fridge if you are in a hurry.
chocolate toffee bars on a plate

What to Top Toffee Bars

The hardest part is that you have to wait for the chocolate to set before you can slice them into bars. It is like hours of torture. You can put them in the fridge to harden if you want, just let them come back closer to room temperature to slice, or you will get cracks and not pretty bars.

  • Crushed toffee pieces – this is where the toffee part of these bars come from, the base is not the texture of toffee.
  • Chopped Pecans
  • Festive Sprinkles
  • M&M’s 

Recipe Tips & Suggestions

  • Yes 1 cup of flour is accurate! I have tested this recipe a dozen times, and 1 cup is what is correct for the end results I am going for. If you want to use 2 cups, you, but you will get a much more shortbread type crust.
  • Start with softened butter, but not room temperature or melted. You want it to sit on the counter for a couple hours, but still have structure to it when you press on it. Super soft butter will melt some with the heat of the mixer and make it harder to work with. If you beat your sugar and butter together for 2 minutes, the butter will be very soft and will be very sticky to work with.
  • Make sure you only use an egg yolk, not a full egg. You do not want that much liquid in your dough.
  • Mix until the flour is just combined, don’t keep mixing once there are no white streaks remaining. Again, the more you mix it the softer the butter will be, and this is what leads to problems with the dough being sticky.
  • If your mixture is sticky, use non-stick spray on your hands or spatula, or run your hands under water, shake off the excess, and press the mixture into the pan. It will be a little sticky, but that is ok. Just get it pressed into the pan. You can also just sprinkle a little bit of flour over the top as well.
  • When it comes out of the oven it will look bubbly, with a few holes in it and not like a normal cookie or bar recipe. That is ok! Just take it out and add the chocolate. This is what gives it the more toffee taste and a little crunchier texture than other bars.
  • Let it completely set up before slicing. I like to place in the fridge for 1-2 hours and then slice.
  • Chill Dough. If your dough is super soft and sticky the chances are that your butter is to soft and has started to melt. Chill your dough for 20 minutes and then press into a pan.

More Easy Dessert Recipes

Chocolate Toffee Bars - crispy toffee flavored bars topped with chocolate and lots of bits of toffee. Just 6 ingredients, and so easy to make!
4.48 from 279 votes

Chocolate Toffee Bars

Chocolate Toffee Bars – crispy toffee flavored bars topped with chocolate and lots of bits of toffee. Just 6 ingredients, and so easy to make!
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 25 minutes
Total: 30 minutes
Servings: 24

Video

Ingredients 

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 350º F.
  • Beat together butter, brown sugar, and egg yolk until combined. You do not want to beat for 1-2 minutes like normal cookies, you just want everything incorporated.
    1 cup butter, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 large egg yolk
  • Add in flour and vanilla. Mix until just combined.
    1 cup all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Press into a greased half sheet pan or a 13×9 inch baking dish.
  • Bake for 20-25 minutes until the edges are golden.
  • Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the bars.
    1 12 oz bag milk chocolate chips
  • Let sit for 5-7 minutes (or return to the oven for 2-3 minutes) until the chocolate is shiny. Gently spread melted chocolate into an even layer.
  • Sprinkle with toffee bits
    1/2 cup toffee bits
  • Let the chocolate set before slicing into bars

Notes

I have tested this recipe a dozen times, and 1 cup of flour works for me. You need to bake until the bars are golden brown on top, they will be bubbly, with holes all over the top, and not look normal – that is how it is supposed to be.
The quality of butter has changed this year (2022) and seems to have a higher water content in the past, so it is affecting a lot of baking recipes. It is best to use a name brand quality butter, as those are leading to the best results. If you use a store brand butter, you will need to add more flour.
Follow the Recipe Tips section in the blog post for more tips.
If your dough is very sticky, add 1/2 cup of flour.
You can add chopped pecans in place of toffee or use both! Recipe very slightly adapted from Glitter and Goulash

Nutrition

Calories: 184kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 35mg | Sodium: 76mg | Sugar: 14g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Author: Erin Sellin
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Course: Dessert Recipes
Cuisine: American
Servings: 24
Calories: 184
Like this recipe? Leave a comment below!

I created a fun group on Facebook,and I would love for you to join us! It’s a place where you can share YOUR favorite recipes, ask questions, and see what’s new at Dinners, Dishes and Desserts (so that you never miss a new recipe)!

Be sure to follow me on Instagram and tag #dinnersdishes so I can see all the wonderful DINNERS, DISHES, AND DESSERTS recipes YOU make!

Be sure to follow me on my social media, so you never miss a post!

Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram 

.

About Erin Sellin

Welcome to Dinners, Dishes, & Desserts where my love of food meets my busy life. My name is Erin and Iโ€™m a casual home cook who loves to feed people. On this blog, youโ€™ll find hundreds of quick and easy recipes made mostly from scratch. My days are spent in the kitchen, creating new recipes to share with family and friends.

Other Recipes You Might Like:

4.48 from 279 votes (262 ratings without comment)

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

64 Comments

  1. I found an old recipe of my momโ€™s, which I love, and there is 1 c. Of butter to 2 cups of flour. I cannot imagine how only 1 c of flour would work here.

    1. I make this yearly, there is a video of me making it here, the original recipe I got this from only had 1 cup of flour. It makes the layer buttery, and a slightly more toffee texture than a cookie texture. But if you want to use 2 cups of flour, you can.

  2. 5 stars
    I made this recipe as stated. Turned out delicious. I added heath bar bits on top. I have no idea why so many people are having a problem with this recipe. I bought Land o Lakes butter as store bought butter is not suggested.

  3. 1 star
    FAIL! I thought this was like Almond Roca candy, not like a cookie. Even so, the cookie part of it didn’t firm up after baking more than five minutes past the allotted time. I wasted a whole pound of Kerrigold butter, too. Bye-bye recipe.

    1. The recipe calls for a cup of butter, not a pound. So if you doubled the recipe, I would think the cooking time is also going to increase and 5 extra minutes wouldn’t be enough.

  4. 1 star
    Bottom layer was mushy even after baking for a little longer. Chocolate chips wouldnโ€™t get soft enough to spread over the mushy bottom layer. followed the recipe exactly as stated and used Kerry Gold butter. I really hope itโ€™s salvageable after it sits for a while

  5. I’ve made this recipe twice this week as written and it’s excellent!! I melted one 10 oz bag of Ghirardelli white melting wafers and poured that over the toffee bars right after that came out of the oven and then sprinkled them with brickle bits and chilled until firm. Excellent with the white chocolate on them!! (I used Land O’Lakes butter)

  6. 5 stars
    This is a 5 star recipe for me! I used Nestle dark chocolate chips because that’s the favorite in my house and that’s the only change I made. These bars are insanely delicious and easy to make. I’ll be making them often and have a feeling my family and friends will be requesting them often. Thanks for sharing this recipe. It’s sooooo good! Yum!!!

  7. 1 star
    This recipe says to use high quality butter (I used KerryGold), and to “press into pan”. It was way too soft to press into the pan. The notes say to “add 1/2 cup flour if needed”, but the recipe should be correct as is. Even adding 1/2 cup it still had to be poured in. The author needs to update this recipe so people don’t keep wasting expensive ingredients.

    1. I made this recipe again after your comment, and I have no idea how you have a liquid enough batter “to be poured in” 1 cup of butter, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 cup of flour makes a dough. It is sticky yes, but if it is pourable your butter has gotten way to warm and melted. If the batter is too sticky, add a little flour or try chilling the dough before pressing into the pan. But it would NEVER be pourable with the recipe as written, 1 egg yolk is not enough liquid for that. If you have a super sticky dough, it is because your butter has likely warmed up too much with the mixer or your hands pressing it into the pan. This is where you can sprinkle a little flour over the top to press it into the pan, or chill the dough for the butter to solidify again.