Recipe – Fancy “Twix” Bars

While I absolutely LOVE Twix bars– I personally find them too singularly sweet. So … we took the beloved millionaire’s shortbread and made it at home to suite our taste buds. We made these relatively small and individual instead of all in one pan and cutting at the end– I find that sometimes when doing this, the shortbread base crumbles apart.

These are covered in dark chocolate, sprinkled with sea salt and finished with sprinkles– elevating the traditional Twix bar to give it a more interesting flavor profile.

RECIPE – Yields approx. 2 doz. 2-inch square, 3/8 inch thick bars

Ingredients:

• 8 oz salted butter
• 300 grams all purpose flour
• 75 grams powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Melting Chocolate of choice (I love GUITTARD brand)
• Sea Salt (optional)
• Sprinkles (optional)

Directions:

1. Make and bake your shortbread base.
   • Combine 2 american sticks (8oz) of softened, salted butter with 300 grams of all purpose flour and 75 grams of powdered sugar in your mixer.
   • Mix on low until just combined, add in 1 tsp vanilla extract, and continue to mix with the paddle attachment until the dough comes together– this might take a few minutes and for a little bit, the dough will look crumbly, but keep mixing and it will come together!
   • Stop when the dough pulls away from the edge and sticks to itself.
   • Place dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and roll out to about ⅜ inch thick (use a rolling pin with guides like THIS), and place in fridge for about 20 minutes to harden up. This makes the dough easier to cut out.
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2. When ready to bake…
   • Take cold dough out of fridge, cut into desired shapes (please adjust cooking time if bigger shapes), place on baking sheet and FREEZE for 10 more minutes. Shortbread has a lot of butter, and freezing prior to baking will help them retain their shape while baking!
   • Bake at 385 degrees F for 14-18 minutes, rotating halfway, remembering to adjust this for size, thickness, and variations in your particular oven. Shortbread cookies are done when the sides are slightly golden brown.
   • Cool completely before moving on to the next step.
3. Top shortbread with caramel.
   • Make this step easy for yourself! Buy pre-made caramel like Peter’s Caramel, soften it between 2 sheets of plastic wrap in the microwave for a few seconds at a time, until soft enough to roll out. Roll out to about 1mm thick (or thicker if you like more caramel), punch up with the same cutter as the shape of the shortbread cookies, and place on top of the shortbread cookies. You are also of course free to make your own caramel for this step as well. There are plenty of great recipes on the internet for this.
         
4. Melt your chocolate and dip your caramel-topped shortbread. I prefer to use Guittard’s dark melting chocolate– it goes on so smooth! Make your life easier by using a Chocolate Warmer. I have THIS one from Nerdy Nummies and it’s life changing!
   • Dip and work quickly here — sprinkle dipped cookies immediately with sea salt, if you prefer. Add more decorative touches such as chocolate drizzle and sprinkles aesthetics
     
   • What the beautiful cross section looks like:
     
     Variations:
     – Add 20 grams Matcha powder to your shortbread base and use white chocolate melts for a green tea version of this!Please enjoy! Would LOVE to see photos if you use this recipe. Tag us on Instagram: @borderlandsbakery Feel free to leave comments or questions below.