Chocolate Toffee Almond Shortbread Bars

Bars, two weeks in a row? Well, I was having trouble deciding this week and I got the ingredients for these bars. I also had another recipe that used many of the same ingredients, so I figured I could decide what to make later. I almost ended up making the other recipe, because I read that it was chocolate chip cookie week or something like that and the others were an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. When I got home and it was time to bake, I opted to make these. What can I say, I love bar cookies!

This is a recipe that you can change up with what you have on hand. The original recipe used fancy chocolate almonds, but I didn’t see those at the store. They have chocolate chips in them anyway, so you’re covered. I did use roasted salted almonds, which adds a little more flavor than raw almonds. For the toffee chips, you can use the plain toffee bits, or the Heath version that is chocolate and toffee. I used the chocolate and toffee version, as I had an opened package on hand. Use either, which is good as at my local grocery stores, one carries one variety and the other carries the other version.

If you’re looking for something quick to make, these really fit the bill. I got home from work and got started on these. I don’t usually pay such close attention to time, but for kicks I decided to see how long these took to assemble and bake. Start to finish, these took 45 minutes, which is pretty fast! You do have to wait for them to cool, so you can’t have instant gratification, but still, these are very convenient to make. They are very gooey, so perhaps they could have baked a touch longer, but they are super decadent. Almond, toffee and chocolate together are a fabulous combination!

Chocolate Toffee Almond Shortbread Bars

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup chopped roasted almonds, divided

14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup toffee bits

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9” x 13” baking pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large mixer bowl, combine the flour, butter, powdered sugar, and salt. Beat on medium until smooth. Add ¼ cup of the chopped almonds and mix on low to combine. Press the shortbread dough into the bottom of the prepared pan.

Bake for 15 minutes. While the shortbread is baking, make the topping.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the sweetened condensed milk, egg, and vanilla. Add the remaining ½ cup chopped almonds, toffee bits, and mini chocolate chips and stir to combine.

After the shortbread has baked 15 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and pour the topping over the partially baked shortbread. Spread the topping with a spatula to ensure that the shortbread is evenly covered. 

Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the edges of the bars begin to brown. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Once cool, remove the bars from the pan and peel away the foil. Cut into bars. 

Recipe from Crazy for Crust