Almond Toffee Shortbread Bars

Oh, I’m a bit late posting this week! It’s funny, on days that I work less it seems like I get distracted and then I forget things. I went to ballet Thursday night, to try to get back into the swing of things, and I just forgot. I will try and do better in the upcoming weeks. I don’t forget to bake but I forget to post.

For this week’s cookies, I couldn’t decide between two recipes, so I asked my friend at work which cookies I should bake. Both were bar cookies, one with caramel and one with toffee and almonds. She said that it was hard to pass up toffee, and I agree. I will make the caramel bars at another point; they are quite straight-forward and will be a good recipe to make when I want to use ingredients that I have on hand.

These almond toffee bars are quite simple. I have recently stocked up on sweetened condensed milk, as quite a few recipes call for it and it is shelf stable. I thought I had all the needed ingredients, but I was a little short of sliced almonds, so I ended up heading to the store to get some more. I probably could have made it work, using a bit more toffee chips, but they are quick to put together so I figured I would have time to go to the store. While these are very simple, the topping can’t be beat. I love toffee, just like my friend at work, it’s hard to beat anything with toffee.

Almond Toffee Shortbread Bars

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2/3 cup butter

14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk            

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup Heath toffee bits 

1 cup sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9” x 13” baking pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a food processor, process the flour, powdered sugar, and butter until it comes together as a crumbly dough. It will mainly look like crumbs, but the crumbs will stick together when pressed. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and smooth to an even layer.

Bake for 18 minutes. While the bars are baking, make the topping.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the sweetened condensed milk, egg, and vanilla. Once smooth, add the toffee bits and sliced almonds and whisk to incorporate. Once the partially baked crust comes out of the oven, pour the condensed milk/toffee/almond mixture over the crust.

Bake for an additional 24-26 minutes, until the edges of the crust are light brown and the topping is bubbly. Allow the cookies to cool completely before cutting into bars.

Recipe from Creations by Kara