Twix Bars

A shortbread cookie layer, chewy caramel, and chocolate coating make these homemade Twix bars a winning treat that tastes just like Twix candy bars.

Prep Time35

Cook Time15

Chill Time1 30

Total Time2 20

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Twix Bars Recipe

Servings: pieces

Calories: 494kcal

Ingredients

Shortbread Crust Layer

1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup unsalted butter
⅓ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt

Caramel Layer

10 ounces soft caramel candies, unwrapped (I used Werther’s Original chewy caramels brand) (two 5-ounce bags)
2 tablespoons heavy cream
¼ teaspoon salt

Chocolate Layer

12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate baking bars, broken into small pieces (I used Ghirardelli brand) (three 4-ounce bars)
½ cup heavy cream

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, with a handheld mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and sugar for 1 to 2 minutes or until completely incorporated.
Add the all-purpose flour, vanilla extract, salt and mix for another 1 minute.
Press the crust mixture into the bottom of the parchment-lined 8x8 pan. You can lightly wet your fingertips with cold water to help press the crust into an even layer. The damp fingertips help keep the shortbread crust from sticking to your fingers while you press it into place. Bake for 15 minutes.
Allow your cooked shortbread crust to cool on the counter for 10 minutes before adding the caramel layer.
To a medium-sized, microwave-safe, bowl add the unwrapped soft caramel candies and the 2 tablespoons heavy cream. Microwave on high for 1 minute, stir, then microwave for another 1 minute. Add the ¼ teaspoon salt and, if needed, microwave for an additional 30 seconds to completely melt the caramel candies. Your caramel should be smooth and pourable.
Very carefully pour the caramel sauce over the top of the shortbread crust and smooth it into an even layer. Allow the crust and caramel to cool on the counter for 20 minutes before moving forward with adding the chocolate layer. This ensures that your chocolate and caramel layers stay separated.
In a medium-sized bowl, add your broken-up pieces of semi-sweet chocolate baking bars.
In a microwave-safe, liquid measuring cup with a pour spout, add the ½ cup heavy cream. Microwave for 1 minute. Slowly pour the hot cream over the top of the chocolate pieces, ensuring that all the chocolate is covered. Allow the chocolate to sit for 3 minutes before stirring. If needed, you can microwave your chocolate mixture for 30 seconds to get the chocolate completely smooth and the heavy cream completely incorporated.
Slowly pour the chocolate mixture over the top of the caramel layer. You do not want to disturb the caramel layer so that your final product has nice separate layers. Spread your chocolate with an offset spatula to get a nice smooth top layer for your Twix bars.
Place your pan of Twix bars into the refrigerator to chill for 1 hour 30 minutes, or until the chocolate ganache layer has firmed up before cutting them into squares.

Notes

When making the caramel sauce, I highly suggest using a good quality soft caramel candy. That will ensure that you have the best flavor in your final product. If your caramel candies are a little harder (NOT hard candies), then you may need to add an additional 1 tablespoon heavy cream to get a nice smooth caramel mixture when heated.
Keep in mind that you will get a different shape and depth of corner bars depending on the baking pan you are using. If you are using a baking pan with rounded corners (usually glass), your corner pieces will not come out quite so defined, while metal pans tend to have clean-cut corners that will give you better-formed corner bars.
You can allow your Twix bars to cool completely on the counter before slicing if your room is not extremely warm or humid. I put mine in the refrigerator to help the chocolate ganache layer to set up quicker. Remember that if you allow them to chill overnight in the refrigerator before slicing that you may need to allow them to come to room temperature before slicing them with a sharp knife as the caramel layer will be very firm if kept in the refrigerator for that amount of time.

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