A bar cookie with chocolate and toffee?  Hmm…okay!  I got this recipe for Chewy Chocolate Almond Bars when I ended up scooping up a bag of Heath English Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits in my baking aisle madness, loading bag after bag of different flavored chips into my cart only to realize after I got home that I didn’t have a recipe planned for these (in addition to a bag of white chocolate chips and milk chocolate chips which still sit sad and lonely on my kitchen counter).  So I went scouring Hershey’s website looking for something that stopped me in my tracks and I found these.  Really, it was the almonds that sold me.  And the chocolate.  And the toffee.

A simple chocolate shortbread dough is the base of these bar cookies which is baked slightly and then covered with a bubbly hot mixture of milk chocolate toffee bits, light corn syrup and sliced almonds.  Back into the oven it goes where the toffee mixture gets even more ooey and gooey and when it comes out of the oven bubbling like lava, you are left saying “ahhh…look at that”.  The hard part is waiting and waiting and waiting for these cookies to cool COMPLETELY to cut them into perfect squares.  The chewy topping is the winner here and shortbread base sort of disappears under the gooey madness on top.  If you like toffee, these should be a homerun for you.

The ingredients:

Beat butter and sugar until thoroughly blended.  Stir together flour and cocoa; beat into butter mixture.

Press dough evenly into a greased 13x9x2-inch baking pan.  Bake in a 350°F oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until edges are set.

Meanwhile, combine toffee bits and corn syrup in medium saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until toffee is melted (about 15 minutes).

Stir in 3/4 cup almonds.

Spread toffee mixture to within 1/4-inch of edges of crust.  Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup almonds.

Bake an additional 15 minutes or until bubbly.  Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Cut into bars.

Additions:  None

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:  None

Overall Rating:  Like It

Source:  Hershey’s Kitchens website