Easy Toffee Walnut Bars are crowd-pleasing treats and only require a few ingredients! Add them to your cookie baking roster this holiday season.
If you like to bake-and-give for the holidays, then you should add these to your short list. One pan makes a whole bunch of servings, and everyone loves them. They are chewy and chocolaty with a crumbly shortbread base. I make them year-round, because they are one of my husband’s favorite treats, plus they are SO EASY. Casual as they may be to make, they still taste special enough to make an appearance on fancy Christmas cookie trays.
Shortbread base.
Whisk together flour and confectioners’ sugar. Then blend a whole cup of butter into the flour mixture. I used a big serving fork’s tines to mash the butter into the flour to fine crumbs. But you could use a pastry blender if you have one.
Press the crust mixture into the bottom of an aluminum foil-lined and greased 13×9 baking pan. The flour mixture packs well under your palms, or use the flat bottom of a measuring cup.
The easiest filling!
In a separate bowl, beat together sweetened condensed milk, an egg, vanilla extract and a pinch of salt.
Add to this mixture a bag of milk chocolate-covered toffee bits (such as ) and chopped English walnuts. Mix this all together until all the bits are well dispersed.
Next, pour the mixture over the crust and and bake. The Heath bits and sweetened condensed milk mixture will puff and turn golden as it bakes, creating a chewy crave-worthy toffee topping.
I couldn’t help but add an extra drizzle of chocolate on top of each square. This can be optional, but it makes a really pretty presentation. When the chocolate is set, they package up neatly in cellophane bags for gift giving. They also look really pretty on a dessert buffet arranged with some .
Easy Toffee Walnut Bars
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Equipment
- 13×9 inch pan
- zip top bag
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 13×9-inch baking pan with aluminum foil that overhangs the edges and grease the foil with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour and confectioners’ sugar. Mash the butter into the flour using the tines of a fork, or with a pastry blender. Combine until crumbly.
- Press the crust mixture into the prepared baking pan. Bake 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine the egg, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and salt in a medium bowl. Fold in toffee bits and walnuts.
- Spoon the mixture over the baked crust. Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown and slightly puffed.
- Cool in the pan about 15 minutes, then refrigerate until firm. Lift the slab from the pan using the overhanging aluminum foil. Cut into 30 pieces.
- If using the chocolate drizzle, place the melted chocolate in a zip top bag with a tiny hole in the corner snipped. Lay the bars on a parchment-covered work surface and drizzle each bar with chocolate. Let stand until set, about 20 minutes.
- Package bars in cellophane bags for gift-giving, or store them airtight between waxed paper.
