Peaked My Pinterest: Homemade Twix Bars

My husband has been on a Twix binge lately - he found a bag of them at our lake house and it started with 1 after dinner and turned into 3 for breakfast. He exclaimed, "I haven't had a candy bar in years, this is amazing!" so I took note of this, as I was in charge of a dessert for a surprise party we threw for him. 

I am known for making cupcakes of some sort so I wanted to mix it up and try a homemade version of one of his recent favorites and I must say…I might have outdone myself this time. Future warning: They are addicting!

Better Than Twix Bars (adopted from this recipe)

You need:

• 1 stick (4 ounces) butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 10 ounces caramels, unwrapped (I used 35 Brach’s Milk Maid Caramels)
• 1 tablespoon, plus 1 1/2 teaspoons heavy cream
• 8 ounces milk chocolate
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable shortening (I used vegetable oil), optional

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 300º. Line 8 x 8 inch pan with nonstick foil or greased regular foil.
2. Beat together butter, sugar and vanilla. Add the flour. Press evenly into pan…you may need to flour your fingers to prevent sticking. Prick crust with fork. Bake 35-45 minutes till crust is golden.
3. Immediately after removing crust from oven, run knife around edges to loosen crust. Cool completely.
4. Melt caramel and cream gently in microwave or in saucepan over low heat till smooth. Pour over cooled crust and chill for 30 minutes.
5. Gently melt chocolate in microwave or in double boiler over low heat. Add shortening or oil if too thick to pour. Pour over chilled caramel and spread to edges. Chill till chocolate is well set. Cut into squares to serve. Store covered in refrigerator, but remove a few minutes before serving.

Have you ever baked homemade candy bars?