If you’re looking for a new addition to your holiday baking, you’ve come to the right place. These chocolate chip toffee dessert bars will make everyone feel like they’re on the nice list! This layered bar has it all – a buttery crust that does double duty as a topping, chocolate chips, pecans, toffee bits, and that most magical of baking ingredients, sweetened condensed milk. As they bake, these bars bubble and brown into heavenly goodness. (P.S. – If you’re reading this in the summer, you should totally make these bars now to practice for the holidays.)
Chocolate Chip Toffee Dessert Bars
I’m a big fan of bars. They’re less time consuming than baking batches of cookies, easy to transport, feed a crowd, and are more laid back than making a cake. Bars are perfect for pot lucks, picnics and holiday gatherings. If you’re looking for decadent, chocolaty, caramely bars that taste like you spent a lot more time baking than you really did, you need to make a pan of chocolate chip toffee dessert bars!
I’ve been working on these bars for awhile, as you can tell from this hand written recipe card from the ’90s (I know, that recipe card is almost a historic relic at this point!). The crust is buttery and rich, and there are so many different, delicious textures. I may be biased, but this recipe will definitely raise the bar on your dessert game. (See what I did there?)
The Heavenly Ingredients
The ingredient list is simple, and if you do any baking, you’ve probably got almost everything you need in your cupboard already. Flour, brown sugar and salt will make up your dry ingredients. You’ll also need butter, an egg, chocolate chips, toffee bits, pecans, and sweetened condensed milk.
For the chocolate chips you can use semi-sweet or dark chocolate. I used a combination because I had a half a bag of each kind in my cupboard leftover from a different recipe. Also, if you can’t find toffee bits in the baking section of your grocery store, I’ve also used a bag of Butterfinger crumbles and they are equally delicious!
Preparation
I like to make sure I’ve got all the ingredients measured and prepared before I start any baking, it just makes life a lot easier. After you measure everything, you’ll start your prep work by lightly beating the egg in a small bowl. Next you’ll chop the pecans (measure the pecans first, then chop them). I love using my handy mezzaluna chopper, it makes quick work of things! You can also use a large chef’s knife if you have one.
Next you’ll take cold butter (make sure it’s cold, not room temperature) and cut it into small cubes. This will make it easier to cut into the flour mixture. That’s it – now we’re ready to get baking!
Add the flour, brown sugar and salt to a large bowl and mix it together. Now you’ll get out your trusty pastry blender (I know, it’s an obscure tool, you can also use a fork) and work the cold butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles coarse crumbs.
Next you’ll mix together the chocolate chips and pecans and add 1 1/2 cups to the flour mixture. Set the rest of the chocolate chip/pecan mix aside (don’t eat it!).
This mixture will do double duty as both your crust and one of the toppings for the chocolate chip toffee dessert bars. Set aside 1 1/2 cups to use as the topping.
Layers of Goodness
Now let’s start the fun part, building the delicious layers. Press the remaining crust mixture into a 13 x 9 baking pan. I like to use the bottom of a measuring cup to do this, it keeps your hands clean and the crust nice and even. Once you’ve got it evenly pressed into the pan, you’ll bake it for 10 minutes in your preheated 350 degree oven.
After the crust comes out of the oven, place the pan on a heat proof surface or a cooling rack. Immediately pour the sweetened condensed milk over the hot crust. Use a spatula to spread it out evenly.
For the next layer you’ll top the sweetened condensed milk with toffee bits (or Butterfinger crumbles!).
Now grab that reserved crumb mixture and sprinkle it evenly over the toffee bits. Finally you’ll sprinkle the rest of the chocolate chip/pecan mix (that you wisely did not eat) over the crumbs.
The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Dessert Bars
The chocolate chip toffee dessert bars will bake for 25 – 30 minutes until the top is browned and you can see that delicious sweetened condensed milk bubbling up around the edges. The most amazing thing happens to the sweetened condensed milk as it bakes… it turns in to a slightly chewy caramel that binds the other ingredients together. It’s magic.
As a final touch, sprinkle some toffee bits on the bars when they come out of the oven. They’ll melt into the bars a little, but retain a slight crunch.
It will be one of the most difficult things you’ve ever done, but you’ve got to wait for the bars to cool and set before you can cut them. I know! It seems cruel, but they’ll be worth the wait. Once they’re cool, you can cut them into any size you like, I usually cut 24 bars. However you cut them, you are going to love these bars!
On the off chance you have any leftovers, these chocolate chip toffee dessert bars freeze really well. I’m going to immediately freeze half of these bars so they’re ready for the holidays. And, let’s be real, to save me from myself.
My Favorite Tools for Making Chocolate Chip Toffee Dessert Bars
- Everyone needs a 13 x 9 glass baking dish. It’s perfect not just for baking sweets, but for lasagna, egg bakes, scalloped potatoes and other savory bakes.
- I used my mezzaluna chopper not only for chopping the pecans in this recipe, but also to cut the cooled bars. The large blade makes life much easier! I use it all the time.
- A pastry blender makes it much easier to cut butter into flour. If you like to bake, it’s a fun tool to have in your arsenal.
- Cooling racks are a necessity in the kitchen. Especially for the cookie/bar baking season when you’ve got multiple sheet pans and baking dishes rotating in and out of the oven filled with amazing goodies.
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Chocolate Chip Toffee Dessert Bars
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 50 minutes
Description
This layered bar has it all – a buttery crust that does double duty as a topping, chocolate chips, pecans, toffee bits, and that most magical of baking ingredients, sweetened condensed milk. As they bake, these bars bubble and brown into heavenly goodness.
Ingredients
- 2 1/3 cups of all purpose flour
- 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) cold butter, cut into cubes
- 1 egg, slightly beaten
- 12 oz package of semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
- 1 cup pecans, chopped
- 1 (14 oz) can of sweetened condensed milk
- 10 oz package of toffee bits or Butterfinger crumbles (about 1 3/4 cups)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13 x 9 glass baking pan with cooking spray.
- Make the crust: In a large bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar and salt. Add the cubed butter and cut into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. You can use a pastry cutter, a fork or your fingers.
- Add the slightly beaten egg and mix well.
- In a separate small bowl, mix together the chocolate chips and pecans. Measure 1 1/2 cups of the chips and nuts and add to the crust mixture.
- Make the bars: Measure 1 1/2 cups of the crust mixture and set aside. Press the remaining crust mixture evenly into the prepared 13 x 9 pan. Bake for 10 minutes.
- Take the pan out of the oven and set on a heat proof surface. Pour the sweetened condensed milk evenly over the crust. Top with 1 1/2 cups of the toffee or Butterfinger bits. Sprinkle the reserved 1 1/2 cups of the crumb mix, then the rest of the chocolate chips and pecans.
- Being careful of the hot pan, place back in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Remove from the oven to a cooling rack. Immediately sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup toffee bits.
- Cool the bars completely, then cut into 24 bars. Leave at room temperature if serving the same day. Or store for 2-3 days in the 13 x 9 pan covered with plastic wrap, or in containers with wax paper in-between layers.
Notes
These bars freeze really well. You can make them up to 2 months ahead of time. Wrap each bar in plastic wrap and store in freezer bags.
Keywords: dessert bars, chocolate chip bars, chocolate chip toffee bars, holiday baking, bar recipes
