Chocolate Walnut Toffee Bars

September 5th, 2009  |  18 Comments

If there’s one thing that makes ladies forget their manners, it’s free clothes. If there’s another, it’s chocolate. Put them in a room together, and you’ve got yourself an every-woman-for-herself swap party.

My friend, Amy, decided to get all us chicks together under one roof to celebrate, oh, just being our great womanly selves. And our love of fashion. She offered a spread of dainty lady foods and the promise of a new wardrobe. All we had to do was clean out our closets of items that have lost their luster to us, or in my case, items that stopped fitting after my last 2 or 3 posts. We’d haul them over, eat our finger sandwiches and unload the goods in a giant pile on the bed. The bartering could begin.

Early on, each of us got a chance to sniff out the inventory. We circled the loot like pumas closing in on their prey. Vegas has never seen so many poker faces. No one wanted to reveal their most coveted items for fear of stirring up “suggestion envy”. This is when an item suddenly becomes enticing to you simply because someone else wants it.

I played it cool, sometimes even going so far as to turn my back to the pile. My face said, “Meh, I see dozens of clothes for the taking all the time, yawn.” But my adrenaline was up. I broke out the toffee bars. I purposefully baked them for this occasion knowing I’d need to distract. If I could lull everyone into a false sense of security, maybe that Milly cami could be mine.

While everyone was munching away, a kind of psychic pull washed over me without warning. Under the ocean of fabric, there was a blue glimmer calling out to me. I had to obey and subtly drifted over to extract the object. With a little coaxing, it flowed out free like a graceful swan and I discovered it was a lovely printed scarf. It’s silky disposition made its way through the belt loops of my jeans before I knew what happened. And what do you know? It was right at home, complementing what I was already wearing — a plain ensemble made up of an aqua tee and denim. This little scarf woke up the outfit with it’s big texture and color.

The ladies looked up and I felt heat sting my cheeks. It was as if they caught me rummaging through their purse. I half expected them to break out the tar and feathers but they all smiled and told me to spin around. “What a perfect accessory, for you, Irina,” came the consensus, “you should just go ahead and keep it.” Huh? Their generosity took me aback. Here they were, selflessly foregoing the item simply because they knew I liked it. A wave of endearment came over me. I offered them another toffee bar.

***

Add-ons:

1) I have a couple of small upgrades to this site. Now there’s a recipe index for easy access of recipes that you just can’t get out of your mind. Also, good ol’ Scott finally worked out the PRINT button, so if you don’t want to haul your laptop into the kitchen, you can simply print the page.

2) I do a lot of baking and rip through parchment paper like I grow my own trees. I can’t stand those little rolls sold at the supermarket that make me feel like I have to ration every inch. So I started ordering parchment in bulk. You can get sheet pan-sized ones or round cake-shaped ones. It’s so much cheaper, too.

Parchment Paper Sheets – 15 × 21

Regency Parchment Paper Circles, 10-inch, pack of 24

Chocolate Walnut Toffee Bars
Makes one 18 x 13 sheet pan which can be cut into whatever sized bar cookie you want. I got about 60 mini bars out of it.

4 sticks (453 g) unsalted butter 
1 box (453 g) light brown sugar 
2 egg yolks
4 cups (560 g) all purpose flour 
1 lb (453 g) dark chocolate, chopped fine
2 cups (280 g) chopped walnuts

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. All gathered here today:

2. Using a tabletop or a handheld mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until smooth. We’re not trying to beat air into it, just to get it smooth. (You can even do this recipe with a bowl and a spatula, like our ancestors, who we know gobbled endless toffee bars.)

Scrape down the bowl or else.

3. Toss in both yolks (heh) and mix those babies in.

4. Then pop in the flour.

We’re left with kind of a stiff batter.

So far easy, right?

5. Turn this batter out onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. I used 13 x 18.

Smear, cajole, and press this batter to the edges.

Then use an offset spatula to smooth it out to an even thickness.

6. Bake in your preheated 350 degree F oven until it turns an even, golden brown color, about 25-30 minutes.

All baked. Don’t mind the fact that it looks like E.T.

7. Immediately after it comes out of the oven, sprinkle the chocolate over the top.

TURN OFF THE OVEN and slide the sheet pan into the turned off oven for exactly 3 minutes. The residual heat will melt the chocolate.

8. Pull the sheet pan out. Chocolate tends to retain its shape even when it’s melted. Smooth out the top and you’ll see that it is, indeed, melted.

9. Sprinkle the whole surface with a generous coating of nuts.

Then refrigerate this tray until it’s cooled and the chocolate has hardened, about 1 hour.

10. All set up. Run a knife around the perimeter of the sheetpan to loosen the cookie block.

Gently pry the block out of the sheet pan and slide it onto a cutting board.

Grab a corner of the parchment from underneath the sheet of cookie and carefully peel it off.

11. Slice! It’s best to use a serrated knife. Use a back and forth sawing motion, rather than pressing the knife downward. First vertical slices…

…then horizontal slices.

There you have it.

These can be kept wrapped in the fridge for up to 4 days, but they taste best at room temperature.

Go make yourself popular.