Dine and Dish

Food blog with family recipes

Convenience Store Living {Recipe: Homemade Twix Caramel Cookie Bars}

Homemade Twix Caramel Cookie Bars

After the egg cream float, daycare days, we moved to the country. Well, it was 3 1/2 miles south of the tiny town I went to school in, but to a young girl, that was country. There was no Pizza Hut delivery. There were no friends just dropping in to see if I wanted to play. There was nothing but my family and the animals and the land. The worst part about it was there was no easy access to candy. I had friends who could just walk to a convenience store to get their candy fix. Not me… I had to wait until we’d “go into town” before I could get candy. Such a rough life I lead…

I never understood why my mom couldn’t just make candy bars. I mean, the ingredients were right there on the side of the package. How hard could it be to figure out how much Thiamine Mononitrate and Polyglycerol Polyricinoleate went into a candy bar? Once again, you can pity me because my mom never even tried… I was left candy deprived.

You can imagine my determination the other day when we passed an apartment complex right next to a gas station and I heard my 7 year old exclaim “That would be the best place to live, ever!” When I asked her why, she said “Because you could get candy easily any time you wanted!” Ahhhh…. the flood of memories came rushing back to me and I became bound and determined to give my girl what I never had… her favorite candy bar without having to wait until a “trip to town” to get it.

OK so – Homemade Twix Caramel Cookie Bars…. soooooo good, but no substitute for the real Polyglycerol Polyricinoleate filled goodness you can find at the convenience store. If you are looking for a shortbread caramel Twix type cookie bar, this recipe is for you. If you are looking for the real thing, move next to a gas station.  I’m pretty sure that’s the only solution.

Recipe: Homemade Twix Caramel Cookie Bars

For the shortbread layer:

  • 2 sleeves Girl Scout Shortbread cookies, finely crushed (I used a food processor)
  • 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 9 Tablespoons butter, melted

Combine cookies, sugar and melted butter in a bowl. Press into prepared 8-inch square baking dish. Place in the refrigerator to chill while you create the caramel layer,

For the caramel layer (from Liz at Hooiser Homemade)

  • 1 cup graham crackers, crushed
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup white sugar
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup butter

Combine all ingredients into a medium sized saucepan and bring to a boil, while stirring, over medium heat. Continue stirring and allow the mixture to boil for 5 minutes, or until caramel starts to pull away from the side of the pan. Pour the caramel mixture over the shortbread crust, spreading so it is an even layer. Chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

For the chocolate:

  • 1 package Milk Chocolate chips
  • 1 Tablespoon butter
  • 1 Tablespoon whipping cream

In a microwave safe dish, melt the chocolate chips and butter together on low power for 2 minutes. Stir in the whipping cream. Continue the melting process at 30 second intervals until chocolate is melted and smooth. Pour over the caramel layer and spread until even and smooth. Place in the refrigerator for 1 hour, or until settled. Cut into squares, top with crumbs from the shortbread crust, and serve.

 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Cookin' Canuck says

    Kristen, these look amazing! What cute stories about you and your 7-year old. I’d take these beautiful bars over anything with all the fake stuff in a heartbeat.

  9. Allison [Girl's Guide to Social Media] says

    Homemade candy bars are SO much better than store-bought. Plus, I never have Thiamine Mononitrate and Polyglycerol Polyricinoleate in the house. Oh darn… 🙂

  10. Nancy says

    Those look great! But the real question is–did the 7-year-old deign to eat them in place of the gas-station version?

  12. Nancy@acommunaltable says

    What a cute story!! These look entirely too good and beat the store bought bars any day!!!

  14. Shaina says

    I love your story! We lived close enough to walk to the store, but my parents were health nuts who would freak if we ate candy. So we usually ended up with Clearly Canadian Sparkling Water. We were so naughty.

    I love Twix, though, so I’ll have to try these. (Just don’t tell my dad.)

  16. Karly says

    These look amazing and I love that you used Girl Scout cookies for the base. I have a slight addiction to their shortbread cookies! 🙂

  17. Nancy Wyatt says

    Loved your story and loved that your 7yr old shared her thoughts that in turn brought back memories! Love it! Love the looks of this candy bar! 🙂 You are giving me the itch to get in the kitchen and make something yummy to eat and blog about! Hugs from Conroe, TX!

  18. Kathryn says

    When I first glanced at those yummy bars, I thought the caramel layer was a kind of orange marmalade layer…and now I’m wondering what that would taste like…

  19. Deborah says

    This brings back childhood memories for me, too! We lived about 5 miles out of city limits, and I always felt like it was so far away! I’ll have to try these out – I’m a caramel junkie so I’m sure I’d love them!

  23. Lisa says

    Yummm. Sorry, that’s all the comment I can seem to think of right now…. Droool. 🙂

  27. El says

    This is hysterical. Only a child would want to live next to a convenience store for candy. I must say your homemade version looks far superior to the one with unpronounceable ingredients. Amazing .

  28. theurbanbaker says

    As a kid, my neighbor and I would save glass bottles. We used to pile them into our little red wagon and walk 7 blocks to “Bushel Basket” our local very, very small neighborhood market. We would redeem our bottles, collect our money and buy pixie sticks, candy buttons, and babe ruth bars. Gosh – I have not thought about that for ever! Thanks for rekindling those memories. I love your version of the Twix bar(my all time favorite along with KitKats). Such a great post, Kristen!

  30. Prerna@IndianSimmer says

    Aww, what a cute story! Just replace candy to ice cream and its my story right there, so you know why I bought an ice cream maker 🙂
    And that candy bar is SINFUL! I wanna be a kid again.

  31. Sylvie @ Gourmande in the Kitchen says

    Haha, 3 1/2 miles from candy! How ever did you manage? I’m just teasing, I remember how important candy was when I was a kid. Scratch that, I still know how important having candy within easy reach is. I could seriously use a few of these bars around my house now.

  36. Natanya @ Fete & Feast says

    Twix bars are my favorite candy bar. I avoid them now because of the unpronounceable ingredients but oh do I miss them. This is a way to have my cake – or I guess cookie – and eat it too. Thanks for sharing!

  37. Angela@RecipesFromMyMom says

    These remind me a little of Giada’s Espresso caramel bars from her Giada @ Home cookbook but your bar is so great because it’s no-bake. I love how you’ve pulled together inspiration from a blogger, the Girl Scout cookie base and a much-loved candy bar.

  43. carrie says

    Those look great. I used to get twix in my lunch everyday in elementary school. I think im going to make them this weekend for my party on the 4th 😉 thanks for the recipe

  45. Pook says

    Sorry, but King Arthur Flour has a better recipe called Thousand Dollar Bars and it predates you.

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