Chocolate Caramel Shortbread Bars (Homemade Twix Bars)

To Make Chocolate Caramel Shortbread Bars, You’ll need:

• unsalted butter, at room temperature
• white sugar
• all purpose flour
• sea salt
• sweetened condensed milk
• corn syrup or brown rice syrup
• 8 oz semi-sweet chocolate

Making the caramel layer for the chocolate caramel shortbread bars isn’t difficult, but it does require your undivided attention.

1. Add the butter to a medium pot over medium heat and let it melt. Once the butter is melted, add the sugar, sweetened condensed milk, and brown rice syrup (or corn syrup).
2. Combine these ingredients over the heat using a wire whisk until the mixture is smooth. Continue whisking constantly as the mixture heats up and once it reaches a slow boil continue whisking for 7 minutes. The caramel will be ready when it darkens in color very slightly, and reaches a temperature of 236 degrees Fahrenheit

  IMPORTANT: I would be remiss not to stress the importance of constant whisking at this point in the recipe.  I have ruined more than a few batches of this caramel filling because I got a little lazy while I was whisking and let the caramel overcook on the bottom of the pot. If this happens, you’ll start to see brown flecks appearing in the mixture as it boils and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about this except throw the whole thing in the trash and start again (been there, done that!). I don’t make recipes like this too often simply because unless my kids are asleep there’s no guarantee I won’t have to step away from the stove for even a short moment. And even if you stop whisking and take the pot off the heat, those brown flecks will still appear and your mixture will taste burnt because the bottom of the pot retains a high level of heat for several minutes even if it’s off the element. So don’t stop to answer the phone, don’t scratch your nose, don’t break up a fight between your kids, don’t do ANYTHING else except whisk the heck out of the caramel for a full 7 minutes and it will turn out beautifully!