Grandma's Toffee Bars

It was easy to tell when Grandma's Toffee Bars were in the works. The tell-tale inventory of huge Hershey's Chocolate Bars, the baking dish on the counter, the chopped pecans...we just knew.

These are actually more like cookies, because the crust is softer and a little less dense than other toffee bar recipes. In my humble opinion, these are the best toffee bars out there. They don't take long to prepare and waiting for them to cool is what takes the most time. It's hard to cut them into squares when they first come out of the oven because the knife "pulls" through and you can't get a clean cut. So waiting is best.

Great Grandma Kate c. 1968

There's a picture of my Great Grandma Kate (Grandma's mother) sitting at the kitchen table. In the middle of the table was a little snowman and a plate of these cookies. That was probably Christmas about 40 years ago, so these cookies go back a long way and of all the cookie recipes in Grandma's collection, these are our family's absolute favorite. (How many times do we say that?!) They are a little pricey to make because of the candy bars, but when they go on sale it's the perfect time to stock up!

Gram’s Toffee Bars

 Crust:

½ cup butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg (at room temp)

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

Topping:

½ lb Hershey’s chocolate bar (2 large bars)

½ c chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Combine butter and sugar and beat until creamy.  Add egg and vanilla and blend thoroughly.  Stir in dry ingredients and mix until dough is stiff.  Press into  9x13 greased baking dish and bake in 350F oven 30 minutes.  Evenly distribute pieces of chocolate bar on top of crust and melt. Spread out chocolate and top with chopped nuts. Wait until almost cooled before cutting.