Homemade Twix Bars

four twix bars on wire cooling rack with one stacked on top and cut open

A soft and buttery cookie topped with a homemade chewy salted caramel, finished with a semi-sweet chocolate coating. Every bite of one of these Homemade Twix Bars is perfect sweet, chewy, and just SO. GOOD.

Course: Desserts

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 40

Cook Time: 50

Total Time: 1 30

Servings: bars

Calories: 548kcal

Ingredients

Shortbread

1 cup salted butter room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour

Caramel

1 cup granulated sugar
⅓ cup corn syrup
1¼ cups heavy cream
2 Tablespoons salted butter
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Chocolate Coating

3 cups semi-sweet chocolate pieces
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil

Instructions

Shortbread

Heat oven to 350℉/177℃.
Line a 9-inch square pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
Beat butter, sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
Stir in flour.
Turn dough into prepared pan.
Press evenly across bottom of pan.
Bake for 20 minutes, until just starting to color.

Caramel

Place sugar, corn syrup, cream, and butter in a heavy 4 quart pot.
Cook and stir over medium heat until sugar has melted.
Increase heat to medium high.
Continue cooking, occasionally brushing down sides of pan with pastry brush dipped in water to 245℉/118℃, about 20-30 minutes.
Remove from heat.
Stir in vanilla.
Immediately pour over cooled shortbread.
Allow to cool completely.

Assembly

Line sheet pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
Place chocolate and vegetable oil in a microwave safe bowl.
Microwave on high in 15 second intervals, stirring after each, until chocolate is melted and smooth.
Lift candy out of pan.
Using a sharp knife, cut into 16 bars.
Using a fork, dip each candy bar into chocolate.
Allow to drain.
Place on prepared pan.
Allow to set.
Trim off any excess chocolate.

Notes

Room temperature is about 70℉/21℃.
To substitute unsalted butter in the shortbread, add ⅜ teaspoon salt. In the caramel, just add a pinch of salt in with the sugar.
Do NOT over-bake the shortbread, as it will be too dry and crumbly for these twix bars. The shortbread needs to just begin to brown when it's ready.
You will need to test your thermometer before using it for the candy. The best way to do this is boil a pot of water with your thermometer in it. A pot of boiling water should read 212 degrees Fahrenheit.
Don’t let the thermometer sit at the bottom of the pot when you are cooking.
Use a bigger pot than you think you need! The caramel bubbles up very high when you’re cooking.
The shortbread needs to be room temperature before you pour the caramel on top. It does not need to be hot!
We prefer semi-sweet chocolate with this recipe, but you can easily use milk chocolate or bittersweet!
For this recipe, you can use either tempered chocolate or melted chocolate for the coating. We found using melted chocolate was much easier for us to handle.
Use the excess chocolate after dipping to drizzle some over the top.
You may want to trim off any excess chocolate after the coating set.
If the bars are taking too long to set, you can place them in the refrigerator for a few minutes.

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