Homemade Twix Bars

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So much better than store-bought Homemade Twix Bars! Two decadent layers, coated with a shiny dark chocolate, and finished with flaked sea salt. It doesn’t get better than this! The inside contains a simple shortbread cookie that is crumbly, but oh so buttery. The real show stopper? The homemade soft caramel! Oh, yes. A simple salted caramel sauce that never hardens and remains gooey, delicious, and perfect to eat. Every bite of these Twix bars is chewy, with a little bit of crunch, sweet but not too sweet, buttery, extra caramel-y and chocolate-y, and just absolutely DELICIOUS! There is nothing better than a homemade childhood favorite candy bar. The best part? These Twix bars are actually easier to make than you might think, taste 10x better than the store-bought versions, and make a great gift/treat any time of year! These sweet candies are really SO GOOD!

→ This post is also available as a Web Story: Homemade Twix Bars

About The Recipe

Friday’s are made for sweets and who doesn’t love a good twix bar? I mean, it’s a buttery shortbread cookie with caramel and just coated with the perfect amount of chocolate. There’s just something so simple, but compelling about this candy bar…especially when they’re homemade!

We are FINALLY back with another homemade candy bar and I couldn’t be more excited. After posting our Homemade Snickers Bars last year, we knew we wanted to share yet another childhood favorite treat.

So, the moment you all have been waiting for…Homemade Twix Bars! Which, are actually waaay easier to make than you might think. All they really are is a shortbread cookie (easy + yummy), soft caramel (not too hard if you follow our directions!), and then coated in bittersweet chocolate (YUM!).

It couldn’t get better than this and, after a bit of a rough week here, there doesn’t seem like there’s a better time to enjoy some comforting childhood treats.

When my mom was first writing and developing this recipe, we discussed doing it a few different ways, but ultimately, we decided to keep things classic and as straight forward as possible! And, even though making a homemade caramel can seem intimidating, I promise it’s actually not all that difficult. The important thing is being able to work quickly and having a good thermometer.

On the plus side, a homemade caramel not only provides a better flavor in these bars, but it also makes these that much more special. Truly the perfect gift to give during any time of the year or just whenever you want a candy bar!

Reasons You Will Love These Twix Bars

• Can be made with dark chocolate or milk chocolate.
• The shortbread is SUPER simple to make!
• Uses minimal specialty equipment to try and keep this recipe simple and achievable.
• The homemade caramel remains soft inside the bar. Perfectly gooey!
• Makes for the perfect gift or homemade treat.
• Tastes SO MUCH better than store-bought!

Equipment Needed

• Hand Mixer
• Glass Mixing Bowls
• 9 Inch Square Pan
• Parchment Paper
• Small Pot
• Thermometer
• Rubber Spatula

Ingredients

(Full ingredient amounts and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post)

For The Cookie:

• Salted Butter
• Granulated Sugar
• Vanilla Extract
• All-Purpose Flour

For The Caramel:

• Granulated Sugar
• Corn Syrup
• Heavy Cream
• Salted Butter
• Vanilla Extract

For The Chocolate Coating:

• Dark Chocolate
• Vegetable Oil

How To Make Homemade Twix Bars

Step 1: Make the shortbread and bake

Beat butter, sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

Stir in the flour.

Turn dough into lined pan and press down evenly. Bake for 20 minutes, or until just starting to color.

Step 2: Make the 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 degrees, about 20-30 minutes. Remove from heat.

Stir in vanilla.

Immediately pour over cooled shortbread. Allow to cool completely.

Step 3: Melt chocolate

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.

Step 4: Putting it Together

Lift candy out of pan and cut into 16 bars.

Using a fork, dip each candy bar into chocolate. Allow to drain and place on lined sheet pan. Cut away excess chocolate, if needed.

What Kind of Chocolate To Use

Twix Bars are traditionally coated in a milk chocolate, but we personally found that if semi-sweet chocolate (about 60%) is used for the coating, the candy is richer in flavor and perfectly sweet! So, while we highly recommend using a high quality semi-sweet chocolate, you can use milk chocolate or a bittersweet chocolate.

Just remember, if you are tempering your chocolate, the temperatures may be different than the ones we have listed below.

What To Make With Twix Bars

The wonderful thing about these Twix bars is that you can stir them into vanilla ice cream, a brownie batter, or even a cookie! The possibilities are pretty much endless. We even stir them into our milkshakes!

Tempered Chocolate or Melted Chocolate?

For this recipe, we found that using melted chocolate with a little bit of vegetable oil works best. Working with tempered chocolate was a bit difficult for us, personally, but it’s definitely something that can be done! If you would like to temper your own chocolate, follow the directions below.

How To Temper Chocolate

1. Place the dark chocolate in a glass bowl and place over a pot of simmering water (this technique is called a baine-marie). Stir until the chocolate melts and temperature is around 124 degrees F, but no higher 130 degrees F.
2. Remove from heat and cool, stirring constantly, to between 82 degrees F and 84 degrees F.
3. Place back over warm water and raise temperature to between 88 degrees F and 90 degrees F. Hold at this temperature.

How To Store

These bars are best kept at room temperature in individual bags. They will keep for about a week or so. If you are not using tempered chocolate, the chocolate may become soft and start to bloom. It’s still completely edible, but won’t be as pretty!

Expert Tips

• 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.

When you make these Homemade Twix Bars, leave a comment down below! We love hearing from you and answering any questions you might have! Also, be sure to tag us on social media and hashtag it #BakersTable.

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