Ingredients
Cookie Base
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour (spooned & leveled, not packed)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp Argo corn starch
- 1/2 tsp salt
Toffee Topping
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup Karo light corn syrup
- 2 tbsp heavy whipping cream
- 1 tbsp Argo corn starch
- 1 tbsp water
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
What to do
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and 8×8 pan with butter and line with parchment paper (*see note below). To make the cookie base, in a large bowl, whisk together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar. Mix until smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla, mix again until incorporated.
2. In a separate bowl, gently whisk flour, baking powder, salt and cornstarch. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, mix as you go. At this point, I stop whisking, and begin folding everything with a rubber spatula.
3. Evenly spread dough into the prepared pan and bake for 33-34 minutes, or until the base is golden brown and no longer jiggles in the middle. Note: ovens do vary.
4. While the base of the cookie bars bake, work on the toffee layer. Add water and cornstarch to a small bowl. Mix well with a fork until all cornstarch chunks disappear. Set to the side. In a saucepan, over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the brown sugar, heavy cream, salt and corn syrup. Whisk constantly until mix comes to a boil, pour in the cornstarch/water slurry. Stir until the mix thickens, about 5-6 minutes (we want the cornstarch flavor to completely disappear).
5. When the cookie base is done baking, pour the hot toffee over the base (note: make sure to move the pan around so the toffee spreads to the sides and around the bars (not just in the middle)).
6. Bake for another 11-12 minutes. Toffee should be bubbling. Remove from the oven, let the bars rest for about 1-2 hours. You can cover with foil overnight. When ready to serve, lift bars from the pan, drizzle with melted chocolate and feel free to top with chopped nuts, coconut, whatever your desire!
FAQ’s
Helpful tips
Here are some important Pro tips by Maude
- To ensure your cookie bars come out of the pan after baking, grease your pan well and lay a strip of parchment paper in the pan. This will help you lift the bars out of the pan later.
- When measuring your flour, be sure not to scoop your measuring cup into the flour (that is too much flour!) You want to spoon your flour into your measuring cup (spoonful by spoonful) until the cup is full. Then use a knife to scrape off the top, excess flour. This tip will ensure that you are not using too much flour in your recipes.
- When mixing the toffee on the stovetop, once you add the corn starch slurry, its important to mix the toffee for several minutes. Cornstarch is a great thickening agent, we want it to completely dissolve in the toffee. Once your toffee thickens, taste and continue to mix desired consistency is reached. Id say at least 5-8 minutes of mixing is needed.