Chocolate Toffee Almond Bars
August 25th, 2010 § 53 Comments
I quit the gym on Saturday. Burst through my apartment door after one final round of Andrea versus the treadmill and told Daniel, somewhat proudly, “I’m not going back there. Not for a while anyway. They made me fill out a form to cancel my membership and in the section where they ask why you’re leaving, I told them I just didn’t love it anymore.”
Daniel looked up from his laptop, smiled, and said, “I bet the toffee bar smeared on your lower left lip told them for you.”
And so it goes.
These itty bitty squares will try to fool you. They will sit, innocent and gentle as a butterfly, on your countertop. They will tickle your nose with a rich, toffee aroma. You will lift one, sticky fingers and all, and raise it to your lips. Bite. Teeth sinking into sweet milky butterscotch, crunching through toasty almonds, a note of gooey fudge detected by your wisest taste bud, the gummy chew of buttery oat-graham crust. Sweetness, intensity, rush.
That one square inch of toffee almond oblivion will make you forget about your ever-growing to do list, your laundry pile, and the fact that summer is almost over. You may also forget about showering and paying the bills. At which point you should call Dr. Drew.
You are now an addict. Let these be your gateway to the dark, decadent world.
Chocolate Toffee Almond Bars (adapted from SevenSpoons)
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) rolled oats
1/2 cup (125 ml) graham cracker crumbs (about 6 full cracker sheets, crushed)
1/2 tsp (1 ml) fine salt
1/2 cup (125 ml) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup (250 ml) butterscotch chips
1 cup (250 ml) chocolate chips
1 cup (250 ml) sliced almonds
1 can sweetened condensed milk
Crush your graham crackers like a barbarian. Or use a food processor.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line an 8-inch (2 L) square pan with aluminum foil so that the paper hangs over the sides of the pan. Coat with nonstick cooking spray.
Stir the oats, graham crumbs and salt in a bowl to combine
Stir in the melted butter. Press the crumbly oat mixture into the prepared pan.
Sprinkle butterscotch chips evenly on top, followed by chocolate chips and sliced almonds.
Pour condensed milk evenly over pan (it will sink in as it bakes).
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the edges are bubbling. Cool to room temperature in the pan, then chill for at least 4 hours before slicing into bars.
Store toffee bars in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Holy heavenly!
Hahahaha I literally LOLed at your first few lines. Good for you! And… can you please come over and make me some of these? Like…now?!
All I can say is… YUM!!!!!! Can’t wait to try this!!!
Love it!
Oh my gooooooosh those look amazing!!! I am nervous to get a bag of butterscotch chips because I don’t know how long it will last in my cupboard…
Oh my… These look good. I’m stuck at home sick today and I’m thinking I may consider baking my workout.
Gyms? Who needs gyms when I can run around the kitchen like a chicken with my head cut off? Admittedly my kitchen is very small, but I figured enough lengths of it will add up to a mile eventually…
I love the look of all of the ingredients laid out on your cutting board. I love that you gym asks why you’re quitting
Genius, I’m getting on the next flight to Seattle right now. (Which is obviously much easier than making them myself.)
Next time we see each other, I must insist you make these. I swear my heart leaps for joy when it sees every dessert bar post you make. Then cries a little when it realizes I don’t bake nearly as often as you…
You know it’s going to be amazing when sweetened condensed milk is involved! Love bars like these!
wow, these look SO good. I’m speechless, that is all.
Oh my goodness. These look so good its almost ridiculous.
I’m sure, if I licked my screen, that image would taste like heaven. I can’t even wrap my mind around what the real thing must taste like.
yup
magic bars.
it’s the sweetened condensed milk that does it I think.
YES, I think it’s what I need to make next. …I might add coconut…because I would have too.
did you know if you take a can of the condensed milk and let it roll gently in boiling water (not sure how long) and you crack it open, you get caramel?
My Mom used to make candy during the holidays when I was a kid and she did that. Made me NUTS.
I simply do not have your amazing self control around things like this but I decided if living with 5 extra pounds (yeah right) means I can LIVE LIFE and eat things like this…than bring out the magic bars!
Happy Wednesday
holy crap those look delicious!! i have a feeling i will be making them lickety split.
i love sevenspoons!
wow i can’t even spell my own name today. that is how mesmerized i am by the bars. hahahaha.
Love your blog! I read it everyday. May I ask what in the world you do with all those desserts you cook all the time?? I have a family of 3 (me, the husband and 10yr old son) and I couldn’t imagine always having so many treats in our house all the time! As always, they look delicious!
Hey Ashley! Thank you so much! I bring almost all the desserts (the leftovers) to work and to my neighbors! Make lots of friends this way!
Resident Evil 2 il primo capitolo della serie al quale ho gactioo, ed attualmente il mio preferito. Senza dubbi. Premesso questo, la mia opinione una: per quanto il comparto grafico sia notevolissimo per il Wii, la moderna mania di creare sparatutto su binari odiosa. Ok, una categoria di gioco che piace, senza dubbio. Ma non per Resident Evil. Per chi si chiedesse il perch (non credo molti, ma comunque mai dire mai), ricorderei al mondo (e alla capcom) che resident evil un alternanza di zombie lenti e macchinosi ed enigmi, enigmi, enigmi. Ed proprio quest’altalenarsi di gameplay (nonch la tensione onnipresente) che dava spessore alla serie. Ora riducono tutto ad uno spara e ammazza. Banale.
No! No, stop! I don’t even like baking and I am feeling an intense urge to make these immediately. This could be a problem for Megan.
Holy crap that looks freaking amazing. Sounds like you’re pretty happy you quit the gym – so congrats! You shouldn’t keep going somewhere you don’t love:) Unless well, it’s that place we have to go to that let’s us have a roof over our heads and food to eat
You ROCK!
I have no words…why does everything you make look so freaking good?! I had your s’more recipe printed off to make for a party this weekend, but I think this one just replaced the s’mores…
Do you bake and then give a lot of your treats away to neighbors, family, etc?
Thanks Kat! Yes, I bring the leftover baked goods to work and give them to neighbors, maintenance people, the post office, anywhere I feel deserves a treat!
These look amazing!
Thank you!!
Holy Shit – that looks amazing!!! I am pretty sure my blood sugar just rose about 50 points just looking at the picture
Oh my goodness, I don’t know how you don’t eat all of those at once!! I’m all about intuitive eating these days, but omg, these would not be safe around me!!!!!
LOL @ like a barbarian. These look fabulous. I’ve got this recipe saved on my computer because they look like they’d be perfect for a bake sale. Who doesn’t love toffee and chocolate and it seems like you could easily omit the almonds for those who don’t like or are allergic to nuts.
As a sidebar, I’m a finalist in a recipe contest! I’d love your support. To vote, see my video here: http://bit.ly/bXKr5j and then click that you “like it.” (Note that you will have to log into your youtube account to vote and if you don’t have one, you’ll have to create one. I promise it only takes a minute!) If nothing else you get to see me look awkward on video. :-S
Mmmm! You always post the BEST recipes. I might try these out for a friend’s baby shower soon. (You know, so I don’t have to face the entire pan alone.)
These. Look. Amazing. I’m drooling.
I’m not much of a gym goer, myself either. I’ll do it for one or two months in the coldest of the winter months, but then I’m ready to head outdoors for some fresh air again. I just can’t force myself to run on a treadmill for very long.
Oh dang these look good. I should start keeping a bucket next to my computer to catch the drool when I read your blog. By the way, if the gym doesn’t make you happy, good for you for having the conviction to stop it!! Exercise is supposed to be fun
Oh. my. god.
That’s all I got. Well that, and a whole lotta drool.
mmmmmm toffee bars!!
Those look amazing! How do you eat just one?
Years of just having one of something, rather than 3, has taught me to be satisfied with a serving. Generally, when I have more than one, I’m just chasing a feeling of fullness and the richness of the baked good isn’t as sweet.
Thanks!
OMG – I NEED these!!!!
Dear Christina Feeney, I love you. I love you. I love you. End list.
I wait for that empty can of condensed milk sitting on the counter, JUST so I can run my finger around the inside! Sooooo good
[...] butter instead of marshmallow with chocolate/butterscotch on top). But then I saw Andrea make Chocolate Toffee Almond Bars a few weeks ago and I had to have [...]
[...] Andrea’s Chocolate Toffee Almond Bars [...]
Wow, I can see the richness and taste right from the pictures! I want to eat these now! and no, I do not use Gym either!
Perfect huh?
This was such a great idea, and one that I had just recently made via the Sweetened Condensed Milk Can!! So, I added the coconut that was on that recipe but I love how you put the milk on last, and the oats!! Just DE-LISH!
Thanks for sharing.
Kathleen
Thanks Kathleen!! I love the idea of adding coconut!
[...] I should really know this, but the memory disk in my brain only has room for pumpkin spice cake and chocolate toffee almond bars. Anyway, they’d read my letter, clicked through this blog, and wanted to feature my story in [...]
I made these yesterday to bring to friends’ homes while visiting this week..so far a complete HIT! Thanks for sharing!
YAY! I love these little bars!!
[...] Chocolate Toffee Almond Bars [...]
HAHAHA… Unfortunately i have to pay for my gym whether i use it or not.. but for now i barely go, maybe once or twice a week, i hate it. i only do it so i don’t get fat. this recipe looks so incredibly good.. condensed milk – damn!
you’ve got me salivating, i need a birthday recipe!
I didn’t bake mine quite long enough, but they are still SO friggin delicious. Thank you for another winner!
These are my favorite…until I make some other kind of sinful dessert (which I then portion out and pack in my lunches, as to ease at home indulgences)
(Also, to share with your readers, I halve all dessert recipe, it works for a family of 3…my dad and brother eat most.
[...] Keen from Eat Make Read Chocolate Toffee Almond Bars from Can You Stay for Dinner Homemade Samoa Bars from The Sweets Life Apricot Bars from Spa Bettie [...]
does anyone know the calorie count on these? i’m sure it’s not pretty, but still