Homemade Twix Chocolate Bars

Happy Halloween! I hope you’re doing your fair share of trick & lots of treating today.

I’ll be dressing up for work today & posting on instagram so be sure to check that out here. Halloween, Easter & Valentine’s Day are probably the top three holidays that I associate with candy.  It seemed only fitting to pair up with the folks at Chocoley to bring you this post for homemade twix. Once I figured out what I was doing I had a lot of fun making these (& eating the leftover chocolate out of the bowl!). Plus, I got to try out Chocoley’s Caramel which is pretty much the best way (in my opinion to make caramel - because it’s already made!) & it’s super easy to work with. There was no sugar burnt in my kitchen attempting to make caramel because this stuff is perfect right out of the container. I made my cookies from scratch using Ina Garten’s Shortbread Cookie Recipe but I think if you wanted to use graham crackers or villa wafers as your cookie they would work great too - your twix just might be a little bit bigger or a different shape (round!).  All worth giving a shot.

I think I may love these little wrappers Chocoley sent me the most. They make me feel like I made some legit candy bars. 

Have a spooktacularly sweet day!
Ingredients for Shortbread Cookie (adapted from Ina Garten’s Shortbread Cookie Recipe):

• 1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• pinch of salt

Ingredients for Twix:

• 1/3 container Chocoley Caramel
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch (optional for working with the caramel)
• 1 lb Chocoley Bada Bing Bada Boom Candy & Molding Formula in Milk Chocolate

Tools you might find helpful:

• silicone mini candy bar mold
• off-set spatula
• adorable wrapping papers

Make the Shortbread!

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter and 1 cup of sugar until they are just combined.
2. Add the vanilla.
3. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture.
4. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together.
5. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk.
6. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes. Meanwhile pre-heat your oven to 350.
7. If using a silicone candy mold tray push small pieces of the dough into the bottom of each candy bar mold. The dough should fill about 1/4 of the height of the mold. Place the silicone mold on a cookie sheet so that it doesn’t wobble in your oven.
8. Or if you don’t have a mold, roll the dough 1/2-inch thick, cut either with a knife or a cookie cutter shape & size of your choice (note: this will dictate the size of your twix - if you want bigger twix cut bigger cookies if you want smaller ones, cut smaller). Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar. 
9. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature (if using the candy mold - wait until these are entirely cool in the mold otherwise they may crumble - like they did for me!).

Make the Twix!

1. Heat an inch of water in a pot. Create a double boiler by placing a glass bowl on top of the pot making sure the bottom does NOT touch the water. Once the water comes to a boil, turn the heat off. Add the bag of chocolate to the bowl (don’t get any water in it or the chocolate will cease up). Stir with a rubber spatula until all the chocolate has melted.
2. Remove the bowl of chocolate from the pot & place on your working space.
3. Tear off small piece of the caramel, using cornstarch on your hands if it gets too sticky. Roll into small logs, roughly the size of your cookies.
4. Place one caramel log on top of the cookie & press down so that the caramel covers & adheres to the top of the cookie.
5. Dip the caramel covered cookie in the chocolate & cover it with chocolate on all sides. This may get messy with your hands so you can try using a fork - I just used my fingers.
6. Press the chocolate covered twix back into the clean & dry mold you used to bake the cookies in. Spoon more chocolate on if there are any bare spots. Use a knife or off-set spatula to even the chocolate with the top of the tray to make a smooth bottom. Continue to do this for all of your twix bars.
7. If you’re not using a mold let your chocolate covered twix bars cool on a parchment covered plate or tray.
8. Refridgerate finished twix to set them completely for about 10 minutes in the fridge or until the chocolate looks & feels hard.
9. Pop twix out of tray & wrap with these adorable foil wrappers!
10. Share with your favorite trick or treaters!