Share Chocolate

I made Twix. At long last, I made Twix.

It would have been enough JUST LIKE THIS:

But then we made them miniature (aka irresistable) and added chocolate (aka addictive)

I'm not much of a candy bar girl, in general they just don't really do it for me.

But Twix are different, I think it's the shortbread. It must be the shortbread.

It cuts the overwhelming sugar rush of the candy bar business,

and really makes for one hell of a sweet treat. Kit Kats are also pretty special.

I really wanted to make these for my brother,

because well...I think he'd really dig them. I mean, who wouldn't though?

The first time I thought about making Twix, I was going to 

bring them down to San Francisco for my brother BUT

 there was a shortbread mess and I accepted (temporary) defeat. 

But not for long! I'm back and this time I was 

not settling for anything less than a crowd pleasing success. 

Apologies to my brother. I owe you some Twix, Alex!

I do have a confession though: I somehow managed to completely wing it with this caramel.

I'm going to try to recreate it so I can share the recipe, but for now 

I'll just share a popular one that I found other Twix-bar-makers relied on.

{{I can tell you that my caramel involved some mix of:

sugar, butter and dulce de lece (from boiling a can of sweetend condensed milk FOREVER)}}

Naturally I ended up covering everything in my room with chocolate, 

including these lovely little caramel seductresses  

Here's how you make these little babes:

Homemade Twix Bars with Himalayan Salt
makes 20-30 bars; Adapted from Mele Cotte

For Caramel
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup dark corn syrup
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
For Shortbread
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup + 2 tbl butter
pinch of salt

+ Plenty of Bakers Brand Chocolate 

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
   
2. Mix all the shortbread ingredients in the bowl of a mixer, with a paddle attachment. mix until combined but crumbly
3. Butter a 10 inch round springform pan of an 8 inch square pan ( I used the springform because it's what we had and it made it really easy to take the shortbread/caramel out)
   
4. Press the crumbly pieces together to evenly cover the pan and bake in the oven for 20 minutes, until golden
   
5. While that's baking, start making the caramel: put all caramel ingredients in a pot, start at medium heat
   
6. Continuously stir the mixture until it comes together and the sugar dissolves, keep at a boil for about 10 minutes making sure it doesn't stick. Remove from heat when it's completely thickened.
   
7. Pour the caramel over the shortbread and let it harden in the freezer for atleast 30 minutes
   
8. Once hardened, remove from the pan and cut into bars 
   
9. Let the bars harden again in the freezer while you melt some chocolate. // I tried chocolate chips and baker's chocolate and the baker's chocolate works much butter // I melted the chocolate in a microwave at 50% power, stirring every 30 seconds
10. Individually remove the bars from the freezer, dip in the chocolate using a for underneath bars and let dry on wax paper. 
    
11. While the chocolate is still wet, sprinkle with Himalayan Salt/Sea Salt

All done! These store best in the freezer or refrigerator. 

Let me just tell you this:

You will want to eat these all, perhaps all it once. 

But don't! Share these babies all around town!

I've never seen a happier bunch of folks than those

that are given free homemade chocolate candy. 

Do It!

The salt is totally essential. 

Sweet and Salty. It's what life is all about!

You better believe I'll be making these again. 

Maybe start a little chocolate stand? 

Or Maybe just shower my friends and family with them?

Sounds good!

So as far as candy bars go...what's you absolute favorite? 

I feel like Snickers has a pretty loyal following