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Two honey-sweetened Twix bars stacked with bite taken out of them

Honey-Sweetened Twix Bars

With a shortbread base, chewy caramel middle and soft chocolate top these honey-sweetened (no processed sugar) Twix bars are a sure crowd-pleaser.

Course Dessert
Cuisine Dessert
Keyword cookie bars, Honey-Sweetened
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Cooling Time 4 hours
Total Time 5 hours
Servings 32 servings
Author Heather @ thecookstreat.com

Ingredients

Crust:

  • ¾ cup butter room temperature
  • 4 ½ tablespoons (3.4 ounces) raw honey
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour

Caramel Layer:

  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream divided
  • 1 cup (12-ounces) raw honey
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons butter

Chocolate Layer:

  • 1 ¼  cups  (8 ounces) dark chocolate see note
  • ⅓ to ½ cup (3.5 ounces) heavy whipping cream see note

Instructions

For Crust Layer:

  1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Line a 9×13” pan with parchment paper and set aside.

  2. In a food processor add softened butter and mix a few minutes until smooth. Then add raw honey and vanilla extract and mix until incorporated, scraping down sides of food processor as needed.

  3. Add half of the flour and mix. Then scrape down sides of bowl, add the remaining flour and mix until dough forms a ball. With your hands, press the crust evenly into the prepared pan.

  4. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool.

For Caramel Layer:

  1. While crust is cooking, combine in a medium saucepan over low heat ½ cup of the heavy whipping cream, raw honey, salt, and baking soda. Warm the ingredients slowly and gently stir to combine, being careful not to stir too vigorously and splash the liquid on the sides of the pan.

  2. Once the caramel ingredients have combined, increase the heat to medium-low. The caramel should maintain a simmer, but not be so hot that it is burning on the bottom. Keep cooking at a low simmer WITHOUT STIRRING for about 15-20 minutes until temperature reaches 235 degrees F (see note about elevation adjustments). 

  3. Pour in the remaining ½ cup of cream. Gently swirl the caramel with a wooden spoon once or twice. Then let it simmer WITHOUT STIRRING or adjusting the temperature for 10-15 minutes until the temperature returns to 240 degrees F (see note about elevation adjustments).

  4. Take the caramel off the heat and carefully stir in the vanilla and butter. Let cool until it has cooled to at least 175 degrees F. Then pour over the cooled crust and quickly smooth it until it’s evenly distributed. Let caramel layer cool for 30 to 40 minutes in the refrigerator (or until it no longer jiggles) before adding the chocolate layer.

For Chocolate Layer:

  1. Add the chocolate (chop it to small pieces if using bar chocolate) and cream to a microwavable bowl (or alternately you can use a double boiler to melt). Microwave on 50% power in two or three 30-second intervals, stirring well in between just until the chocolate starts to melt. Be careful not to over melt it or it will seize (meaning it will get hard and then never melt again).

  2. Pour chocolate layer over set caramel layer and spread it until it’s evenly distributed. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours until the cookie bars are set completely. Carefully remove the parchment and cut into four rows of eight bars for 32 bars total (or you can cut 3 rows of 5 bars for larger bars).

  3. These cookie bars can be eaten immediately, stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks, or frozen for a couple of months. For best results, let come to room temperature before serving so caramel is soft.

Recipe Notes

1. The kind of chocolate to use depends on your preference. I usually use the Ghiradelli brand of dark chocolate chips but I've also made this with Trader Joe's dark chocolate pounds plus bar, chopped.

2. The perfect amount of cream to add to the chocolate layer is right between ⅓ and ½ cup, which is why I gave the weighted measurement. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, just measure a bit less than a half of a cup and you should be right on.

3. Elevation adjustment and candy thermometer calibration: Your elevation level will affect the temperature of the caramel layer. I live at 4500 feet above sea level. And that is the elevation that this recipe was created. If you live below or above that elevation you will need to adjust the temperature in the caramel recipe accordingly and here’s a simple formula to do a quick adjustment:

Add 1 degree for every 500 feet of elevation below 4500. Subtract 1 degree for every 500 feet of elevation above 4500.

If you are an overachiever, you will want to check whether or not your candy thermometer is calibrated. My thermometer measures 203 degrees F. after boiling for 10 minutes. That number is an accurate reading for the elevation I live at which is about 4500 feet above sea level.

Here’s an easy way to find how many degrees to adjust the recipe by (it accounts for elevation gain plus thermometer calibration and will be the most accurate).

Find out what temperature your candy thermometer reads after being in boiling water for 10 minutes. If that temperature is hotter than 203 degrees (which is what my thermometer reads), then add the difference to all of the temperatures in the recipe. If it is lower than 203, subtract the difference to all the temperatures in the recipe.