These Shortbread Toffee Cookie Bars are made with a buttery brown sugar shortbread crust, filled with a sweetened condensed milk caramel, and topped with milk chocolate and toffee bits! SO sweet and rich!
This recipe was originally published in 2014. The images and recipe tips were updated in 2021. The recipe remains the same!
Shortbread Toffee Cookie Bars is one of those recipes that has been around for ages, I think. I found the base for this recipe on Pinterest and decided to give it a try…unfortunately the picture just kept leading me back to a million other sites and never a proper source. Annoying.
So, I slightly varied the recipe that the person reposted on the picture. Recipe police, don’t arrest me.
Anyway, I know that calling these cookies “Best Ever” is a pretty confident statement to make, but I think they deserve the praise. Because these are the “Best Ever Shortbread Toffee Cookie Bars” I’ve ever had. Their base is a brown sugar shortbread, the filling is a caramelized sweetened condensed milk, and the topping is a mixture of milk chocolate and toffee. It’s everything you could ever want all in one place.
Recipe Ingredients
Let’s stop staring at these beautiful cookie bars, and bake them into being! Here’s what we’ll need to do that:
For the Shortbread Crust:
- Butter: Make sure the butter comes to room temperature so that it will easily cream with the sugar.
- Brown Sugar: I used light brown sugar for its sweet, caramel notes.
- Flour: I used all-purpose flour for these cookie bars.
For the Filling:
- Sweet Condensed Milk: Whatever brand your local store carries is fine.
- Butter: You can use salted or unsalted, whichever you prefer.
For the Topping:
- Chocolate Chips: You’ll need 2 cups of milk chocolate chips – if you want to add richness, mix in some dark chocolate chips.
- Toffee Bits: You can buy these at your local store, or make a batch of toffee and crush some of it up!
These chocolate toffee cookie bars take about 15 minutes to prepare, and 30 minutes to bake – and it’s all super easy! I love cookie bars because they can be a casual dessert for snacking on, but you can also make them as a somewhat decadent dessert.
Prepare: Preheat oven to 350° and line a 9×13 pan with foil and spray lightly with nonstick spray.
Cream the Butter and Sugar: Beat butter and sugar together until combined, 1-2 minutes.
Mix in Flour & Bake: The mixture will be slightly dry. Press into prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes until lightly golden. Remove from oven and allow the pan to cool slightly.
Prepare the Filling & Bake Again: In a small saucepan heat sweetened condensed milk and butter together until butter is smooth. Pour over shortbread crust. Bake 12-15 minutes until filling is bubbly and browned. It will almost take on a light caramel appearance. Remove from oven.
Add Chocolate Chips: Immediately sprinkle milk chips on top of filling when it comes out of the oven. Place back in oven for 2 minutes until chips are shiny and soft. Carefully spread the chips over the filling with an off-set spatula.
Add Toffee Bits: Sprinkle with toffee bits, pressing into milk chocolate. Allow to cool completely before cutting into squares.
Looking for some tips to ensure the best results with your cookie bars? You’re in the right place:
- Cooling These Cookies: You can place these in the refrigerator to help speed up the cooling process. I allowed mine to cool at room temperature overnight, though, before I sliced and served.
- Don’t Over-Bake the Chocolate: You just want to make sure that it’s melted enough that you can spread it. It doesn’t have to cover the entire top of the cookie perfectly, because you’re going to add toffee on top, too!
- Add a Drizzle of Caramel on Top: I know, I know, sweetness overload, but it’s soooo good!
- Refrigerating the Shortbread Dough: You don’t have to do this, but it will ensure that the dough does not spread out too much it bakes – this is more relevant with separate cookies.
How to Store
I like to store these toffee cookie bars in an airtight container in the fridge (because of the chocolate) for 4-5 days. Let them come to room temperature before eating, though, because the shortbread will taste better that way.
Can I Freeze These?
Sure! You can freeze these cookies in an airtight container for 2-3 months. Thaw them in the fridge so they’re not too hard before eating!
Looking for more easy cookie bar recipes? Try these!
- Lazy Cookie Bars
- Glazed Berry Sugar Cookie Bars
- Funfetti Tye Dyed Cookie Bars
- Cinnamon Roll Cookie Bars
- No Bake Cookie Bars
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 30 Squares 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These Shortbread Toffee Cookie Bars are made with a buttery brown sugar shortbread crust, filled with a sweetened condensed milk caramel, and topped with milk chocolate and toffee bits! SO sweet and rich!
Ingredients
Shortbread Crust
- 3/4 cup butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cups flour
Filling
- 1 cup sweetened condensed milk
- 2 Tbsp butter
Topping
- 2 cups milk chocolate chips
- 1 1/2 cups Toffee Bits
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°
- Line a 9×13 pan with foil and spray lightly with nonstick spray.
Shortbread Crust
- Beat butter and sugar together until combined, 1-2 minutes.
- Mix in flour. Mixture will be slightly dry. Press into prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes until lightly golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.
Filling
- In a small saucepan heat sweetened condensed milk and butter together until butter is smooth. Pour over shortbread crust. Bake 12-15 minutes until filling is bubbly and browned. It will almost take on a light caramel appearance. Remove from oven.
Topping
- Immediately sprinkle milk chips on top of filling when it comes out of the oven. Place back in oven for 2 minutes until chips are shiny and soft.
- Carefully spread the chips over the filling with an off-set spatula.
- Sprinkle with toffee bits, pressing into milk chocolate.
- Allow to cool completely before cutting into squares.
Notes
You can place these in the refrigerator to help speed up the cooling process.
I allowed mine to cool at room temperature, though, over night before I sliced and served.
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I made these last night and they are heavenly. Instead of heath bits I made a batch of toffee — equal parts sugar and butter simmered to 300 degrees — and smashed them up in a baggie. It added 30 minutes to the project but it saved a trip to the store!
If crack tasted like these toffee bars, I would totally do crack.
I made these for my boyfriend to take to work and they were suchhh a hit! It was the first time he’s ever NOT had leftovers from one of my treats. They are amazing! My condensed milk and butter concoction didn’t turn as firm as I thought it would, even though I let it bake even longer than the recipe called for but I still loved them. Thank you for this awesome recipe!
I have these in the oven right now. It’s the second time I’ve made them. They are amazing!!! The entire batch was gone in one afternoon. Everyone loved them! Thanks for a great recipe!
Ugh, I should not be catching up on your blog at night. It makes me drool. I need this!!! I`m loving everything about these bars!
“I truly hope none of you guys tried those brownies and were let down because you didn’t end up high at the end of a street corner. I’m such a jerk. A giant crack liar.” <– YOU LIAR!!
brown sugar shortbread sounds heavenly!
BEST EVER!!!!!! 😉 Haha…totally cracking up. Can we add “the ORIGINAL” blah blah recipe to the list to banned phrases, please? 😉
PS…these DO look like the best ever.
I made these and took them into work. I sealed my place as the dessert queen!! Thank you!
I love reading your posts as much as I love the recipes, but this one made me laugh so hard! And caramel, chocolate and brown butter? That’s just too much!
It’s so funny you mentioned the crack episode, I found a bunch of click-backs to my blog from another blog where the writer was ranting about the exact same issue–crack food is NOT crack! It was actually pretty interesting interacting with her afterwards; I left a comment and she responded politely, but she had definitely been very ranty about comparing food to a real drug addiction. Whatever, I’m keeping my could-be-crack snack mix as is because it’s c**** in my book! And I’m loving these bars, they look just as delicious. Pinned!
Just wanted to let you know – looking at these and not getting to taste them is just torture!