super candy rich!

My friend and neighbor, Ronnie, is a CAbi (Carol Anderson by invitation) Consultant. CAbi is a line of beautiful woman’s clothing that is sold at private parties in people’s homes. Recently one of Ronnie’s hostesses served these decadent toffee cookie bars that are seriously candy rich! The recipe is from a recent Pillsbury Bake-Off.  I believe the original Bake-Off recipe used white chocolate chips, but the hostess substituted peanut butter chips, which I think is a great idea. Also, the original recipe makes 24 bars, these are far too rich for that, so I cut them into 45 bars… much more manageable for the tummy!  Thanks, Ronnie for passing on this recipe to me. I hope you enjoy that I’m passing it on to you!

Chocolate Toffee Caramel Bars

1 package Pillsbury Moist Supreme Butter Recipe Cake Mix
1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
2 eggs
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate or peanut butter chips
Three 1.4-ounce Heath candy bars, cut into chip-size pieces
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
32 caramels, unwrapped
14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 13×9-inch pan.

In large bowl, combine cake mix, oil, and eggs; blend well.  Stir in chocolate chips, white chocolate or peanut butter chips, and Heath bar pieces. (mixture will be very thick.)

Press half of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.  Bake for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan; combine butter, caramels, and sweetened condensed milk.  Cook over medium-low heat until caramels are melted and the mixture is smooth, stirring frequently.  Slowly pour caramel mixture evenly over partially baked crust.  Crumble the remaining cake/chocolate mixture over the top.

Return to oven and bake an additional 25 to 30 minutes or until top is set and edges are deep golden brown.  Place pan on a rack and cool at room temperature for 20 minutes.  Run a knife around sides of pan to loosen bars.  Cool at room temperature for an additional 40 minutes.  Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Cut into 45 bars (5 bars on the short side of the pan and 9 bars on the long side of the pan). Store in refrigerator.

Makes 45 bars