Tuesday, February 24, 2009

TWD Crunchy Caramel Bars



This week Whitney of What's Left on the Table? chose the recipe and I'm starting to wonder how much butter I've been using lately !!! For us they were way too much ! I'm glad there are a few under 20 in our building who made the bars disappear in a few hours !!
We don't have the Toffee Bits so I made the English Toffee a few days ago. I had to make 2 batches because the fist one crystallized so...after desperation I found a nice website and the second batch came out well (I guess because I've never tried the real thing ). What helped was a bit of corn syrup and a low temperature.
Making the pastry base was easy (did you take the pastry out of the pan before putting the chocolate on ? I didn't) but my special feature was shaving the chocolate with my Kitchen Aid 'grater' so that I only had to evenly spoon it on skipping the spreading part.
I hope that your fitness allowed you to eat a whole batch of these sonful bars !!
Please visit Tuesdays with Dorie to see lots of bars !
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24 comments:

  1. bice2007February 24, 2009 at 9:15 AM

    Che belli,
    anche se c'è il cioccolato un pezzettino lo assagerei..
    baci Cinzia

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  2. görelFebruary 24, 2009 at 9:45 AM

    Wow, these really look yummy! I have thought about joining the TWD ... but maybe not, for the sake of my wardrobe??

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  3. Jin HooiFebruary 24, 2009 at 11:28 AM

    your bars look great !! I couldn't find any toffee and i am too lazy to make them myself.. so i substituted with almonds (don't ask me why ;-)) they turned out great too ...

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  4. CakelawFebruary 24, 2009 at 12:09 PM

    Wow Natalia, I am impthat you made the toffeee - if I couldn't buy a substitute, I probably would have skipped it because I am lazy :) Agree with you on the sinful part - a whole block of butter and a whole block of chocolate, not to mention the whole packet of toffees - yikes!

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  5. AnonymousFebruary 24, 2009 at 1:46 PM

    I agree they were very rich. I like the idea of grating the chocolate. I don't enjoy chopping it!

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  6. PeggyFebruary 24, 2009 at 1:59 PM

    I cannot even believe you made your own toffee! I am so impressed!! Your bars look excellent. I thought they were just way too rich and almost greasy from all that butter!

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  7. AmandaFebruary 24, 2009 at 2:13 PM

    These look wonderful! Mine were delicious but very crisp. I ended up using a dark chocolate on the top and they still were all gobbled up. If I had used milk chocolate I don't think they would have lasted until the next day!

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  8. Nancy/n.o.eFebruary 24, 2009 at 2:36 PM

    Natalia, these were buttery but good! I gave most of them away too, but saved a few for myself. I actually ran out of butter this week; too much Dorie baking!!
    Nancy

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  9. Kimberly JohnsonFebruary 24, 2009 at 2:46 PM

    Your bars look great! They were so rich, they were almost candy!

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  10. vibiFebruary 24, 2009 at 4:18 PM

    I'm sorry you found them too sweet... in reality they carry the kinda sweetness I'd gladly throw myslef in a diabetic coma, for!

    Very well done, Natalia!

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  11. chocolatechicFebruary 24, 2009 at 5:07 PM

    I have definately been helping out the dairy farmers with as much butter as I have been using.

    These look great!

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  12. Teanna DiMiccoFebruary 24, 2009 at 5:30 PM

    I love that you made your own toffee! The bars look fantastic!

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  13. DewiFebruary 24, 2009 at 5:36 PM

    English Toffee? and you made it yourself? wow Natalia, I should be to surprise, you are a good baker, that should I say! Of corse your caramel bar taste divine!
    Cheers,
    Elra

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  14. farahFebruary 24, 2009 at 6:16 PM

    These look really, really good. Well done for making your own toffee too :)

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  15. AnonymousFebruary 24, 2009 at 7:02 PM

    Your bars look amazing. Yes, I worked out extra hard at the gym because of these bars. I ate way too much.

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  16. TeaLadyFebruary 24, 2009 at 9:01 PM

    Those look really yummy!!!

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  17. Jules SomeoneFebruary 25, 2009 at 4:18 AM

    Those look gorgeous! Nice job.

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  18. LindaFebruary 25, 2009 at 4:54 AM

    Delicious looking bars! ...and a great tip on using the grater to shave the chocolate.

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  19. VeraFebruary 25, 2009 at 8:04 AM

    Yummy looking treats, Natalia!

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  20. JessicaFebruary 25, 2009 at 3:01 PM

    I am so impressed that you made your own English toffee, that's some serious dedication! I didn't take my bars out of the pan before I put the chocolate on, I forgot to. But it worked out ok in the end.

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  21. CathyFebruary 25, 2009 at 4:41 PM

    These had to be AMAZING with homemade toffee, Natalia! They look great! And I am astounded on a weekly basis by how much butter I go through these days.

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  22. LeslieFebruary 25, 2009 at 10:20 PM

    Ciao, Natalia! These look wonderful! What a great idea to grate the chocolate, sure beats chopping! Sorry these were a little much butter for you, but I'm impresed that you made two batches of the toffee.

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  23. kimberly salemFebruary 25, 2009 at 11:15 PM

    nice idea to grate the chocolate! they look fabulous. i used the same toffee recipe as you! :)

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  24. ShariMarch 1, 2009 at 8:04 PM

    Homemade toffee would make the difference on these. Too bad you found them too sweet but it sounds like you had no trouble finding people to share them with!

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Ciao, I'm always thrilled to find your comments, so please do !