These Twix bars have a delicious shortbread crust, a homemade caramel center, and a delicious chocolate top. They taste just like a Twix candy bar.
My husband doesn’t love caramel, but he ate these right up. That’s how you know they’re good.
Recipe Ingredient Notes
To make Twix Bars, you will need the following ingredients:
Shortbread Base
- Sugar
- Flour
- Butter, softened
Caramel Layer
- Butter
- Brown Sugar
- Corn Syrup
- Sweetened Condensed Milk
Chocolate Layer
- Milk Chocolate Chips
- Vegetable oil
Equipment Needed
For this recipe, you only need a few simple kitchen tools. We recommend using the following equipment:
How to Make Twix Bars
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Grease a 9×9 inch pan with cooking spray.
- In a small bowl, mix together sugar and flour, and cut the ⅔ cup butter in with a butter knife. Keep cutting it in the mixture until it has formed evenly-sized crumbs.
- Press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan, and bake for 20 minutes – until the edges start to turn a golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let it cool completely.
- In a sauce pan over medium heat, combine the ½ cup butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and sweetened condensed milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly (you don’t want the mixture to burn, so keep stirring). Continue stirring for 5 more minutes, then remove from heat and stir for an additional 2-3 minutes.
- Pour the caramel mixture over the shortbread crust. Let it cool (I sped up this process by placing it in the fridge) until the caramel mixture starts to firm.
- In a microwave safe bowl, mix together the chocolate chips and vegetable oil. Microwave for 1 minute, and then remove and stir. Continue to microwave the chocolate mixture in 15 second intervals until it is completely smooth.
- Pour chocolate over top the caramel layer and let it cool.
- Once the chocolate has hardened, cut into squares with a warm knife (that will make them cut cleaner).
Storing and Other Tips
Store these Twix Bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.
Could I add vanilla to my shortbread cookie bottom?
A shortbread cookie is usually pretty dry, and not extremely sweet. This shortbread recipe does not have any vanilla to it, however, you could easily add some.
We wouldn’t recommend adding more than a teaspoon, just so you don’t ruin the texture of the shortbread, but you could definitely add some.
I did not use any vanilla extract in mine, and it turned out perfectly. It’s a very buttery crust, and it sticks together nicely. It was also sweet enough. You could add it, but these were amazing without.
I just baked it until the middle had set up, and it was a little golden on the top. So soft and delicious. You will want it to cool for at least 20 minutes before you pour on the caramel.
How to make perfect creamy caramel:
The key to making the most perfect creamy caramel, is stirring and watching your caramel. The other key is heat. You do not want to boil your caramel on high heat for the entire 5 minutes.
Instead keep it to a low boil with constant small bubbles and an occasional large one. You do not want a roaring boil, where the caramel is practically popping up at you.
Continue to stir at a medium low temperature for 5 minutes. If you notice areas of the caramel that are burning, and you are getting chunks in your caramel, or burnt pieces, your heat is obviously too high.
Remember that you can always add more heat, but you can’t always take it away. Keep it slow, and don’t rush the caramel process. Continue to stir, and adjust the heat as needed to keep it to a small boil.
It’s critical that you don’t overcook the caramel, or it will be difficult to cut through. It should be smooth as butter, and cut easily.
FAQ’s
For this recipe, I did not use dark karo syrup, however, you most definitely could. It won’t make that much of a difference.
Your caramel mixture may be a little darker, but the flavor will be about the same.
For this recipe, we used oil with our chocolate. I have made this recipe a million times and have never had any problem with my chocolate thickening. The oil has only thinned my chocolate.
I usually use a vegetable oil to do this.
However, you could use shortening instead of oil if you would like. Once it is added to the hot melted chocolate, it won’t matter.
A lot of people will stir their chocolate with a spoon that has moisture on it (or a wooden spoon that may have moisture that they don’t see) and that is where the un-smooth chocolate usually comes from.
Moisture (like water) will make your chocolate lumpy and difficult. We recommend using a dried metal spoon to stir your chocolate.
Where these are quite thick, and also a little chewy with the caramel layer, they can be a little tricky to cut. We recommend using a hot knife (you can run a steak or sharp metal knife under hot water, then pat it dry with a towel), and carefully slice through the Twix bars.
Enjoy More Delicious Copycat Candy Recipes
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- Easy Divinity
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- Homemade Reese’s Eggs
Twix Bars
Ingredients
Shortbread Base
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 ¼ cups flour
- ⅔ cup butter, softened
Caramel Layer
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons corn syrup
- ½ cup sweetened condensed milk
Chocolate Layer
- 2 cups milk chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Grease a 9×9 inch pan with cooking spray.
- In a small bowl, mix together sugar and flour, and cut the ⅔ cup butter in with a butter knife. Keep cutting it in the mixture until it has formed evenly-sized crumbs.
- Press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan, and bake for 20 minutes – until the edges start to turn a golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let it cool completely.
- In a sauce pan over medium heat, combine the ½ cup butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and sweetened condensed milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly (you don't want the mixture to burn, so keep stirring). Continue stirring for 5 more minutes, then remove from heat and stir for an additional 2-3 minutes.
- Pour the caramel mixture over the shortbread crust. Let it cool (I sped up this process by placing it in the fridge) until the caramel mixture starts to firm.
- In a microwave safe bowl, mix together the chocolate chips and vegetable oil. Microwave for 1 minute, and then remove and stir. Continue to microwave the chocolate mixture in 15 second intervals until it is completely smooth.
- Pour chocolate over top the caramel layer and let it cool.
- Once the chocolate has hardened, cut into squares with a warm knife (that will make them cut cleaner).
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.
These are British and called millionaire shortbread, soooo yummy!
Did you use milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips?
We used milk chocolate chips!
I made this the other day, and while the caramel and chocolate turned out perfectly, the shortbread fell completely apart. It literally crumbled into tiny pieces and also didn’t stick to the caramel layer. I blended it super well in the food processor…do you know why this would happen? Thanks! 🙂
Hi Jennifer, we adapted the recipe from All Recipes. I went to the recipe on their site and read through the comments. A lot of people said they had made it a few times and it worked best to cool the shortbread before adding the caramel. We have not had a problem with the shortbread falling apart. You could add a little more butter so it’s not so dry and see if that helps hold it together!
Maybe you over mixed it. I cut the butter in and then used a fork to cut in in better. Dump in pan and press in. Mine turned out fine. Or maybe you didn’t use enough butter?
Do you know if these can be frozen? I am wanting to bake up some cookies early as gifts and am wondering if these would be a candidate. They look yummy!
They should freeze just fine in an airtight container!
They look so delicious! Say, is the shortbread crunchy like in the Twix bars?
Not quite as crunchy because it’s a homemade shortbread, so it’s a little softer! Hope this helps!
Are there any substitutes for the corn syrup?
I found this about substitute for Corn Syrup on the Taste of Home website – For each cup of light corn syrup in a recipe, substitute 1 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup water. For each cup of dark corn syrup, substitute 1 cup of packed brown sugar and 1/4 cup water.
This recipe calls for only 2 tablespoons of corn syrup so you would have to calculate the amount. Wouldn’t be much at all.
Thank you!
Hi Jennifer, I tried making them and my dough turned out to be very dry and crumbly too. I added one egg and it turned out just fine!
The best homemade candy bar recipe! I would totally recommend it to every one! Thank you Six Sister’s Stuff!
I was super excited to make these, but they did not turn out how I had hoped. I added a little extra butter because of some other comments regarding a crumbly crust. That turned out fine. The caramel was good, though people should believe the recipe when it says stir constantly. I did, but heat may have been too hot. The sauce caramelized a little and I got some charred pieces in the mix, but it still tasted fine and not burned. The thing that did not work at all for me (and I would love feedback on this part) was the chocolate. I followed that part precisely, and it turned out very hard and cracked all over the place when I cut it. It also had a white coating when dried. I used the oil, but I think it should have had a lot more than one teaspoon for the two cups of chocolate. In other recipes, I have used more shortening for such a toping with no problems. Sadly, they tasted just okay and not super flavorful. I think I prefer a sweeter shortbread, and maybe would add vanilla somewhere in the caramel sauce.
These turned out perfectly! The caramel layer was my favorite. The only changed I made was doubling it for a 9×13″ pan.Thanks for the recipe!
Can I use dark karo syrup?
It should work just fine with dark karo syrup.
I was excited for this recipe. I followed it to a tee, (I set the timer for the 5 min and the 2-3 min portion) so I was very sad when the Carmel turned out more like toffee. It was as hard.
The same thing happened to me. I followed it word for word and my caramel turned into toffee. I tried it 2 times and both times the caramel went wrong.
I am going to try doubled too, I wasn’t sure what to do with the rest of the condensed milk.
Can I use an 8×8 pan? Don’t have the 9
Penelope, I know your post was years ago. I’m cooling the crust now; but I tasted the dough and thought it was kind of bland. And just now reading your comment. . . . . . .duh, that’s it. . . . .NO vanilla. I make shortbread cookies also a recipe with a lot of different names, which I call snowballs (with nuts in dough and rolled in pwd sugar when warm) which also require vanilla. Wish I’d read your comment first.
Our caramel turned out hard as well. We kept boiling for 5 minutes while stirring. Is that right?
Can you use coconut oil instead of vegetable?
Yes you can use coconut oil in place of vegetable oil in this recipe.
Have you tried dark chocolate?
We haven’t tried dark or semi sweet chocolate because we are huge milk chocolate lovers. But if you love dark chocolate, it should work great in this recipe too.
Can you cut this into longer, more narrow bars (like the actual Twix candy) and then pour more chocolate over to coat entirely (like the actual Twix candy)?
Anyone try an 8×8 pan?
Don’t process it in a food processor. That gets it too fine. Stir it by hand with a spatula or paddle. Work the butter into the flour. It should be like a loose paste You should be able to grab it and squeeze it and it would hold together.
I’ve made these a few times and they are always a hit! I use parchment paper and it comes out super clean and easy. I also use an 8×8 glass pan, I just cook the crust an extra couple of minutes. It turns out perfect.
This is a great recipe! Loved by all. I admit I made 1 1/2 times the caramel layer because we love our caramel! The chocolate layer went “bloomy” even though I did not refrigerate the pan, but the taste was not affected. I will definitely make this again.