Rich Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars

I know, these look boring. They are not the most exciting looking bar cookies but I was so impressed with the flavor. These are absolutely delicious! The recipe is from the Hershey's website and I printed this out years ago. I'm so glad that I finally made these. These photos just do not capture their wonderful chewy texture and crisp edges. I'm having a difficult time leaving these cookies alone. The recipe called for nuts and I left those out but I can imagine that the nuts would bring a whole other dimension to the flavor & texture of these bars. I had 2 bags of the Heath Toffee bits that I needed to use and I came across this recipe in my HUGE binder of printed out recipes. I made two 13x9 inch pans. When I first took them out of the oven I was not sure I did everything correctly, they looked kind of undone or "wet" on top even though they had turned a nice golden brown. I figured that time would set them up nicely and I was right. They are very sturdy, not soft or mushy at all. I can't describe the flavor but the toffee must be what makes them taste unique although the toffee bits melt and are undetectable. There is no crunch of the toffee bits when you bite into them but you can taste the caramel flavor of the toffee. I think I added more chocolate chips than the recipe called for, but is more chocolate ever a bad idea?

So good! You must make these! Oh, and easy to put together...that's always nice.

Here is my HUGE binder of recipes, in no certain order, because organizational skills are not high on my list of abilities.
Please tell me that I'm not the only one who constantly spots new recipes online and prints them out for future use. It's insane how many recipes are in here! When I look through them I do not even remember 1/4 of them. I keep this unsightly binder behind closed doors.

The middle of these bar cookies are chewy and caramel like. Kind of reminds me of the texture of pecan pie.

Rich Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars

• 2-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Chocolate Chips or HERSHEY'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips, divided
• 1 cup coarsely chopped nuts (I didn't add nuts)
  
• 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
• 1-1/3 cups (8 oz. pkg.) HEATH Toffee Bits, divided

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

2. Combine flour and brown sugar in large bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add egg; mix well. Stir in 1-1/2 cups chocolate chips and nuts; set aside 1-1/2 cups mixture.

3. Press remaining crumb mixture onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake 10 minutes. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over hot crust; set aside 1/4 cup toffee bits. Sprinkle remaining toffee bits over sweetened condensed milk. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture and remaining 1/2 cup chips over top.

4. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Top with reserved toffee bits. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. About 48 bars.