Dessert, Recipe
Can’t eat dairy? No problem. Enjoy this dairy free twix bar recipe instead. (Psst…it’s way easier than it looks.)
Jump to Recipe
With Halloween right around the corner all I can think about is candy. It’s everywhere. The end caps at the grocery store. The opening display at Target. The checkout line. Blogs. Pinterest. Facebook. EVERYWHERE. And there’s not one piece of it I can eat. {Ok that’s a totally lie- I may or may not have eaten an entire bag of candy corn by myself in 2 days; HFCS and all.}
What I really mean is that I can’t eat my favorites: Twix Bars & Snickers. Now, I’m not a chocolate fan, but when you use it to wrap up caramel-y deliciousness, I’m all in.
The husband cringes every Halloween because I’m that neighbor. The one that gives out pretzels. But I’m not a total party pooper- I compromise and hand out fun size candy bars along with the pretzels. If I’m being honest, the candy is really so the husband and I can eat the leftovers, not because I think the kids need it. And yes, I by the variety pack and then hide all my favorites on the bottom of the bowl in hopes that those will be what’s left at the end of the night. Don’t lie, you do it too.
{If you’re trying to be healthy and still want to give out candy, try buying something you don’t like. We did that last year and there are still remnants of Jolly Rancher chews sitting around in random corners.}
If you can’t tell, I’m totally in the camp that it’s ok to partake in the Halloween treats and not just the tricks, as long as you’re smart about it. So what’s a girl to do when she can’t eat her beloved Twix and they’re taunting her everywhere she looks?
Dig into the old favorite recipe archive and bring back an oldie but a goody. Technically it’s millionaire’s shortbread, but how is that really any different than a Twix bar? {Except for the sea salt on top which only makes it that much better.}
You can certainly use a dairy-free, soy-free spread like Earth Balance {the red container}, but this time around I went with coconut oil. Holy deliciousness. Makes a bit of a mess in the warmer non-fall weather surge we’re having, but they taste great chilled right out of the fridge or freezer.
It’s vegan. Dairy free. Soy free. Woohoooo! Don’t go fooling yourself, it’s still full of sugar- I’m not a miracle worker.
Dairy Free Twix Recipe
Can't eat dairy? No problem. Enjoy this dairy free twix bar recipe instead. (Psst...it's way easier than it looks.)
For the Cookie
-
1/2
cup
non-dairy butter
cold
-
2
cups
all-purpose flour
-
1/4
cup
packed brown sugar
-
1/4
tsp
sea salt
For the Caramel
-
1/2
cup
granulated sugar
-
1/2
cup
non dairy creamer {I used So Delicious coconut creamer}
-
1/2
cup
golden syrup {I used Lyle’s}
-
1
Tbsp
non dairy butter
-
1/2
Tbsp
vanilla extract
For the Chocolate Coating
-
1 1/2
cups
dark chocolate chips {non-dairy
such as Enjoy Life}
-
1
Tbsp
coconut oil
-
1
Tbsp
high quality sea salt {fleur de sel}
For the Cookie
-
Put the non-dairy butter, flour, brown sugar, and salt for the cookie in food processor and chop until blended.
-
Press mixture into 11x7 or 9x9 baking dish lined with foil & greased, packing firmly. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
-
Let cool thoroughly before moving on. {Can place in fridge.}
For the Caramel
-
In a large saucepan over medium heat, mix granulated sugar, creamer, and golden syrup. Stir consistently until sugar dissolves. If you have a thermometer, use it.
-
When sugar dissolves, stir in butter. Continue stirring until mixture boils; hands off- don’t touch now!
-
Let mixture boil until it reaches 245 degrees.
-
Stir in vanilla, then pour on top of shortbread and spread evenly. Let cool completely.
For the Chocolate Coating
-
Melt chocolate chips and coconut oil over double boiler, stirring until smooth.
-
Poor over caramel layer and spread evenly.
-
Before chocolate hardens, sprinkle generously with fleur de sel.
-
Let cool. May need to refrigerate or even freeze.
-
Slice into bite sized pieces.
-
To make more Twix-like, slice cookie & caramel layer into long strips before drizzling with chocolate and let chocolate spill over the sides. Omit salt. Mmmm.
What’s your favorite Halloween candy? Have you tried making a homemade version of you favorite candy bar before?
Recipe
I learned two valuable lessons while creating this dairy free salted caramel shortbread recipe.
1. Don’t attempt to make dairy free caramel when the heat index is well into the triple digits.
2. Write down your recipe creation immediately. Do not throw away your notes, do not proceed to the beach for a week and not think about it; do not pass go; do not collect $200.
I also probably learned that even if something intimidates you, give it a try anyway. What’s the worst that can happen? A sticky, sugary mess that tastes delicious?
Months and months ago I got a postcard in the mail for a free Starbucks petite treat, a tiny-bite sized dessert that was the new “in” thing at the coffee shop. I haphazardly picked the salted caramel square, thinking I wanted to know what this whole salt + caramel thing was about.
Oh.my. My mouth was blown away. You all know I’m not a chocolate person- that means everything else in the bite has to be good enough to make up for the chocolate flavor, and boy did it.
I knew immediately I’d have to recreate it; eventually I did. And just for fun, I made it dairy free and vegan too.
Dairy Free Salted Caramel Chocolate Shortbread
First whip up the shortbread base and let cool completely while working on the dairy free caramel.
Melt sugar, cream, and golden syrup. {You can try using a mix of corn syrup & molasses if you can’t find golden syrup.}
Stir in dairy free butter, then let boil without stirring until the temperature reaches 245 degrees. {I used a never-before-used-meat-thermometer. It sorted of worked.} If you don’t have a thermometer, the caramel mixture should stick thickly to a spoon. Drop a bit of caramel in cold water- if it makes a firm ball, you’re ready.
Pour caramel layer over shortbread and spread evenly. Let cool before starting chocolate layer.
Melt chocolate chips and coconut oil over a double boiler. The coconut oil will help keep the chocolate from getting too hard when it cools.
Spread over caramel layer.
Sprinkle with fleur de sel.
Let cool before slicing. Pull shortbread out of pan using foil so it’s easier to cut.
Slice into bite-sized pieces- this stuff is powerfully sweet! If chocolate cracks, score the top with the tip of your knife and let it warm up a little bit before cutting.
Salted Caramel Chocolate Shortbread
Ingredients
Shortbread
-
- 1/2 cup non-dairy butter, cold
-
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
-
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
-
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
-
Caramel
-
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
-
- 1/2 cup non dairy creamer {I used Silk soy creamer}
-
- 1/2 cup golden syrup {I used Lyle’s.}
-
- 1 Tbsp non dairy butter
-
- 1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract
-
Chocolate
-
- 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips {can use milk chocolate if not making vegan}
-
- 1 Tbsp coconut oil
-
- 1 Tbsp high quality sea salt {fleur de sel}
Instructions
- Put butter, flour, brown sugar, and salt for shortbread in food processor and chop until blended.
- Press mixture into 11x7 or 9x9 baking dish lined with foil & greased, packing firmly. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Let cool thoroughly before moving on. {Can place in fridge.}
- In a large saucepan over medium heat, mix granulated sugar, creamer, and golden syrup. Stir consistently until sugar dissolves. If you have a thermometer, use it.
- When sugar dissolves, stir in butter. Continue stirring until mixture boils; hands off- don’t touch now!
- Let mixture boil until it reaches 245 degrees.
- Stir in vanilla, then pour on top of shortbread and spread evenly. Let cool completely.
- Melt chocolate chips and coconut oil over double boiler, stirring until smooth.
- Poor over caramel layer and spread evenly.
- Before chocolate hardens, sprinkle generously with fleur de sel.
- Let cool. May need to refrigerate or even freeze.
- Slice into bite sized pieces.
3.1
https://www.sideofsneakers.com/salted-caramel-chocolate-shortbread/
Voila. Salty, sweet, deliciousness.
If only the temperature weren’t in the triple digits and my caramel could survive more than 30 seconds outside the fridge. Perhaps I should wait until fall or winter before attempting this decadent dessert again.
Although it might just be too good to wait…
Recipe
Recently I’ve gotten more than a few comments/questions about the way my house is painted. I’m guessing it’s from my ‘I love lamp’ post? Who knows.
So with that in mind today I’m channeling my inner Young House Love and sharing some before and after house pictures with you. 🙂
A little background: The husband and I bought our house two years ago, after the rental rates at our apartment sky rocketed and we were tired of being harassed by our neighbor (that’s a story for another day.) We looked and looked and looked and looked. Just as we were about to throw in the towel and succumb to inflation and badgering, we stumbled upon this “beauty”.
Now, this was when we were newly employed, newly wed, and newly grown-ups. We barely had a dime left by the time the process was done- we considered things like beds, console tables, and kitchen chairs a luxury. I’m not kidding: we slept on a mattress on the living room floor, and our high end furniture consisted of mismatching camping chairs. There was a lot of work to be done on the house, and no money to do it.
So what did we do? We worked on it ourselves. Little by little. With the cheapest things possible. [Read: paint & elbow grease.]
And with that I present Casa de SoS:
The Kitchen
Before:
After:
The Living Room
Before:
After:
The Dining Room
Before:
After:
The Office:
Before:
I kid you not on this one. It gets worse:
After:
Oh how I wish I knew of Young House Love before I embarked on this process. I’m pretty sure they’re now my heroes.
Cookie Time
To reward you for suffering through my house pictures, I’ll present to you my award winning cookie recipe. Ok, they’re not award winning. Unless you count “Oh my gosh these are amazing!” as an award.
(Why cookies + house? Because baking cookies before an open house is supposed to make it sell faster!)
Caramel Filled Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookie Recipe
1 c butter, softened
1 c granulated sugar
1 c brown sugar, packed
1/2 c egg substitute (or 2 eggs)
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp warm almond milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 c all-purpose flour
1 c whole wheat flour
1 c oat flour
1 c chocolate chips
1/2 c toasted pecans, chopped
12 caramels
(See, even I can leave a recipe unveganfied. Although I had to whole grain it up, I couldn’t help it.;))
Cut caramels in half. Put in freezer for at least an hour.
Cream together butter and sugars.
Add eggs & vanilla.
Dissolve baking soda in warm almond milk. Add to bowl with salt.
Mix in flour 1 cup at a time. Mix just until combined.
[To make oat flour just spin some oatmeal through the food processor. Try not to spill it everywhere.]
Oops.
Steal some cookie dough to eat. (I don’t like chocolate so I like to have some dough before it gets tainted.)
Stir in chocolate chips & pecans.
Feel free to add in double the chocolate chips. (Again, I don’t love chocolate. Let’s move past this. ;))
Tip: toss the pecans in the oven while it’s pre-heating to easily toast them. Just don’t forget about them!
Here’s the fun part.
Make cookie dough balls as you normally would, but stick a frozen caramel candy in the middle and roll the dough around it.
This is a good time to use one of those silicon baking mats if you have one. Parchment paper will work too.
Put the formed cookie dough balls in the freezer for a few minutes (your hands warm them a lot.)
“Clean” bowl while you wait. And yes, by clean, I mean lick. I do not fear salmonella. (Ahem, consider this your disclaimer. This is what I do- not what I suggest as an professional haha.)
Bake at 350 for ~12 minutes. (Cooking time will vary depending on how long you left them in the freezer.)
Let cool for a minute, then move cookies to cooling rack. It’s probably a good idea to spray your spatula with cooking spray (those caramels are sticky little devils.)
The caramel may melt out of the cookie. It’s ok- just stick it back in there. After they cool a little bit you can turn them upside down if you want.
Mmmmm. Delicious cookie with a surprise in the center.:)
YUM!!
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