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Chocolate Shortbread Toffee Cookie Bars are easy to make and easier to eat! The layered effect — chocolate chip-studded shortbread with a chocolate coating and generous sprinkle of toffee bits dotting the top — feels a little fancy but is super quick and easy to achieve.
These are an easy yet irresistible bar cookie, as fun to nibble as they are simple to make. Who can deny the joy of a layered delight, with an extra sweet shortbread crust, a lustrous layer of chocolate, and crunchy toffee bits scattered on top? Not me, and no one in my family, either!
Shortbread toffee cookie bars are a dreamy treat any time of year, but a particular family favorite to bake and gift around the holidays. Something about munching on one of these with a cup of tea or a big glass of milk just makes me feel ready for St. Nick, even if my Christmas to do list is still a mile long.
The recipe starts with a buttery shortbread base with a hint of cinnamon, extra brown sugar for subtle depth of flavor, and chocolate chips mixed right in. Top the baked shortbread with more chocolate in a thin layer, then top that with sweet, crunchy toffee bits. I find the finished bars completely irresistible and pretty much have to share the batch. I can rarely stop at eating a few!
Ingredients & Substitution Notes
These cookies require a pretty standard collection of baking staples, plus one specialty ingredient: toffee bits.
- All-purpose flour.
- Granulated and brown sugar.
- Table salt.
- Ground cinnamon. Adds a subtle but delicious element to the shortbread base.
- Butter. Be sure this starts at room temperature to most effectively cream with the sugars.
- Vanilla extract. Substitute vanilla bean paste for lovely flecks in the dough if you like.
- Chocolate chips. If I have both on hand, my personal favorite is to use 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips in the shortbread base, and 1 cup of dark chocolate chips to melt on top. Semi-sweet or milk chocolate is also lovely, just depending on what you have and enjoy.
- Toffee bits. Heath Bits o Brickle or similar! I have bought them on Amazon, at Target, and at other large grocery stores, just depending on stock. For some stores, toffee bits are a seasonal item.
Depending on the time of year and how well-stocked your grocery stores are, toffee bits can sometimes be hard to find. In this case, you can easily swap them out for any other topping you like – peppermint candies, mints, M&Ms, you name it.
Storage
These bars will keep well for 4-5 days in an airtight container at room temperature. In my experience, they pack and travel pretty well, too!
Related Recipes
Bar cookies are such a great way to make treats for a crowd quickly and easily – no individual rolling or sprinkling! Some of our other favorites in this category include carmelita bars, brown butter Rice Krispie treats, and s’mores fudge. We also adore a batch of chewy candy bar blondies, which can be made with any mix-in you like.
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Shortbread Toffee Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups (180 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup (2 sticks; 227 grams) butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (107 grams) packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 and 1/2 cup (255 grams) chocolate chips, divided
- 1 and 1/2 cup (234 grams) toffee bits, (I use Heath Bits o Brickle)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 C). Line an 8"x11" or similar baking pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil, leaving an overhang on at least two sides that will allow you to lift the bars out after they bake.
- Combine the flour, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Whisk together and set aside.
- Combine the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and mix briefly. With the mixer running on low speed, add the flour mixture and combine until just barely incorporated. Stir in 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips by hand.
- Scrape the dough into the prepared pan and, using a spatula or your hands, press the dough down and into each corner. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the shortbread is golden and bubbly.
- After removing the pan from the oven, immediately sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of chocolate chips over the crust. Let sit for 5 minutes to allow the chocolate to melt, then use a small spatula or spoon to spread the chocolate evenly over the crust. Quickly sprinkle the toffee bits over the layer of melted chocolate.
- Let the bars cool to room temperature. (Or, if you’re in a rush, help them along with a few minutes in the fridge or freezer.) Use the parchment or foil to lift shortbread out of the pan, then cut into bars and serve.
Notes
- Bars will keep for 4-5 days in an airtight container at room temperature.
- Nutrition info is an estimate based on cutting the pan into 24 squares.
- This recipe was adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan – a fantastic book – via Mel’s Kitchen Cafe – a fantastic blog!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe was originally published here in 2016, and has been updated several times with new photos, more helpful information on storage and substitutions, and a more precise list of ingredients, including weights.
This recipe is very good but more like a candy. It’s very very sweet. I adjusted the recipe a little using 1/2 c semolina flour in place of 1/2 c regular flour. The difference with this recipe compared to real shortbread is that it uses regular sugar and brown sugar. Shortbread uses powdered sugar.
Yes, indeed, on both counts. Glad you enjoyed it and to know that the semolina flour substitute worked.
Shortbread toffee cookie bars, oh my! Huge hit at our holiday party. They were gone in a jif. Another easy, delicious recipe. Thank you, Monica!
Yay, so happy to hear it! Merry Christmas to you!!
I tried it and while the end result was good, it was more a cookie than a shortbread. In shortbread usually there is a lot more flour than butter, while here it was the opposite.
It was good, but not what I was expecting.
The classic shortbread ratio is 1:2:3 — 1 part sugar, 2 parts butter, 3 parts flour, by weight. These actually follow that pretty closely but have a smidge of extra sugar. Sorry these weren’t quite what you expected, but happy they were still tasty!
This is a truly appetizing treat, Monica. Such easy and tasty recipe win my heart right away. Can I use almond flour instead of all-purpose one?
Hi, Agness – I haven’t tried it to know for sure, but I think that almond flour would be a fine 1-to-1 substitute here! You might want to reduce the butter in the shortbread base slightly, since I believe the almond flour has a slightly higher fat content than the all-purpose. If you try it, please let me know how it turns out – I would love to know and I bet other readers would, too!
This shortbread looks delicious
thank you for sharing
This looks so delicious!
Three of my favorite things! Toffee, shortbread and chocolate. Definitely putting these in the “to try” file.
YUMMY-YUM-YUM!! These look and sound so damn FINE! Love all things shortbread.
This looks so perfect and sounds very delicious! I love such easy and pretty desserts
That sounds like an amazing combination of flavors!