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Wednesday, May 8, 2019

Metropolis Bars

A rich cookie base, covered with caramel and then a milk-chocolate coating.
Adapted from A Passion for Baking

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Cookie Base
2  1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp corn syrup
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, cut into chunks
2 tbsp whipping cream or whole milk
1 tsp vanilla

Caramel Filling
1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup butter
3 tbsp corn syrup
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 (4-to 6-ounce) milk chocolate bars, such as Cadbury Dairy Milk or Hershey's

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 11 x 7" pan* with non-stick cooking spray, then place it on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

In a food processor, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, corn syrup, granulated and brown sugars. Add the butter and pulse to break in the butter until mixture resembles a fine meal. Turn out into a bowl and drizzle over the whipping cream and vanilla. Toss by hand, until you have a slightly damp, sandy mixture. Press gently into the pan. Place on the prepared baking sheet and bake 350 degrees, 20 - 25 minutes, or until edges are barely browned. Remove from oven.

Meanwhile, prepare the caramel filling. In a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan, stir together the sweetened condensed milk, butter, corn syrup, and brown sugar over low heat. Simmer, stirring occasionally, 8 - 10 minutes, until sugar is completely dissolved and is thickened and is about 245 degrees on a candy thermometer. As best as you can, make sure the bottom does not burn. If it does occur, do not stir into the burnt part into the rest of the caramel, and slightly remove the pan from the heat, to allow it to finish cooking. (If it does happen to burn, there is probably only another 1 -2 minutes of cooking time, anyways.)

Pour hot caramel over the warm cookie crust. Gently place the chocolate bars over the caramel. The hot caramel will melt the chocolate. ** Using an offset spatula, evenly spread the chocolate. Refrigerate bars a few hours to allow them to set. Before serving, remove bars from the refrigerator to warm them up a bit before cutting into narrow bars.

*You can use a 9 x 13" pan, but you will have a thinner bar, and you will probably need more milk chocolate for the topping.

**You could chop the chocolate up first, to allow for quicker melting.

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