Homemade Twix bars

When it’s time for resolutions, I bet a lot of people have ‘eat better’ on their list. Me too. But instead of sticking strictly to kale salads, I think more about my sweet intake. I love sweets, so I’m not going to give the food group up entirely, but I am going to try not to eat desserts unless they're homemade. Let’s start with these homemade Twix. They’re surprisingly simple and considerably more delicious than the original. Less sweet. More butter. More crunch. More salt. Better chocolate. Can’t argue with that.

Credit: Samantha Seneviratne

• makes

  48

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 185 g (1¼ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
• ¼ cup icing (confectioner’s) sugar
• 55 g (¼ firmly packed cup) dark brown sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 125 g softened unsalted butter, plus extra to grease
• 350 g dark chocolate, melted

Caramel

• 220 g (1 cup) caster (granulated) sugar
• 125 ml (½ cup) thickened (heavy) cream
• 40 g unsalted butter
• ¾ tsp salt

Chilling time 45 minutes

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a 23 cm square baking pan and line with baking paper, leaving a 5 cm overhang on two sides.

First make the cookie base. Using an electric mixer, beat the flour, icing sugar, brown sugar and salt on medium speed in a large bowl until well combined. Add the butter and beat until the crumbs are evenly moistened. Tip the crumbs into the prepared pan and pat down to make a neat, even base. Bake for 15–18 minutes or until lightly golden and set. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

To make the caramel, place the sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat and cook, without stirring (although you can gently swirl the pan, if necessary), for 5–6 minutes or until the caramel is medium amber in colour. Clip a sugar thermometer to the side of the pan, then slowly add the cream (be very careful, since it will bubble up and spatter). Stir in the butter. Cook until the mixture reaches 120°C. Immediately pour the caramel over the base. Lift and tilt the pan to spread the caramel evenly over the base. Stand for 1 hour or until cool and set.

Using the baking paper, lift the bar out of the pan and onto a chopping board. Using a serrated knife, cut into 48 pieces. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper. A few pieces at a time, dip into the melted chocolate and turn with a fork to coat. Use the fork to lift each piece out and tap it against the side of the bowl to remove the excess chocolate. Transfer the coated pieces to the prepared trays, then pop in the fridge for 45 minutes or until hard.

Note

• Coating in melted chocolate, instead of tempered chocolate, works well, but you have to keep the finished Twix cold. They will also melt in your hands (and in your mouth). For instructions on how to temper chocolate so that it is hard and stable at room temperature, click here.

Recipe from Love, Cake by Samantha Seneviratne, with photography by Samantha Seneviratne.

Read our interview with Samantha and find more recipes from her blog here.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.