These Dreamy Krispie Toffee Squares are from one of my favorite sweets cookbooks of all time - '500 Best Cookies, Bars & Squares' by Esther Brody.
I think I paid five dollars at a used book store a long time ago and it's been one of the best cookbooks in my collection. Everything I've made from it has been great and that's hard to find in a cookbook!
Dreamy Krispie Toffee Squares (originally named Krispie Toffee Triangles) are no exception to the successes.
These dessert bars have three scrumptious layers, starting with a buttery brown sugar krispies crust. The middle layer is luscious creamy caramely-toffee (courtesy of the sweetened condensed milk) and the final layer is simply chocolate-covered krispies.
Pretty, simple, right? Well, yes it it simple. You bake the crust for 10-12 minutes, pour the filling over the top of the crust, and top it with the two-ingredient crunchy chocolate topping.
It does take time to firm up (about 3 hours in the refrigerator after put together), but the final result is absolutely, decadently eye-rolling.
Just an aside: I used chocolate sweetened condensed milk because that's what I had in my cabinet. If you can get your hands on that flavor in your area, I highly recommend it!
I want to mention some of the other recipes from the cookbook that are posted in my blog, too. The Soft Cinnamon Roll Cookies are one of my most popular recipes (over 500,000 hits).
Also from this cookbook are the Cinnamon Honey Oatmeal Biscotti (one of my favorites) and the snickerdoodle-textured Soft Sugared Maple Cookies.
I'm definitely going to be choosing a couple of new holiday-oriented cookies for Thanksgiving and Christmas get togethers this year. It's nice to be so confident in a cookbook that I can browse through it, point, and make a recipe that sounds good to me and comes out great!
I hope you'll make these Dreamy Krispie Toffee Squares - I think you'll love them. Just remember to cut them fairly small (about 1" squares) because they're veeeeerrrrry rich!
Dreamy Krispie Toffee Squares
Outstanding, sweet, rich, crispy, chocolately, creamy - perfect!
Ingredients
- Base
- ½ C all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- pinch of salt
- ⅓ C butter, melted
- ⅓ C packed brown sugar
- ¾ C crispy rice cereal
- Filling
- ½ C butter
- 1 can (about 1 ¼ C) sweetened condensed milk
- ½ C packed brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- Topping
- ½ C semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 ¼ C crispy rice cereal
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt (not table salt)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Line an 8-inch square pan with aluminum foil (longer at two ends to lift out after done) and lightly spray the bottom and sides.
- For the Base: Mix together the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Make a well in the center and add the melted butter, brown sugar, and rice cereal. Stir together until well combined. Press into the prepared pan and bake for 10-11 minutes until very lightly browned. Set pan on a rack to cool slightly while you're making the filling.
- For the Filling: In a non-stick saucepan over low heat, stir together the butter, condensed milk and brown sugar until sugar feels dissolved.
- Increase the heat to medium and bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and boil for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Pour the filling over the crust and let sit for 20-30 minutes on the rack until the filling firms up a bit.
- For the Topping: In a saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate chips. Stir in the cereal and stir together until well combined. Spread evenly over the filling and slightly press with your fingertips to help adhere a little to the filling.
- Sprinkle the kosher salt over the topping. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and set in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. When ready to serve, cut into 32, 1-inch squares.
- Store in the refrigerator for 3-4 days if needed.
Notes
Tips and Stuff:
I used chocolate sweetened condensed milk (which was awesome, by the way), but regular will be just as good. That's what I had in the cabinet!
The last sprinkle of kosher salt (not regular table salt, please) is optional, but cuts the sweetness a little and gives the bars a little of that sweet-salty thing.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 32 Serving Size: 1 barAmount Per Serving: Calories: 91Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 13mgSodium: 73mgCarbohydrates: 10gFiber: 0gSugar: 7gProtein: 1g
Linda Eisenschenk
On your recipe for crispy toffee squares are you using regular Rice Krispies for base and a cocoa krispie for topping?
Daryle
I just made these. I doubled the base layer and the topping but left the toffee filling the same. I used a 9x13 inch pan. Turned out perfect! Thank you for this awesome recipe.
sblades
Glad it worked out for you, Daryle!
Carol
Can these squares be frozen?
sblades
Yes. Just be sure and thaw them well before serving. That caramel can get hard when frozen.
E Williams
I made these and they are delicious but my top layer didn’t stick on very well. Any idea what I did wrong. Perhaps cooked the middle too long , I only waited a few minutes before I put the top layer on. Thanks for your help.
sblades
Hmm. The toffee should be soft enough so when you press down on the chocolate krispies topping lightly, it will adhere to that layer. I'm not sure why the toffee layer was so firm except that it may have been boiled a little too long - perhaps 4 minutes instead of 5 to keep that soft caramel texture would work. Thanks for checking in!