Marbled Caramel Chocolate Bars

My second experiment, done on Friday the 19th, was marbled caramel chocolate bars!

The recipe said there should be 24 servings, but upon cutting them into 28 my mom and dad (always the first to try my experiments!) said they were still too big.

So I ended up cutting them into squares (y'know, the size of a square of fudge) and those ended up being perfect.

The pan pre-cut

I didn't have as many problems with this recipe, but I DID have to run back to the store at one point.

This recipe has three layers: 1) The base, which is delicious and cookie-like, 2) The center, which is sticky and also delicious, 3) The top, which is three types of chocolate. Deeeelicious!

I learned to rub-in butter for the base! Granted I used a fork for much of it, but I love getting my hands dirty so I used them, too. (A baking guilty-pleasure of mine is separating an egg with my fingers instead of with the shell, because I'm weird and like the way it feels. Mom thinks I'm gross.) The base was the easiest part, surprisingly.

I ran into a serious problem with the center. It's butter, brown sugar, and sweetened condensed milk. At one point the recipe says to bring it to a boil, but to stir constantly to keep from burning it. I've never done this before, and as soon as I moved the heat up past medium, it immediately began to burn. And me, being me, kept stirring for about two minutes before I realized that it was actually burning!

So after I poured it out, I had to run back to the store to buy more sweetened condensed milk. I wound up buying 4 cans instead of 2, just in case I had to try it a third time. When I got home I tried to look up tips online on how to not burn it, but I found nothing. So instead of boiling it, I just heated it on low for a very, very long time until it thickened up some (though I assume, not as much as it should've.) It worked well enough!

The top was also a little hard, just because I've never 'marbled' anything before! You can see all of my popsicle sticks in the top of that picture!

As for the taste: EVERYONE loved them! Mom called them "decadent." A girl I work with said they were the best food I've ever brought in. From Friday to Sunday, every little square was eaten.

I suggest these if you're looking for a BIG crowd pleaser! But they are kind of sticky, so make sure you have a napkin with you.

Marbled Caramel Chocolate Bars Recipe:

Note: This recipe requires each level to cool completely before adding the next, so you'll have to put time into this one as well.

• 2 1/4 cups flour (a little less to start!)
• 1/2 cup sugar (calls for superfine, I used granulated)
• 3/4 cup softened, unsweetened butter
  
  
• 7 tbsp diced, unsweetened butter
• 1/2 cup (light/golden) brown sugar
• 2 - 14oz cans sweetened condensed milk
  
  
• 5-6 oz semi-sweet chocolate (better to have extra than not enough-- 5 is extra/just enough)
• 5-6 oz milk chocolate
• 3 oz white chocolate

Cookie/Crust Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 350°F, grease a 9x13 pan
• Put flour and sugar into a bowl, rub in the butter until it looks nice and crumbly
• Sculpt it into a dough with your hands
• Put the dough in the tin, and use your hands to spread it evenly over the surface
• Prick with a fork all across the surface. Bake ~20 minutes, or until light brown.
• Remove from the oven and put the entire pan on a cooling rack. ...Cool.

Center Preparation

• Put butter, brown sugar, and sweetened condensed milk into a pan.
• Put on a low/medium-low heat and stir CONSTANTLY. Do. Not. Stop. Stirring.
• Stir until the sugar is dissolved, and the butter is melted.
• If you dare, this is the part of the recipe that says to bring it to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and heat for 5-10 minutes "until it has thickened and turned a caramel color."
• If you don't dare, I just kept it at the same temperature and heated for about 15 minutes before my wrists got too tired to continue and I decided it was good enough. (Note: A con to this is that you might not get it thick enough)
• Don't let it burn. It makes it smell disgusting, and probably taste worse.
• Once that's done, pour it evenly into the pan, over the cookie.
• Let it cool, because it thickens up a little more.

Top Preparation:

• In three separate bowls, melt your three chocolates. (Microwave is easiest for me!)
• Use a spoon to make 1.5-2" thick strips of the semisweet/milk chocolate down the pan. (Long strip of milk chocolate, long strip of semi-sweet, strip of chocolate, semi-sweet, etc until done)
• Add random blobs of white chocolate around the pan.
• Use a skewer/popsicle stick/knife to drag through the white chocolate and create a marbled effect on the surface.

Once this is done, let the chocolate set and then you're good to go!