Chocolate Toffee Bars

These bars are perfect for the lazy baker like me. Only a few ingredients, and just a little elbow grease and voila... you will have a bar perfect for a party, potluck, or any occasion.  I'd cut these into small pieces because they're really rich.  A few bites is all you really need.

Ingredients for the crust:
3 cups flour
2 sticks butter
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp salt

First pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Next  cut a piece of parchment paper and line the bottom of a 13x9 pan, spraying gently with non-stick spray - I didn't do this part and it was a little difficult to get the pieces out later. Cut the butter into squares and set aside.  Next add the flour, sugar, and salt to a food processor and pulse just to blend the ingredients well.  Next add the butter in three batches, pulsing each time until you have a  crumbly consistency.  It's ok to have little specks of butter throughout; this will yield a crispy crust perfect for the other layers. Bake for 25 minutes and remove from the oven.

Next add one to two bags of semisweet chocolate chips (depending on how chocolaty you want it) evenly over the hot crust and leave it untouched for 10 minutes.  Take a cake spatula and spread the chocolate chips over the crust (actually, it's more like smear the chocolate as it's now melted).  Make sure to get a nice even layer over the crust and set aside... now moving on to the toffee.

For the toffee topping:
2 sticks butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup cream
1/2 tsp. salt

In a medium sauce pan, add the butter and allow it to melt.  Next add the brown sugar and salt and bring up the heat to medium high.  Begin stirring once the sugar begins to gently bubble and then add the cream. Bring the heat to med-low so that it doesn't burn.  Allow it to cook until you have more of a caramel consistency, stirring continuously.   Pour the hot toffee over the chocolate and spread evenly with the cake spatula.

Chop about 1 cup of pecans or your favorite nut and sprinkle over the top of the bars.  Allow them to set in the fridge for about 30 minutes before cutting.