Shortbread Chocolate Mint Candy Bars

Although these bars are beyond delicious, I will admit they aren’t as pretty as I had hoped.  These shortbread chocolate mint candy bars are laden with fun Christmas candy and a thick buttery shortbread crust.  Mint, chocolate, candy, butter; you really can’t go wrong.  They just got a little messy which led to a little frustration, which led to pictures that weren’t as perfect as I expected.  It happens!

I first saw this recipe in an old October edition of Everyday Food, a magazine published by Martha Stewart.  I loved this magazine.  I say “loved” because they stopped publishing it a little over a year ago.  They still have a website and I get an abbreviated edition every so often with my Martha Stewart Living subscription, but it’s not the same.  This magazine was chock full of easy, delicious, family friendly recipes that worked every time!  This addition is from October 2010; can you tell I’ve used it a lot!  I just changed the focus from Halloween to Christmas.

Just one note about this recipe – I used Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses as a topping (these are a holiday must have!).  Although incredibly delicious, they are very “melty”.  So they basically turned into a pool of white and red when placed on the warm chocolate topping.  The M&Ms and candy cane worked perfectly – they were tough enough.  So once the kisses sadly melted, I just topped them with another and it worked.  Alternatively, I would let the chocolate cool for about another 20 minutes before placing the kisses on top.

Anyway, they are red and green and taste yummy.  Not the prettiest, but pretty darn tasty!

Shortbread Chocolate Mint Candy Bars

Recipe by Liz Hughes

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Yield: 16 to 32 bars
Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips
• 2 cups assorted chocolate and mint chopped candy bars

Cooking Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter, brown sugar and salt until light and fluffy - about 3 minutes. With mixer on low, add flour in three additions and beat until combined. Your dough will be crumbly. Press dough evenly into an 8 inch square baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.
2. Remove shortbread from oven and evenly scatter chocolate chips on top of shortbread. return to oven for 1 minute so that the chocolate chips begin to melt. With the back of a spoon or knife spread chocolate over shortbread. Let cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Spread candy over top of chocolate. Let cool for an additional 20 minutes and put in refrigerator until chocolate sets Cut into 2" or 1" bars.