Sweet Heaven Bars

Ohhh Sweet Heavens!

I’m beginning to wonder if this layered bar thing is an obsession? This week, I made Sweet Heaven Bars. They are filled with chocolate chips, toffee bits, and caramel perfection, all in one!

I started with a few things gathered from the fridge and the pantry…a few things, with the exception of the caramels. According to three of my local grocery stores, Classic Caramels (the square ones wrapped in cellophane) are “seasonal” items. They are only available in September and October. What?? Get serious! Sadly, they were serious. Caramels were supposed to be part of our bowling snacks! Plus, I have a killer recipe for Caramel Apple Pie for Christmas! Neither of these things can happen if Caramels are “seasonal.”

Thankfully, the youngest foodie was at Target and I asked him to look for caramel while he was there. SCORE! Thank you Market Pantry for having caramels! They were not finished in time to bring bowling, but my co-workers were happy to sample their caramelly goodness!

Here is what I used to assemble these delicious beauties!

Mix the eggs, oil, and cake mix together and gently fold in chocolate chips and toffee chips.

Spread HALF the batter in a 9×13 pan, lined with foil and sprayed with non-stick spray. It will look like this:

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Create the caramel layer while the crust is baking. Unwrap the caramels…

Add a stick of butter and the sweetened condensed milk…

Melt in microwave and pour over the warm crust…

Sprinkle the remaining cake mix over the caramel…

Just for fun, add more chocolate chips…

Return to the oven and bake for an extra 25-30 minutes until the crust is a deep golden brown.

Let cool for an hour, until the bars are at room temperature. Refrigerate until set-at least another two hours. Cut into bars and enjoy!

Sweet Heaven Bars

1 box yellow cake mix (18.25 oz)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 (12 oz) bag chocolate chips
2 cups crushed Heath Bars (or 1 bag Heath Toffee Baking Bits)
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
32 caramels, unwrapped
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×13 pan with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Pour cake mix, oil and eggs in a large bowl. Beat with a hand mixer on medium speed until well blended. Fold in the chocolate chips and Heath Bars. Press HALF the mixture into the bottom of the pan and bake for 10 minutes. The mix is thick, so you can use a piece of wax paper sprayed with non-stick cooking spray to help spread the crust on the bottom of the pan.

While the crust is baking, melt the butter, caramels and milk in a double boiler, stirring constantly until smooth. Pour the mix over the baked crust and then top with the remaining cake/chip mixture. Just crumble it across the top, as it bakes it will puff and spread!

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the top is set and a light golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool for about an hour until it comes to room temperature. Refrigerate until set, about another hour or more. (I let mine sit in the fridge for three hours) Peel foil away from the sides and bottom and cut into bars.

These are one of our favorites so far this season! I do have to say, my pictures are all starting to look alike with these layered bars so I may give them up for a while. The best part of doing all these though, has been learning what to layer between different things. Brownies, cookie dough, cake mixes can all take chocolate, cookies, caramel and a host of other things in the center and then be topped off with more decadent layers of brownies, cookie dough or cake mixes! What a wonderful world!!