Chocolate-toffee slice, spreading the love

Oh boy and you thought you were done baking for the holidays? No way you're going to bake again?

Way!

Maybe I can convince you: easy, freezes perfectly, nice give-away. My kids strongly advise you not to. Give it away. (That's not Christmas spirit boys!) They changed their mind: bake up a double batch and consider giving one away. Tsk! Boys!

Recipe is found and copied from Recipegirl and she found and adapted it from: The Weekend Baker by Abigail Johnson Dodge

CHOCOLATE- TOFFEE SLICE

1 stick (4 ounces or 8 Tbsp. ) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup (4 ounces) firmly packed brown sugar (I used soft light brown sugar)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 large egg yolk
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup ( 4 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
3 Tbsp. heavy whipping cream **
1/2 cup packaged toffee pieces (I used peanut toffee pieces***)
festive sprinkles, optional

1. Position an oven rack on the middle rung. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 9 1/2-inch tart pan with a removeable bottom. ****

2. In a large bowl, combine butter, dark brown sugar and salt. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until well-blended. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat just until combined. Pour in the flour and beat on low speed until the dough begins to clump together. Scrape the dough into the prepared pan, scattering the pieces evenly. Using your fingertips (lightly floured, if necessary), pat the dough onto the bottom (not up the sides) of the prepared pan to form an even layer. Bake until the top looks dry and the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the pan, 25 to 27 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate with the cream in a double boiler or in the microwave (30 second bursts, keep stirring after each burst, until smooth). When the crust is baked, transfer the pan to the rack. Pour the warm chocolate ganache over the warm crust and spread evenly to within 1/2-inch of the edge (an offset spatula is a good tool to use for this). Scatter the toffee pieces evenly over the ganache and gently press them into the chocolate. If you’re using festive sprinkles, sprinkle those on top and gently press into the chocolate too.

4. Let cool completely until the chocolate is completely set, about 4 hours at room temperature or about 2 hours in the refrigerator. Remove the outer ring of the tart pan and cut the “cookie tart” into wedges. Serve the wedges chilled or at room temperature.

** Had to use quite a bit of milk to get my chocolate smooth and soft enough for spreading, however it didn't influence the end result, it was smooth and nice and exactly right in texture. I used a couverture quality bittersweet block of chocolate which I chopped and melted bain marie.

*** For my Dutch readers: toffee bit are non-existant here, (I had some hidden in my pantry, all the way from the USA) but do chop up a Mars/Milky Way bar or attack some chewy toffees with scissors, something like that.

**** Couldn't resist using my new rectangular tart pan with removable bottom, so I had a little left-over dough and chocolate ganache and used a mini springform (upper picture). My neighbors -an older couple- were happy!