Super-Ultra-Mega Treats

For a summer in college I worked at this mom and pop owned bakery / cafe back in the zoo ("kalamazoo" for those of you that haven't caught on to this blog title yet).  I used to throw out the left over donuts at the end of every day and was welcome to take / eat as many as I pleased.  Let me tell you that was NOTHING compared to my current workplace.  Apparently architects are addicted to sugar.  Yesterday, Charley's mom, who is known around the office as "The Cookie MoMster," showed up with 5 catering plates of sweets and I almost went into diabetic shock just looking at everything.  Then I tasted quite literally the greatest cookie I have ever eaten in my life.  Disclaimer: I am not a huge cookie girl.  I am more of a cake/fruity-custardy-crumbly/pie kind of lady.  If you ask me there is nothing better than a piece of chocolate dipped key lime pie on a stick, so if you are a religious chocolate chip cookie person these might not blow your mindhole the way they did mine… but I suspect they still might.  They are THAT good.  Fortunately, Angie (The Cookie MoMster), is the most thoughtful lady alive and always provides the recipes for her baked goods.  So if you are looking to make someone a treat… or gain a lot of weight… make these things.  You will not be disappointed.

Chocolate Toffee Caramel Bars

Prep Time (30 mins) Ready in 3 hours

1 (18.25 oz) package butter recipe yellow cake mix with pudding

1/3 cup oil

2 eggs

1 (12 oz) package (2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup white vanilla chips

3 (1.4 oz) chocolate covered toffee candy bars (heath bars), cut into pieces

½ cup butter or margarine

32 vanilla caramels, unwrapped

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)

1.)  Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease 13x9” pan.  In large bowl combine cake mix, oil, and eggs; blend well.  Stir in chocolate chips, vanilla chips, and candy bar pieces (mixture will be thick).  Press half of mixture in bottom of greased pan.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes.

2.)  Meanwhile in a medium saucepan, combine butter, caramels, and condensed milk.  Cook over medium-low heat until caramels are melted and mixture is smooth, stirring occasionally.

3.)  Remove partially baked crust from oven.  Slowly pour caramel mixture evenly over crust.  Crumble remaining cake mix mixture over caramel.

4.) Return to oven; bake an additional 25 to 30 minutes or until top is set and edges are deep golden brown.  Cool 20 minutes.  Run knife around sides of pan to loosen bars.  Cool 40 minutes.  Refridgerate for 1 hour.  Cut into bars and store in refrigerator.

Servings: 24 bars

Serving Size: 1 bar

Calories: 430

Calories from Fat: 190

Total fat 21 g

Saturated fat 9g

Cholesterol 30mg

Sodium 280mg

Carbohydrate 55g

Fiber 1g

Sugar 46g

Protein 5g