Heath Cookie Bars
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You’ll love this easy dessert bar recipe!
These rich Heath cookie bars are frosted with chocolate and studded with Heath bar toffee bits inside and out!
The texture of these toffee chocolate blondies is rich and dense — not crumbly like shortbread or gooey, even though there is a whole cup of butter in the cookie dough! Uh, yum!
To frost these cookies, sprinkle semi-sweet chocolate chips on top as soon as they come out of the oven. Once slightly melted, use a spatula to spread evenly. Finish with a generous sprinkle of Heath Bar toffee bits for more delicious crunch!
If you enjoy Heath bars like I do, be sure to check out my peanut butter chocolate toffee turtle cookies and English toffee. Both recipes use chocolate toffee bits and are super tasty!
Key ingredients & substitutions for Heath Cookie Bars
- Butter — Butter makes these cookies deliciously rich! Use unsalted butter and remember to soften before you start baking (or use my handy tip below if you forget).
- Flour and sugar — You’ll want to use all-purpose flour because you don’t want these bars to rise too much. I prefer light brown sugar in this recipe, but dark brown sugar is fine as well.
- Eggs — Separate the eggs for the yolks and reserve the egg whites to use in another recipe. (NOTE: My air fryer chicken cutlets recipe calls for egg whites only).
- Chocolate — Semi-sweet chocolate chips are melted for the frosting and Heath milk chocolate toffee bits are used both in the cookie dough and for the garnish.
How to make chocolate toffee blondies?
STEP 1 | Cream butter and sugar
Before you get started, prepare a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Tear off a sheet of parchment paper long enough to overlap the sides of the pan. Place the paper inside the pan and secure the sides with small binder clips.
Start the batter by creaming the butter, sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla extract together in a large bowl. Use the lowest speed on an electric mixer and beat until smooth.
tip
- If you forget to set butter on the counter to soften, use this trick. Heat a glass of water in the microwave, toss out the water, and invert the glass over the stick of butter. Steam builds up inside the glass and will soften the butter in just a couple of minutes.
STEP 2 | Combine wet and dry ingredients
All at once, add the flour and Heath toffee bits to the butter mixture. Use a heavy rubber spatula or wooden spoon to fold in the dry ingredients until no more flour remains. This mixture will be thick and crumbly.
STEP 3 | Bake
Empty the cookie dough into the prepared baking dish, pressing until the dough comes together in an even layer. Bake for 25 minutes, until the cookie is golden.
tip
- Wetting your fingers will make pressing the dough into the pan much easier and will keep the dough from sticking to your hands.
STEP 3 | Frost the cookies
This is the simplest frosting ever! Immediately after you remove the pan from the oven, sprinkle chocolate chips over the top. After they start to soften (about 5 minutes or so), use an offset spatula to spread the chocolate all over the cookie.
STEP 4 | Cool and cut into bars
Garnish the cookie bars with a generous sprinkle of Heath toffee bits while the chocolate is still wet. After the pan is completely cool, pop it into the refrigerator for 20 minutes to harden the chocolate.
Remove the binder clips and use the parchment paper to lift the cookies onto a cutting board. Cut into squares or small rectangles and serve.
Frequently asked questions
You’ll need 1 1/2 cups of crushed candy for the recipe, so if you have extra mini Heath bars from your Halloween treat bag this would be a great use for them! Place the candy bars in a ziploc bag and crush with a rolling pin until you are left with small chunks.
Absolutely! Egg whites actually freeze very well. Label a resealable freezer bag with the date and number of egg whites to be packaged, then transfer the egg whites to the bag, seal, and freeze flat for up to 2 months. Later when you’re ready to use, thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
Actually, cookie bars is a category that includes any cookie recipe baked in a pan and cut into squares — so blondies and brownies are both technically cookie bars. The difference between blondies and brownies is the chocolate in the brownie batter.
Serving suggestions
Cookie bars are great dessert options for parties and picnics because they are easy to transport, but most importantly they’re always popular and tasty, too!
Heath Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup light brown sugar firmly packed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 8-oz. pkg. Heath milk chocolate toffee bits divided
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat together the softened butter, brown sugar, vanilla and egg yolks on low speed until smooth.
- Add the flour, salt and 1 cup Heath toffee bits and stir until just combined. The mixture will be thick and crumbly.
- Empty mixture into the prepared baking dish and press it out evenly using wet fingers. Bake for 25 minutes, until golden.
- Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle chocolate chips over the top. Let sit for 5 minutes, then spread evenly using an offset spatula. Sprinkle with the remaining Heath toffee bits.
- Cool completely then refrigerate for 20 minutes to allow the chocolate to set up. Lift from the pan using the parchment paper onto a cutting board, then cut into squares and serve.
Notes
- If you forget to set butter on the counter to soften, use this trick. Heat a glass of water in the microwave, toss out the water, and invert the glass over a stick of butter. The steam will soften the butter within a couple of minutes.
- Wetting your fingers will make pressing the dough into the pan much easier and will keep the dough from sticking to your hands.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.
Nutrition
Life Love and Good Food does not claim to be a registered dietician or nutritionist. Nutritional information shared on this site is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
About Sheila Thigpen
Recipe Developer, Food Photographer, Food Writer
Sheila Thigpen is the publisher of Life, Love, and Good Food — a Southern food blog — and the author of Easy Chicken Cookbook and The 5-Ingredient Fresh and Easy Cookbook. After 20+ years in the publishing industry, she retired in 2018 to focus on her own creative endeavors full time. She and her husband live near the beautiful Smoky Mountains and have a precious little granddaughter who has stolen their hearts. As an influencer, Sheila has collaborated with brands like Creamette, Kroger, HERSHEY’S, Hamilton Beach, Garafalo Pasta, OXO, Smithfield, Valley Fig Growers, and more.
This was a very easy recipe, which is what I look for. AND they are delicious, taking to a party tonight. Will definitely be making again.
Questioning the amount of butter in the recipe. After making them, they seem SO greasy! Wonder if you were meaning one stick of butter (or 1/2 cup)? I may try that next time around. Other than that, I think it’s a good cookie! I know with other recipes (not yours), like the Toll House cookie, it’s way to greasy and I cut back on that as well.
I made these for a softball tournament this weekend and they were demolished by the team. One of the coaches called them “magical.” They survived the heat quite well, as long as they’re in the shade. I will absolutely be making these again.
Hi! This recipe looks great, Sheila! Wondering if I could substitute almond flour?
Hi, Pamela! I’m not very experienced with using almond flour as a substitute, so I couldn’t tell you what kind of results you might get.
Milk Chocolate health pieces is that the same bits of brittle ?
Yes, you can use the bits of brittle as well!
I made these today and they were a hit!! Thank you for sharing!
These are amazing. Follow the recipe exactly. No changes required. It is the easiest recipe for a wonderful dessert. I keep them in the freezer and always have a dessert ready.
I am a sucker for anything Heath Bar and these look so delicious! Thanks for the recipe! Yummy!
I made these for Christmas tins, and let’s just say they may not get in. I am storing them in the freezer to keep me away, but I am still not winning the battle. They are just that good.
Haha! I completely understand! These are delicious cookie bars, indeed!
Wondering how they would be if sprinkled with sea-salt after pulled from the oven…?
Thoughts?
That’s certainly worth a try if you like sweet and salty desserts!
I substituted Hersey’s Sea Salt Caramel chips for the semisweet chips. I would give it a big thumbs-up!
These look amazing. Love Blondie bars! thanks for sharing, can’t wait to try it out.