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This recipe for Easy Toffee Bars feature a dense, buttery, cake mix base, a smooth, rich chocolate layer, and are topped with small bits of Heath toffee! A SIMPLE DESSERT BAR RECIPE If you need a dessert bar that’s ready in less than 30 minutes that everyone will love, then these Easy Toffee Bars are what you have been looking for. I honestly haven’t found anyone yet that doesn’t love these! This is a little different from your usually toffee treats that use saltine crackers (like Christmas Crack) or graham crackers (Graham Cracker Toffee) as a base. This has a super firm cake layer holding it all together. Plus, this makes quite a few so you can freeze some for later or take this to a party or potluck and it will be enough to serve everyone! FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:  Is this salty since we are adding salt and using salted butter? Salted butter actually doesn’t have much salt in it (¼ teaspoon), so we’re adding a bit more salt here to cut the overall sweetness. It does not taste the least bit salty at all. Having said that, you can use all unsalted butter if that’s what you prefer. Where can I find Heath Toffee bits? The Heath Toffee Bits can be found by the chocolate chips in the grocery store. If you need to see the packaging, check out this package of Heath Toffee Bits. Can I make these with a cracker base instead? Yes, you can. I would suggest trying my Christmas Crack Cracker Toffee or my Graham Cracker Toffee recipes instead. Can I use a different cake mix? Yes, as mentioned in the ingredient section, you can swap the white cake mix out for yellow cake mix. This will change the color of the base layer, but it would still be delish. Additionally, you could use a spice mix cake for even more flavor or you could try a chocolate cake mix for any chocolate lovers out there. A butter cake mix could be used that would give it an even more of a buttery flavor, bringing even more shortbread undertones to the flavor profile. Can I add anything to these bars? Yup, try adding chopped nuts, chocolate chips or toffee pieces to the cake batter mixture. Can I use a different topping? Instead of the dark chocolate or semi sweet chocolate chip layer, you can use any type of chocolate, like white chocolate, peanut butter chips or butterscotch chips, or even a combination of them for a fun swirled effect. Can I swap out the toffee pieces? These are the stars of this Toffee Bars, but you can change it up a bit. Try using toasted nuts, sprinkles or chopped candies in place of the Heath Toffee bits.  How to store leftover bars? Keep leftover Toffee Bars in an airtight bag or container at room temperature for up to 3-4 days. You can keep them in the freezer for up to 2 months in a freezer safe container or bag. Thaw them overnight in the refrigerator or leave them out on the counter for several hours. I don’t suggest attempting to reheat them because you’ll change the texture and the taste of the treats. INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE) white cake mix– if you don’t have white cake mix, you can use a Yellow Cake Mix or vanilla cake mix but the base layer will just have a slightly different color than what you see here. all-purpose flour – you do not want to overmeasure the flour or these will turn out too dirty and crumbly. A lot of people tend to dip their measuring cup into the flour bag or container and scoop it up. You will end up with WAY TOO MUCH flour if you measure flour that way. The best way to do it (if you don’t have a kitchen scale) is to take a spoon and scoop the flour into your measuring cup. Do not pack it down. Once the measuring cup is full take the flat end of a butter knife and scoop off any extra. This will get you the most accurate measure of flour without weighing it. dark brown sugar– I like the deep molasses flavor that the dark brown sugar brings to this particular recipe, but you can absolutely switch to light brown sugar if that is all you have on hand.  salt salted butter– you could use unsalted butter and just add an extra ⅛ teaspoon of salt to the recipe if needed. large egg dark chocolate chips– You can swap these out for semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips if you want to make a sweeter topping.  toffee pieces– Heath toffee bits are a popular brand and that’s what I used. But, you can use any brand, or swap these bits out for toasted walnuts or pecans if you prefer a crunchy topping. If you can not find the Heath toffee bits, you can chop up a Heath bar. HOW TO MAKE EASY TOFFEE BARS: Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Spray a half sheet (18×13-inch) baking pan with nonstick spray (I like the kind with flour in it) or line with parchment paper. In a large bowl, mix together the white cake mix, flour, dark brown sugar and salt until combined. This can also be done in a stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer. Add in the salted butter and egg and mix until a crumbly dough forms. Press the mixture into the prepared pan in an even layer. You may find it helpful to use a rolling pin (lightly coated in flour so it doesn’t stick) to help flatten it. Bake (on the middle rack) for 14-16 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle on the dark chocolate chips in an even layer. You want them to be able to melt from the heat. Allow the chocolate to set for about 4-5 minutes then spread around the chocolate until smooth (this should be easy as the chocolate chips should be soft and melted by this point). Evenly sprinkle the toffee pieces on top then allow the bars to cool completely. Cut into squares and enjoy! CRAVING MORE RECIPES?  Graham Cracker Toffee Cracker Toffee No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars Snickers Bars Lazy Chocolate Chip Bars Homemade Twix Bars Print Easy Toffee Bars Layered treats with a dense cake mix layer, a smooth chocolate layer and topped with bits of Heath toffee. Course DessertCuisine American Prep Time 10 minutes minutesCook Time 16 minutes minutesTotal Time 26 minutes minutes Servings 35 Calories 209kcal Author Brandie @ The Country Cook Ingredients1 box white cake mix1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled (see notes below)½ cup packed dark brown sugar (can use light brown sugar)¼ teaspoon salt¾ cup salted butter, melted and cooled slightly ( 1 ⅓ sticks)1 large egg3 cups dark chocolate chips (or semi sweet chocolate chips)¼ cup Heath toffee bits InstructionsPreheat the oven to 350F degrees. Spray a half sheet (18×13-inch) baking pan with nonstick spray (I like the kind with flour in it) or line with parchment paper.In a large bowl, mix together 1 box white cake mix, 1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, ½ cup packed dark brown sugar and ¼ teaspoon salt until combined. This can also be done in a stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer. Add in ¾ cup salted butter, melted and cooled slightly and 1 large egg and mix until a crumbly dough forms. Press the mixture into the prepared pan in an even layer. You may find it helpful to use a rolling pin (lightly coated in flour so it doesn’t stick) to help flatten it. Bake (on the middle rack) for 14-16 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle on 3 cups dark chocolate chips in an even layer. You want them to be able to melt from the heat. Allow the chocolate to set for about 4-5 minutes, spread around the chocolate with a butter knife or offset spatula until smooth (this should be easy as the chocolate chips should be soft and melted by this point). Evenly sprinkle ¼ cup Heath toffee bits on top then allow the bars to cool completely. Cut into squares and enjoy! Notes Please refer to my FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions. It is important you do not overmeasure the flour or the base will come out too dry and won’t stick together. See my ingredient list in the post above for how to properly measure flour so that doesn’t happen.  NutritionCalories: 209kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 10g | Sodium: 172mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 16g

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Think of the Moon and most people will imagine a barren world pockmarked with craters. The same is likely true of Mars albeit more red in colour than grey! The Earth too has had its fair share of craters, some of them large but most of the evidence has been eroded by centuries of weathering. Surprisingly perhaps, Venus, the second planet from the Sun does not have the same weathering processes as we have on Earth yet there are signs of impact craters, but no large impact basins! A team of astronomers now think they have secured a new view on the hottest planet in the Solar System and revealed the missing impact sites.  Venus is the second planet from the Sun and, whilst it’s often called Earth’s sister planet, the reality is really they differ in many ways. The term comes from similarities in size and composition yet the conditions on Venus are far more hostile. Surface temperatures far exceed the boiling point of water, the dense atmosphere exerts a pressure on the surface equivalent to being 3,000 feet under water and there is sulphuric acid rain in the atmosphere! Most definitely not a nice place to head to for your next vacation.  Venus If you were to stand on the surface of Venus you would see beautifully formed craters. Looking down on the planet from orbit you would see none due to the thick, dense atmosphere. Yet if you could gaze through the obscuring clouds you would see a distinct lack of larger impact basins of the sort we are familiar with on the Moon. Now, a team of researchers mostly from the Planetary Science Institute believe they solve the mystery of the missing craters.  The Moon. Credit: NASA They have mapped a region of Venus known as Haastte-baad Tessera using radar technology and the results were rather surprising. The region is thought to be one of the oldest surfaces on Venus and is classed as tessera terrain. This type of feature is complex and is characterised by rough, intersecting ridges to create a tile like pattern thought to be the result of a thin but strong layer of material forming over a weak layer which can flow and convect energy just like boiling water. Images from the area in question reveal a set of concentric rings over 1,400 km across at their widest. The team propose that the feature is the result of two back-to-back impact events. “Think of pea soup with a scum forming on top,” said Vicki Hansen,  Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist.  Obviously there is no pea soup on Venus but instead, the thin crust layer formed upon a layer of molten lava. Venus of today has a thick outer shell called a lithosphere which is about 112 km thick but when Venus was younger, its thought it was just 9km thick! If an impactor struck the hot young Venus then it’s very likely it would have fractured the lithosphere allowing molten lava to seep through and eventually solidify to create the tesserae we see today.  Confusing things slightly however is that features like this have been seen on top of flat, raised plateaus where the lithosphere is likely much thicker. The researchers have an answer for this though, “When you have vast amounts of partial melt in the mantle that rushes to the surface, what gets left behind is something called residuum. Solid residuum is much stronger than the adjacent mantle, which did not experience partial melting.” said Hansen. “What may be surprising is that the solid residuum is also lower density than all the mantle around it. So, it’s stronger, but it’s also buoyant. You basically have an air mattress sitting in the mantle beneath your lava pond, and it’s just going to rise up and raise that tessera terrain.” The features found by the time seem to show that two impact events happened one after the other with the first creating the build up of lava and the second creating the ring structure seen today.  Source : Impact craters were hiding in plain sight, say researchers with a new view of Venus The post New View of Venus Reveals Previously Hidden Impact Craters appeared first on Universe Today.

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