toffee, coconut oreo squares

MOTHER OF PEARL!

These squares are an absolute delight!

Actually … they are more than simply a delight … These are intensely, wonderfully, richly, decadent, sinfully delicious.

Are you sold on them yet?

How about if I promise that they are super simple to make as well?

Are you excited yet?

You should be. These are dead simple … and a huge bang for their buck.

Think I’m overly confident?

I’m not.

These are GOOD.

I’ve brought these into work twice already … had a request to make a batch for a colleague’s niece; baked them for the Halifax Seaport Market, and then baked another batch for last Friday’s Daytime Ottawa appearance on Roger’s (you can watch it here – skip the first 2 minutes).

Obsessed much? These are worth obsessing about.

Consider these the first of my holiday baking recipes. Swap things in and out as you like – pecans can replace almonds … fudgeos can replace oreos … heck … I bet dolce de leche could replace just regular condensed milk to make these even more intensely amazing.

After playing around with the this recipe a few times I’ve realized that toasting the coconut and nuts is the way to go. It adds another 10 minutes to your baking / prep time … but it’s so well worth the effort. I promise … You won’t regret it … although, I think you just won’t regret making a pan of these.

Nuf said. It’s time for me to share the love and the recipe … and it’s time for you to preheat your oven and gather your ingredients. Lovin’ from the oven awaits!

toffee, coconut oreo squares

ingredients:

1/4 c. butter, melted

2 1/2 rows of oreo cookies, crumbled (use a food processor … it saves loads of time)

1 1/4 c. coconut flakes, toasted

1 c. almonds (or pecans), chopped and toasted

3/4 c. chocolate chips

3/4 c. toffee pieces

300 mL can condensed milk

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Line a square baking pan with parchment paper. You want to ensure that the sides hang over the edges of the pan.

Pour the melted butter directly onto the parchment paper. I know … it seems strange, but it works. Spread it around so that the base of the pan is covered with the melted butter.

Dump the oreo cookie crumbs on-top of the melted butter. Flatten the crumbs evenly over the entire base – I use the bottom of a measuring cup to help flatten the base.

That was the most difficult part of the entire recipe. For realz :0)

Take your toasted coconut and evenly sprinkle it over the oreo cookie crumb base.

Now sprinkle the toasted almonds (or pecans) over the coconut layer.

The chocolate chip layer comes next.

Followed by the toffee pieces.

Time for the second hardest part of the recipe. Combine the condensed milk and vanilla together, and then evenly cover everything. Use a spatula to spread the condensed milk to all 4 corners of the pan.

Bake for 30 – 35 minutes (my oven seems to be a 33 minute bake). You’ll notice that nothing looks very set when you take the pan out of the oven. Don’t worry. It’ll set.

Allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes. I find that it’s then best to place the pan in your fridge and allow the squares to cool for another hour. This allows it to firm up enough to be able to cleanly cut into squares.

As usual I lift the entire, uncut lot out of the pan (thank you parchment paper!) … trim off the sides and then cut into equal pieces. You should get at least 16 squares – more if you want to share the love with more people.

Oh .. and those sides … don’t toss them away. Those are your special treat. After all … you need to reward yourself after slaving away in the kitchen :0)