This quick and easy recipe comes from the Silver Palate Cookbook.
I first made it more than twenty years ago, and can still remember the excitement of my then work colleagues when I brought it in for morning tea. It was very encouraging feedback for a kitchen novice.
The recipe itself is a doddle to make – the only tricky part is spreading the thick batter evenly into the pan, and that’s only because I use parchment paper to save on washing up. The original recipe says to grease the pan, which would make the dough handling much easier. I’ve found the simplest method is to spread the mixture out with my hands, and then smooth the top over with a spatula.
The bars are a delicious combination of brown sugar shortbread, chocolate and nuts. They’ve proven to be as popular now as they were twenty years ago!
- 250g (1 cup) unsalted butter
- 210g (1 cup) brown sugar
- 1 large (59g) egg yolk
- 300g (2 cups) plain (AP) flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used homemade)
- 340g (12oz) dark chocolate chips (I used Callebaut 811 54%)
- 90g (1 cup) toasted flaked almonds (original recipe specified coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans)
1. Preheat oven to 175C/350F or 160C/320F with fan. Grease a 23cm x 30cm (9″ x 12″) baking pan, or line it with parchment paper. Don’t worry too much about the pan size – mine was an inch longer (13″) than the recipe recommended, and it was still fine.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg yolk and vanilla, and mix well. Finally, beat in the flour until well combined.
3. Spread the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 25 minutes.
4. Remove the pan, sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the top, then return the pan to the oven for a further 3 to 4 minutes.
5. Remove the pan from the oven and spread the melted chocolate evenly with a spatula. Scatter the nuts over the surface, and allow to cool completely in the pan (be patient!) before cutting.
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
I love the revival of these classic recipes. This one sounds really delicious.
Thanks for stopping by, Susan! This recipe really is a winner – the Silver Palate ladies were very clever indeed…
Yum! I wish I had the ingredients to make this right now.
Deb, you probably do! I know they’re all ingredients we keep in the house. I’ve also made this with chopped roasted hazelnuts on top, and it went down very well indeed…
I have the Silver Palate cookbook… one of the first gourmet cookbooks I purchased! I hadn’t made this one, I’ll have to add it to my Christmas baking list:)
Smidge, moi aussi! It was a huge leap of faith to buy it – over here in Australia, most of our cookbooks are full of photos of the finished recipes, whereas the SP one had no photos at all. As a beginner cook, I had to try and imagine what they were supposed to end up like. It cost a lot too – I still have the price tag on mine, and even in the late 80s, it was already $25.. :)
Silver Palate was also for me one of the first “gourmet” books I purchased. I had just married my first husband and wanted to become a better cook. Loved that book.
interestingly enough, my first husband got permanent custody of all my cookbooks, as when we separated I left Brazil – I hope he uses them sometimes, but I doubt it ;-)
Maybe I should buy this one again, your post brought me nice memories, and this toffee bar is calling my name, now that I am a toffee-addict.
Sally, they’re brought out a 25th anniversary edition, which now has photos! I don’t really know why the toffee bar is called that, as it doesn’t really have toffee in it. But it is delicious… :)
This looks delicious – the flavour of Millionaire’s Shortbread without the tooth rotting caramel layer! :)
Suelle, I’ve never made Millionaire’s Shortbread, although I’ve seen a few recipes for it. I think you’d like this recipe, although it does have lots of butter in it…
Oooh, fabulous! I love the idea of brown sugar shortbread, especially in combination with chocolate. I always think chocolate makes anything better (within reason!)…. and as Suelle says, reminiscent of millionaire’s shortbread… yum!
C, I’ve made this with all sorts of nuts over the years – walnuts, pecans (both as specified in the recipe), this version with the flaked almonds, and a batch with chopped roasted hazelnuts. I’m sure it would be fine whichever nuts were scattered over the top, so you could use whatever works for you. :)
i’m going to make these for Mr Biscuit, he will LOVE them !
Oooh, yes, he certainly will! :)
Lordy, there is a cookbook I don’t have and have not heard of! Look great, thanks for sharing.
Lizzy, as I mentioned to Sally above, they’ve just brought out a 25th Anniversary edition which has lots of photos – the original is completely photo-less. I’ve noticed that quite a few American cookbooks are like that, whereas here in Australia almost all our cookbooks are photo-heavy. Probably has something to do with the influence over the years of the Australian Women’s Weekly cookbooks.. :)
Yes Celia it looks really good will be making this
Thanks Tania! Hope you enjoy it!
Not much beats a good slice (or sloice, as we like to call them). I used to make them frequently for the kids lunchboxes, but much less so now. Only 1 kid left at school & she is away on an exchange until January. If I were to make slices now I know only too well who would eat the lions share – and my hips just don’t need it!
Amanda, I boxed up the leftovers and sent them off to a party with Big Boy. Nice to bake and eat a little, but as you say, dangerous if left lying around! :)
Looks like a good one for my Christmas baking list.
I find it very hard to believe you were ever a cooking novice Celia!
Claire love, you’re very sweet. :)
Some days I find it very hard to believe I was ever in my 20s! :)
they really do look very impressive, and I love that word DODDLE!! thanks celia.. c
C, the older I get, the more I’m looking for simple recipes – sometimes in terms of actual hands-on activity, but more often in terms of mental agility. Particularly at the time of the year, I find confusing recipes really hard to handle! :)
Wow; no wonder this recipe is a keeper. I bet you made a lot of people happy back then. Just like you do now. I’m curious about the homemade vanilla extract; will pop over to have a look. Have a good day Celia.
Mariana, thank you! The vanilla extract has been going strong for a couple of years now – I have bottles stashed away all over the place, brewing quietly. Here’s the post on it to save you looking it up! :)
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2009/05/28/homemade-vanilla-extract/
Those look so simple to make and tasty! Just right for my busy schedule. Thanks.
Manuela, it really gets like that at this time of year, doesn’t it? I’m starting to crave the simple as well. When the simple gets rave reviews, then it gets a gold star and moves to the top of the list for Christmas baking.. :)
Oh I love it! I could do with one of these to cope with my 3:30 chocolate fix :)
Nic, they’re pretty good for an afterschool snack too! :)
I’ve never made these, sure to try your recipe soon :)
Thanks Cindy, hope you like them! :)
I have the 2 Silver Palate cookbooks, and they still inspire me today. You’re right, they were hideously expensive back then for me, and the lack of photos was a bit scarey too, but they were just so different from the usual cookbooks back then. Some of the ingredients were impossible to find, but ones like this lovely were kitchen staples. Yumm!!!
Becca, I ended up buying all three (the two SP ones plus the big Basics one they put out after that). It was all so contemporary and hip back then, wasn’t it? I remember reading them in bed, and feeling very sophisticated.. :)
This is so funny because today I was looking at the same cookbook telling myself that I should make something from it. The bars look really great.
Norma, I’ve had some wonderful recipes from those Silver Palate books, plus one that nearly set fire to my kitchen.. :)
Then this must be a real winners recipe that can’t fail me!
I will make these bars as lovely food gifts to give to my guests at Christmas but of course I will test it firstly for myself & my hubby ! :)
Yummmmm,…!!!!
Sophie, I hope you have fun with these! I made them again with chopped roasted hazelnuts, and they were a big hit!
This sounds like a more adult version of millionaires shortbread and something, surprise, surprise, I would very much like to try. As usual, you have produced mouth watering photographs Celia.
Choc, thank you! I’m sure you could make them very special depending on the chocolate you scattered on top. I think you’d like them with a little darker choc – around 70%. The 54% was quite kid friendly, but with the 70% the bars are a bit more grown up.. :)
These sound easy to make and do look very, very yummy. I think the sliced almonds would be my nut of choice to go on top. They just seem to look like they belong. Sure wish I could reach out and take one from the top of that stack in the top photo. Great picture!!
Mel, they really are easy! One of the tricky things for me is making sure I don’t burn the flaked almonds when I’m toasting them – can’t tell you how often I do that.. ;-)
Excellent! I now know what to make this weekend for a cub fundraiser, thankyou – you’ve saved the day! It looks delicious and certain to please a room full of quilting ladies. ;)
Chris, that’s great to know, thanks! Nice thing too is that it can be cut into lots of pieces, so it goes quite a long way…
This looks delicious and I always love the crunchy texture of roasted almond flakes that add such a nice touch to sweets.
Chopinand, thank you! Because there was so few ingredients, we were able to taste each one, which was really nice..
Wow, simple and beautiful and yours looks so nice. I love reading how you’ve used all different nuts over the years. I’ve never finished chocolate on a slice like that before – brilliant!
Craig
Thanks Craig, this is the only recipe I’ve seen that finishes the chocolate like this too! It works well – it doesn’t temper the chocolate, so it sets soft enough to cut well…
Celia, I wish I had seen your reply to my comment sooner! I went ahead and ordered that book (used copy) because I got too nostalgic about mine, laying on a shelf in Brazil, probably untouched for more than 20 years! ;-)
but it’s ok, I might “have” to get the newer version to place them side by side…
Sal, you probably did the right thing – you saved a heap buying a used copy, and you got an “original”! :)
Celia made it last night with walnuts, but why they named it toffee bars – it should be shortbread bars, cutting it up this morning to distribute to many people who drop in home grown veges. Thanks a bunch as my Silver Palate books are in Brisbane. ps had to have a slice for breakfast to check before I wrapped it up and so decadently rich.
Roz, you’re so right – I have no idea why they were called toffee bars either. I thought maybe the word toffee had a slightly different meaning over in the US? That’s nice of you to bake for your friends! :)
Made this last night and topped half with almonds for the grown ups and half with hundreds and thousands for the kids. I’m waiting for Poppet to wake up from her nap so I can surprise the girls with afternoon tea. I might have already trialed it for them. I think I am slowly eating my way through all your recipes. :)
Pam, that makes me very, very happy. Thank you! :)