Toffee Bars

If any one dessert says “Mom” to me, this one does. She could make toffee bars without consulting a recipe—and often did. They were and still are the all-purpose “last minute dessert.”

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar (packed—light or dark or a mixture of the two)

1 egg, slightly beaten

2 tsp. vanilla (at least) dash of salt

2 cups flour 4-5 Hershey bars, broken into small pieces or 6 oz package chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Melt butter and sugar together in a large sauce pan, stirring to mix sugar into butter. When mixture comes to a boil, remove from heat, add 1/2 cup flour, vanilla, salt; stir till mixed. Stir in egg, then add the remaining 1/2 cups flour. Pat onto a large cookie sheet. Bake for 13 minutes. Take out of oven, sprinkle Hershey bars or chocolate chips on top, then return cookie sheet to oven for just a minute to melt the chocolate. Spread with a knife. Cut into squares while still warm, remove from cookie sheet onto a rack.