Buttery shortbread, homemade salted caramel, silky milk chocolate, and a pinch of flaky salt. Perfection if you ask me. These Twix Shortbread Cookies are the BEST and I know you’re gonna love them!
What makes these Twix Cookies the BEST?
- Easy to make. Although these cookies have multiple components – the shortbread, the caramel, and the chocolate – they’re very easy to make. Shortbread comes together really fast with just a few simple ingredients. You can make homemade salted caramel, (here’s my recipe if you need it) or a store bought caramel sauce will work too as long as it’s not too thin and runny. And all you have to do with the chocolate is melt it.
- Salty Sweet Perfection. The salted caramel sauce and flaky sea salt balance the super sweet milk chocolate in the most delicious way.
- Make ahead. These twix shortbread cookies will stay fresh in an airtight container on the counter for several days or in the fridge for up to two weeks. (they’re actually SO GOOD cold straight from the fridge!!)
How to Make Twix Shortbread Cookies
Make the Shortbread.
My shortbread recipe includes a few tweaks to a traditional shortbread that I think give it the best flavor AND texture. We’re using brown sugar for molasses flavor and chew, and powdered sugar to keep the shortbread super soft. I also like to replace a little bit of the flour with cornstarch and that makes the shortbread almost melt-in-your-mouth soft.
Start by creaming the softened butter, brown sugar, and powdered sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment for 3 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Next, mix in the vanilla. Then, add in the salt, flour, and cornstarch and mix until combined. The dough will be a little wet and sticky, but that’s ok! Wrap it tightly in saran wrap and pop in into the fridge for an hour.
Prepare the caramel sauce.
Feel free to use your own salted caramel sauce recipe, grab mine here, or purchase a store bought salted caramel sauce. Any will work, as long as the caramel sauce is nice and thick and won’t run off the sides of the cookies. If you’re making your own, make sure to let the caramel cool before assembling the cookies.
Bake the shortbread.
Remove the shortbread from the fridge and cut it in half. Roll each half into a log about 2″ thick. I like to tap the ends on the counter to help get them flat. Optional, but recommended – roll each log in coarse turbinado sugar which will give the cookies a nice little added crunch. If the dough got a little warm while rolling, pop it back in the fridge to firm up before slicing into 18 cookie slices about 1/2″ thick.
Place the cookies onto 2 parchment lined cookie sheets. You want the dough to be very cold as it goes into the oven, so I recommend placing the cookie sheets into the freezer for 8-10 minutes while you preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Then, bake for 8-9 minutes. The centers will seem a little under baked when you remove them from the oven, but that’s ok.
When you take the cookies out of the oven and they are still hot use a rubber spatula to scoot any runaway edges back into place AND use a spoon or measuring spoon to create a well in the center or each cookie. If the cookies are still hot this should be very easy to do. This will help to prevent the caramel sauce from running off the sides of the shortbread. Then, leave the cookies on the hot cookie sheet and they will firm up as they cool.
Prepare the chocolate.
While the cookies cool, melt the chocolate.
Milk chocolate is traditional for a Twix bar, but if you’d prefer semi sweet or dark chocolate, go for it! I used Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips. Add the chocolate and coconut oil to a microwave safe dish and heat in 20 second increments in the microwave until smooth. Make sure to turn down the power on your microwave in order to properly temper the chocolate. If it gets too hot too fast it might develop little white bloomy spots as it sits.
Assemble the Twix Cookies.
Once the cookies have cooled, pour about 2 tsp of caramel sauce into the well in the center of the cookie. This 2 tsp cookie scoop works great for this. If needed, use an offset spatula to spread it, but not all the way to the edge. Next, pour about 2 tsp of the melted chocolate on top and spread it so that it covers the caramel. Top with flaky sea salt, then allow the chocolate to set up before enjoying.
Twix Cookie FAQs
- Can I make this recipe gluten free? I haven’t tested this shortbread recipe with gluten free flour, but you should be able to replace the flour with a 1 to 1 gluten free flour replacement like this one from Bob’s Redmill or this one from King Arthur Baking.
- Can I make these cookies ahead of time? Yes. The fully assembled cookies will stay fresh in an airtight container on the counter for 2-3 days or up to 2 weeks in the fridge. You can also prepare the shortbread and freeze it for up to 3 months.
- Can I use a different type of chocolate? An actual Twix bar uses milk chocolate, so that’s what I opted for in this twix cookie recipe, but if you’d prefer a darker chocolate for your cookies, go for it!
- What store bought caramel sauces would work best? You want to select a caramel sauce that is nice and thick. Anything too thin and you run the risk of losing the caramel off of the side of the shortbread. I’d recommend this salted caramel sauce from Stonewall Kitchen, or Trader Joe’s makes a nice Fleur de Sel Caramel Sauce that I think would work nicely.
Twix Shortbread Cookies
- Prep Time: 30 min
- Cook Time: 10 min
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 18 Cookies 1x
Description
Tender and buttery brown sugar shortbread topped with salted caramel sauce and milk chocolate.
Ingredients
For the Brown Sugar Shortbread
- 1 C (226 g) Salted Butter, softened
- 1/3 C (75 g) Dark Brown Sugar
- 1/3 C (40 g) Powdered Sugar
- 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- 2 C – 2 TBSP (235 g) All Purpose Flour
- 2 TBSP Cornstarch
- Pinch of Salt
3/4 C Salted Caramel Sauce
3/4 C Milk Chocolate Chips
2 tsp Coconut Oil
Flaky Sea Salt, optional
Instructions
For the Shortbread
- Cream the butter and sugars in the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment for 3 minutes, or until it’s light and fluffy.
- Add the vanilla and mix to combine.
- Add the flour, cornstarch, and salt and mix until combined.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for one hour.
- While the dough chills, prepare your caramel sauce (if you’re making it yourself) and then let it cool completely.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and slice it in half. Roll each half into a log about 2″ thick. Roll the logs into coarse turbinado sugar, then slice into 18 total slices about 1/2″ thick.
- Place the cookies onto 2 parchment lined cookie sheets, then place into the freezer while you preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Bake for 8-9 minutes, the remove from oven and immediately use a rubber spatula to scoot in any runaway edges and then use a measuring spoon to press a well into the center of each cookie.
- Let the cookies cool on the hot cookie sheet.
- While the cookies cool, melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil until smooth.
- When cookies are cooled top each one with 2 tsp of salted caramel sauce. Use an offset spatula to help the caramel spread a bit, but not all the way to the edges.
- Pour 2 tsp of melted chocolate on top and spread so that it covers the caramel.
- Top with flaky salt and then allow the chocolate to set before enjoying at room temperature, or chilled from the fridge.
If you loved this recipe for my Twix Shortbread Cookies, be sure to leave a review and star rating and tag @buuckfarmsbakery on Instagram and TikTok. To save this recipe for later, click on the Pinterest icon on the recipe card above, or on any of the images throughout this post.
More Recipes You’ll Love
- Peanut Butter Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies. Peanut butter in the cookie AND peanut butter in the Oreos. These are SO GOOD.
- Millionaire’s Shortbread Bars. A bit more elevated version of these Twix Cookies that take a bit more patience and skill, but you’re sure to love.
- Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies. These are to die for. Chewy chocolate chip cookies with crispy edges and pools of melty salted caramel in the center.
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