This is one of my family’s favorite holiday recipes. My mom bakes English Toffee Almond Bars every year for our Christmas-Eve party and they are always the first to go. These cookie bars are soft and bursting with toffee-flavored crust, crunchy almonds and of course, lots of chocolate. My mom perfected it from her Moms old recipe so you can be sure its kitchen tested and taste approved. I’ll bet you can’t eat just one! 
Even though we usually only bake these cookie bars around the holidays- I think they would be a great anytime cookie. The ingredient list is short and it is simple to prepare (and eat!).
Considering its still late summer, it’s never too early to start planning for the holidays. I love baking so obviously it takes some time sifting through recipes and deciding what I want to bake for everyone. This year will be a little tougher because I will be in transition; the week before Christmas I will be moving back home to Portland, Oregon for good (at least for a long time!). Why not put off today what I can do tomorrow- especially when it comes to unpacking. 🙂 I would rather bake any day! If you have a favorite holiday recipe let me know and I would love to try them out- especially if they are chocolate!
Enjoy and let me know what you think! 
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (Bobs Red Mill)
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
- 1 egg
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
- 1 cup semi-sweet or milk chocolate* (chips or baking chocolate)
- 1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
- 2. In a large bowl: mix whole wheat pastry flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, egg, almond extract and vanilla extract until well combined and mixture resembles cookie dough.
- 3. Spread mixture into an un-greased 8x8” pan.
- 4. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the edges are slightly browned and cool completely**.
- 5. Melt chocolate over a double broiler or in microwave (be careful not to burn chocolate) and spread evenly over cooled crust.
- 6. Sprinkle with sliced almonds. Let cool completely.
- 7. Cut into 1x2” bars. Enjoy!
- *Higher quality chocolate will make your bars more delicious! I used Guittard chocolate chips.
- **Make sure the bars are completely cooled or the chocolate will not stick to the crust and it will create a big mess.
Baked by Michelle for MoreChocolate.net