For several months now I've been wanting to make a dessert bar. I tried different variations playing around with grapefruit, pistachio, white chocolate, and even almonds. After a lot of experimenting, I finally landed on matcha Twix bars, taking Asian influences and applying them to Twix bars. Swap out the shortbread, caramel, and chocolate for matcha shortbread, coconut caramel, raspberry coulis, and dark chocolate and that's what you have here! It's decadent, rich, and oh-so-satisfying.
Recipe
Matcha Twix Bars
Ingredients
Matcha shortbread
- ½ cup butter, softened (113 grams)
- ½ cup powdered sugar (65 grams)
- 1 tablespoon matcha powder (6 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour (110 grams)
Coconut caramel
- 14 ounces coconut cream
- ⅔ cup honey (165 ml)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Raspberry coulis
- 12 ounces raspberries, fresh or frozen
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water
Chocolate ganache
- 12 ounces dark chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- sea salt for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray an 8x8 inch baking pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper.
- Make the matcha shortbread. Combine the softened butter and powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until creamed and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the matcha powder, salt, and flour and stir just until combined. Shape the dough into a square and wrap it with plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes or until firm.
- Lightly dust a clean work counter with flour and roll out the matcha shortbread into an 8x8 inch square. Transfer the dough to the prepared baking dish, pressing down the dough to fit into the pan. Bake the crust for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely.
- Meanwhile, make the coconut caramel. Combine the coconut cream and honey in a large heavy-bottomed pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and continue to simmer for 20-25 minutes or until the caramel has thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and salt. Let cool slightly then pour the caramel over the matcha shortbread. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Combine the raspberries with sugar in a medium pot. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Add cornstarch water mixture and simmer for another minute or until thickened. Remove from heat and puree raspberry filling until smooth. Strain and discard seeds.
- Remove the dessert bars from the fridge and spread the raspberries on top of the caramel. Return to the fridge and chill until completely set, about 1 hour.
- Remove the dessert from the baking pan and cut it into 8 large bars or 16 small bars. Place the bars on a wire rack with parchment paper under the rack.
- Microwave the dark chocolate with coconut oil in the microwave until the chocolate is melted, stirring the mixture every 20 seconds. Pour the chocolate over the dessert bars, covering the entire bar. Let cool completely until the chocolate sets. If desired, drizzle extra chocolate on top. Sprinkle with sea salt and serve.
Watch how to make this:
**Helpful tips and common mistakes
Since these matcha Twix bars have three layers, it takes some time to make the dessert. Don't worry, it'll be worth it at the end.
Let's start by making the matcha shortbread. Shortbread is a type of buttery biscuit that makes it the perfect base for these dessert bars. To make the cookie, cream together butter with powdered sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the dry ingredients including the flour, matcha powder, and salt, and stir just until the dough comes together. Shape the dough into a square and chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes or until firm. Chilling the dough will make it easier to roll out.
Roll out the dough into a square and transfer it to the prepared baking dish. Bake the matcha shortbread for about 15 minutes. The cookie will harden as it cools so don't worry if it feels soft.
Set aside the shortbread and let it cool completely. Meanwhile, let's get started on the next layer, the coconut caramel.
To make the coconut caramel, simply boil together coconut cream with honey. Make sure you use coconut cream and not coconut milk. Coconut cream is thicker and richer than coconut milk so if you use coconut milk, the consistency won't be the same.
Continue simmering the caramel until it becomes a rich golden brown and thickens up. It should look exactly like caramel. Add the vanilla and salt off the heat and let it cool slightly before pouring it on the matcha shortbread.
We're halfway through! Now it's time to make the raspberry coulis. Simmer fresh or frozen raspberries with sugar until the fruit breaks down and the liquid thickens. It'll look almost like a jam but not as thick.
Puree the raspberry filling until smooth and strain the seeds. I don't mind a few seeds just for texture but you can strain them completely. Then, spread the raspberry coulis on top of the set caramel and chill the bars in the fridge for at least one hour or in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Once the dessert has set, cut it into either 8 large bars or 16 small bars. Place a wire rack on top of parchment paper and set the bars on the wire rack.
Melt the dark chocolate with coconut oil and pour the chocolate over the bars. You can also dip the bars into the chocolate but it can get messy. I found this to be the easiest way to cover the bars. If you want the bottom of the bars to be covered too, flip them over once the tops have hardened.
If you want to add some decoration, drizzle extra chocolate on top and sprinkle sea salt.
After all the work, I can happily say that I was very pleased with these matcha Twix bars. The raspberry coulis added some brightness to the bars, balancing the sweet coconut and caramel. It's rich but incredibly satisfying!
For more matcha inspiration, check out these matcha and white cookies or matcha beignets!
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