Grandmas Crunchie Bars Recipes

HOMEMADE CRUNCHIE BARS

Steps:

• Prepare a 9″ x 13″ cake pan with nonstick spray, or a light coating of vegetable oil or shortening. Set aside.
• In a LARGE pot (it will bubble up like mad as it cooks!), stir together sugar, corn syrup, and water. Attach a candy thermometer to the pan, making sure that it does not touch the bottom of the pan.
• Bring mixture to a boil, and allow to cook until temperature reaches 300 degrees F (hard crack stage). From the time mixture starts boiling to the time it reaches 300F, do not stir.
• Once mixture reaches 300F, remove from heat. Add vanilla and baking soda, beating to incorporate. The mixture will start foaming quite a bit when you add the baking soda (chemical reaction!), so using a LONG wooden spoon is a good idea. The sugar will be very hot, and will burn if you get any on your hand as you stir. Be very careful and work FAST. Continue beating the mixture until the foaming starts to slow down.
• Dump foaming mixture into greased cake pan, spreading it out as evenly as possible. Allow it to cool for 15-20 minutes.
• When the sponge toffee is starting to harden - but is still quite warm - use a serrated knife to score lines, about 1/4″- 1/2″ deep in the warm candy. These will be the shapes of your candy bars - I like to make them about 1.25″ x 3″, or so. Keep in mind that this is not an exact science, and you WILL have breakage in there.
• 20 minutes later, go back and re-score the lines you already made, gently cutting a little deeper than last time. Allow to cool completely.
• Once toffee is cooled all the way through, remove from pan and gently snap along your score lines. If you don't plan to dip them right away, be sure to store toffee in an airtight container - the sugar will attract water from the air, and the toffee can go soggy.
• In a large bowl, carefully melt your chocolate using whatever method you prefer. I like to use a glass bowl, nuking for 30 seconds at a time in the microwave, many swear by a double boiler. So long as you don't scorch it, it's all good.
• Using a fondue fork, candy dipping utensil, or (Clean!) fingers, gently dip each piece of sponge toffee, swirling around to coat fully. Allow excess chocolate to drip off before placing each piece on wax paper, parchment, or foil to harden.
• Enjoy!

GRANDMA'S CRUNCHIE BARS

Steps:

• Lightly grease a rectangular silicon mold with butter; set aside.
• In a large pot, add sugar, corn syrup and honey. Turn the heat to medium-low and cook until the sugar starts to dissolve, stirring constantly. When the mixture gets very sticky, add water; stir until smooth.
• Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, stirring often. Cook until it reaches 275ºF to 300ºF.
• Remove from the heat and add vanilla extract as well as baking soda; stir immediately. The mixture will expand while stirring; that's why it's important to use a large pot from the beginning.
• Quickly transfer the mixture into the prepared silicon mold (don't even it out otherwise the air bubbles will be removed) and let it sit until it hardens, about 7:30 hours.
• Unmold the bars and dip each in melted chocolate, coating well. Transfer them onto a wire rack sitting on a baking sheet lined with wax paper to catch any drips.
• When they are all coated, transfer them to the refrigerator until the chocolate bars get hard, about 1 hour.

CRUNCHY PART OF A CADBURY'S CRUNCHIE BAR

Steps:

• Grease an 8 inch square pan with butter.
• Off the heat (that means on the counter), mix the sugar and the syrup in a heavy-bottomed saucepan (use a pretty big saucepan, you'll thank me later).
• Now put the pan over a medium to low heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes (Nigella bases this on using an 8-inch diameter saucepan).
• The mixture is ready to come off the heat when it's a thick, bubbling bunch of gook, the color of light sand and no darker -- don't let it get any darker than that, or you'll end up with burnt and smelly sugar goop!
• Take the stuff off the heat and quickly whisk in the baking soda.
• Watch the caramel foam up like something out of a sci-fi film (this is the part where you thank me for telling you to use a large pot).
• Pour the foamy stuff into the pan and leave it to set.
• This will take several hours.
• Be patient.
• You can try and cut it into squares, but it will be a fruitless task.
• Best bet is to just bash it into a bunch of different shaped pieces.
• This is good frustration therapy.
• You can dip the pieces into melted chocolate to make your own Cadbury's Crunchy bars, or you could fold splinters of this into either homemade or bought vanilla icecream for honeycomb ice cream.