Butter Toffee-nut Bars

Total Time: 1 hr 45 mins Preparation Time: 45 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups butter, room temperature
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons lemons, zest of
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 10 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar, plus
• 2 tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 1/2 cups toasted blanched almonds
• 1 1/2 cups toasted skinned hazelnuts
• 2 1/2 tablespoons whipping cream

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 370f (175c); line 9â€?x13â€? pyrex baking dish with foil.
• 2 for pastry: in mixer, cream butter; add sugar and lemon peel and beat until light and fluffy; combine flour, salt and cornstarch in small bowl; mix to blend; add to butter and mix just until dough starts coming together; press dough into baking dish, forming 1 inch high edges; pierce all over with fork.
• 3 bake until starting to colour, piercing with fork if pastry begins to puff during baking, about 40 minutes; remove from oven, maintaining oven temperature.
• 4 for topping: combine butter, brown sugar and honey in saucepan; whisk over medium-high heat until mixture comes to boil; boil without stirring until mixture thickens and bubbles enlarge, about 1 minute; mix in almonds and hazelnuts; remove from heat and stir in cream; spread topping in crust; bake until caramel bubbles, about 20 minutes.
• 5 cool in pan, on rack; remove from pan, using foil as aid; cut into 1 1/2 inch squares; keep in an air-tight container.