Toffee Taste without the Toffee Tug

This past weekend my mom's family had our reunion. It's always fun and we are currently adding new members just about every year. My cousin's little boy has autism as well as some food allergies, so his diet is limited. Friday night she decided to make a meal for all of us that he could it. It was pretty good...taquitos, guacamole, and salad. On Saturday we usually grill out. However, everyone is responsible to bring a sweet and salty snack to share. I took hummus for my salty along with carrots and broccoli. I actually took two sweet snacks...puppy chow, just like Cate made last week, and a yummy new recipe from Peabody. When I saw the recipe I wondered why she had called them toffee bars. There wasn't any toffee in there. Nope...none of that crunchy, tooth tugging, cavity forming goodness. Hmmm...WELL! When I tasted it, I knew why. It TASTED like toffee. So good. I thought it tasted better cold (as I tasted it after pulling it out of the freezer). So, if you love toffee but have braces or TMJ issues or don't want to damage your dental work...or if you just love toffee, give these a try! So good!
Brown Sugar Toffee Bars adapted from Peabody

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup rice flour
¼ tsp salt
1 cup semiweet chocolate chips
3 ounces almonds, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray baking spray in a 9-x-13-inch pan. Beat 1 cup butter in large bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add brown sugar and beat on medium high until fully incorporated. Turn mixer to low speed and mix in flours and salt. Press dough into prepared pan. It is a bit thin but will cover the pan easily. Bake until shortbread is brown, firm at edges and slightly soft in center, about 30 minutes.

Take shortbread out of oven. Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the shortbread. Place back in oven for 3 minutes. Remove from oven and using a spatula, spread the chocolate out evenly over the shortbread. Sprinkle the almond pieces on top of the chocolate. Let cool. Place in freezer for 10 minutes (helps with the cutting). Cut into rectangles about the size of graham cracker rectangles (the smallest size of the graham cracker).