Mixed Nut Bars

Crunchy nuts and buttery caramel form the core of many candy bars for a simple reason: The combination sells. This recipe for mixed nut bars lets you create the same winning pairing in your kitchen.

These bars smartly balance contrasting textures and flavors, all created with a handful of pantry staples. Butterscotch chips and mixed nuts form a sweet and salty topping that’s pleasingly gooey and crunchy all at once. A crumbled crust bakes into a supportive base so that the cookie bars rest more neatly on a platter, in a lunchbox or in your hand. Like other old-school butterscotch recipes, this one transforms the classic taste of butterscotch candy into an easy, super-rich dessert.

Mixed Nut Bar Ingredients

• Flour: There’s no need to use a fancy type of flour here: All-purpose flour does the job. It binds the streusel together enough so you can press it into the bottom of the pan as a crusty bar base.
• Brown sugar: This mixed nut bar recipe calls for brown sugar because its molasses-infused flavor builds on the taste of the topping’s butterscotch. For a crisper, browner base, replace 1/4 cup of the brown sugar with granulated sugar.
• Salt: Salt and sweets pair well together because they bring out each other’s flavors. Just a little salt enhances the rich butterscotch topping, especially if you use salted mixed nuts.
• Butter: For the richest crust, choose butter rather than margarine or shortening. Cold butter crumbles best into flour without overworking it.
• Butterscotch chips: These flavored baking chips have deep caramel notes.
• Light corn syrup: Corn syrup sweetens the bars and helps the topping bind to the crust. Use light instead of dark corn syrup—the strong molasses flavor in dark would overpower the butterscotch and its color would dull the bars.
• Mixed nuts: This recipe specifies an 11-1/2-ounce can of mixed nuts, or about 2-3/4 cups if you’re scooping from a larger bag. Use a mix with smaller, softer nuts, like peanuts, cashews and pistachios, or coarsely chop a mix with larger, harder nuts like whole almonds and Brazil nuts so that they’re less jaw-cracking and adhere better to the base. Choose a lightly salted or unsalted mix for lower-sodium bars.

Directions

Step 1: Mix the base

Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar and salt. Cut in 1/2 cup cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Step 2: Bake the crust

Press the mixture into a greased 13×9-inch baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

Step 3: Make the topping

Meanwhile, melt the butterscotch chips and the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave, stirring until smooth. Stir in the corn syrup.

Editor’s Tip: Butterscotch chips melt more evenly when you heat them in short bursts and stir frequently. Once most have softened, it should be easy to stir them smooth.

Step 4: Bake with the topping

Sprinkle the nuts over the crust and top them with the butterscotch mixture. Bake until the bars set, about 10 minutes.

Editor’s Tip: The butterscotch mixture is easiest to spread over the nuts while still warm. If it has cooled too much to pour, reheat it in 30-second intervals in the microwave, stirring after each interval. It’s fine if some mixture drops onto the nuts in clumps because the oven’s heat will smooth it out.

Step 5: Cool and cut

Cool in the pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

Editor’s Tip: Let the pan’s contents cool completely. It might take some time, but the bars will be easier to cut once the butterscotch mixture loses its gooeyness.

Mixed Nut Bar Variations

• Add a little spice: Streusel toppings often contain cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon gives the crust mixture a similar warmth. Or, mix in a pinch of cardamom, cloves or a dash of pumpkin pie spice instead. These spices are better mixed into the base than the soft topping. Sprinkle coarse salt over the bars when they come out of the oven for a salted toffee effect.
• Substitute a crumb crust: Replace the base with a pie crust that uses melted butter and crackers, cookies or other fun crumb crust ingredients. You can also brown the butter for a nuttier flavor.
• Change the crunchy topping: Stick to one or two types of nuts or expand the nut mixture with sunflower or pumpkin seeds. Broken pretzel sticks add bonus salty crunchiness. Toast raw nuts for the best flavor—it’s a baking step you shouldn’t skip.

How to Store Mixed Nut Bars

Keep homemade mixed nut bars at room temperature, or store them in the fridge to make them last longer. Let them cool completely before storage, and layer them with parchment so the tops and bottoms don’t stick together. An airtight storage container or packaging keeps them tasting fresh.

How long do mixed nut bars last?

Mixed nut bars last about one week at room temperature and two to three weeks in the refrigerator. Fridge-cold bars become quite firm, so set them on the counter to return to room temperature before serving.

Can you freeze mixed nut bars?

Mixed nut bars freeze well. Pack them into an airtight freezer-safe container, and they’ll last up to six months in the freezer. We recommend freezing brownies and soft bars before cutting them, but these crunchy bars hold together best when sliced before freezing. Let them come to room temperature before you bite into one.

Mixed Nut Bar Tips

How do you keep mixed nut bars from getting too hard or crunchy?

The topping on this mixed nut bar recipe transitions from gooey to hard the longer it sits, especially if you refrigerate them. Store the bars at room temperature in an airtight container and eat them within a few days to avoid them getting extra-hard and crunchy. If you keep them in the fridge or freezer, let them return to room temperature for easier-to-chew bars.

How do you cut mixed nut bars so they don’t crumble?

The base of these nut bars should be a little crumbly, but you don’t want them to crumble apart. Bake them in the stages and for the times specified in the recipe because they will be more likely to fall apart if over- or undercooked. It also helps to line the baking pan with parchment before you bake so that you can lift the entire finished batch onto a cutting board for easier slicing.

When cutting the dessert bars, a too-sticky topping will gum up a sharp knife or metal bench scraper. Let the bars cool enough that the topping is sliceable, and then carefully score the bars, without pressing the knife into the pan and causing damage. Once the bars have cooled completely, lift them from the pan by the parchment “cradle” onto a cutting board and cut them again on the scored lines until they separate into individual bars.