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Coffee Toffee Bars

Posted by in Baking, Step-by-Step Recipes

WINNERS – Here are the winners of the KitchenAid mixers:

Jamie M.“We made Cookie Salad last night with girl scout cookies, it was delish!”

Kimberly“We wanted something fruity and spring-like, even though it was February. I had 3 kinds of berries in the freezer, along with some rhubarb–and combined a few recipes to make a delicious rhuberry crisp!”

Congratulations, winners! Contact [email protected] to claim your loot.

Thank you, everyone, for sharing your most recent desserts.

More fun giveaways next week – see you then!

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I have a problem. I’m addicted to coffee-flavored anything. Coffee caramels, coffee ice cream, tiramisu, coffee itself. So as I was browsing the Desserts category yesterday for a sweet recipe to prepare, I grabbed at the first coffee-flavored treat I could find.

They’re Coffee-Toffee Bars, submitted by nhsweetcherry back in October, and I just knew they’d be something that would satisfy my coffee urges, at least for the afternoon.

When I read the recipe, I noticed right away that they’re not unlike these Spreads that I’ve made since I was a little girl—except with those, you bake the cookie base first, then spread melted chocolate chips over the top. These Coffee Toffee Bars are more of a chunky, substantial bar. Yum!

Here’s how you make them! Verdict is down below…along with a special surprise at the end.

 
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The ingredients. Simple, pure, perfect…except I called the baking powder BAKING SODA. Why do I do this every time?

 
 
 

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The “coffee” in these Coffee Toffee Bars comes from this ingredient—instant coffee granules. Did you know you can add a couple of teaspoons of instant coffee to most chocolate chip cookie recipes? Just throw it into the dry ingredients and it’ll add a delightful depth of flavor.

 
 
 

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The recipe calls for 1 to 2 cups of chocolate chips. I decided to do 1 cup of semi-sweet and 1 cup of MILK CHOCOLATE chips. I’ll let you know how that turns out.

 
 
 

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Begin by creaming softened butter and brown sugar.

 
 
 

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Then you grab these four ingredients: instant coffee, salt, baking powder, and…almond extract! I wondered what that flavor would do the bars, since the standard choice would normally be vanilla.

Intellesting. Velly, velly intellesting.

 
 
 

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Then you dump all of that into the bowl…

 
 
 

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And mix it all together. You’ll want to scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure it all gets mixed together well.

 
 
 

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After that, you dump in the flour. The recipe calls for approximately 2 1/2 cups of flour, so I decided to add the full amount in order to get a point of reference.

 
 
 

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The result was a pretty crumbly dough; I had to really mix it in order for it to come together.

 
 
 

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However, it turned out fine! I dumped it into a greased 9 x 13-inch pan…

 
 
 

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And pressed it lightly into the pan.

Yes, I will be getting a new manicure, probably sometime in the year 2011.

 
 
 

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Then I sprinkled the chocolate chips all over the pressed dough.

 
 
 

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The recipe calls for 1 cup of chips…but UP TO 2 cups. I used about 1 3/4 cup of chips, just to see how far I could push it. ***More on this later***

 
 
 

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Then you just pop it in the oven for about 25 minutes.

 
 
 

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Mmmmm. It smells so, so good.

 
 
 

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The dough isn’t a hugely rising, overly poufy thing since it doesn’t contain eggs or baking soda like the average chocolate chip cookie. But it does rise and pouf just enough to anchor the chocolate chips without completely swallowing them up.

 
 
 

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Look at that yummy crust.

 
 
 

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Cut the bars into squares or rectangles, depending on how many servings you’d like to squeeze out of the recipe.

 
 
 

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Oh, yummy. How lovely!

 
 
 

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And I’m sorry…

 
 
 

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But I had to do this.

The devil made me do it.

 
 
 

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THE VERDICT: These were really delicious. I definitely used too many chocolate chips, though—the chocolate overpowered the flavor of the cookie/bar below. When I make them next time, and I will make them again, I’ll use 1 cup of chocolate chips, tops. Maybe even less. You really want that cookie to shine through.

The almond extract is very interesting! It definitely comes through in the flavor of the cookie. I thought it was delicious, but if you aren’t a fan of almond flavor, I think you could easily substitute vanilla extract.

You could also sprinkle finely chopped pecans on top, before you sprinkle on the chocolate chips.

And vanilla ice cream, of course, would be a divine accompaniment!

Thank you, nhsweetcherry, for sharing such a delightful treat!

Here’s the recipe:

Coffee-Toffee Bars

 
THE FUN PART

And now for the fun part.

Not that Coffee Toffee Bars aren’t fun!

 

Today, Tasty Kitchen is giving away two (2) KitchenAid artisan stand mixers in the classic White color above. There are so many yummy dessert recipes on Tasty Kitchen, and you need one of these babies to facilitate all the baking.

 
TO ENTER

To enter this giveaway, just answer the following question in the Comments section of this post:

“What’s the last dessert recipe you prepared?”

Did you make a chocolate cake last night?

Red velvet cupcakes last week?

Or was it that yellow Easy Bake Oven cake you made in 1974?

Just shout out the last dessert you prepared with your hot little hands (and feel free to include a link to the recipe if it’s online!) and you’re automatically entered to win a mixer.

 
THE RULES

One entry per person, please.

No entries after 11:00 pm Pacific Time Tuesday.

Winners will be selected at random and announced Wednesday morning.

Good luck!

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Contest sponsored by Tasty Kitchen, with cooperation from CHEFS Catalog.

26,637 Comments

Comments are closed for this recipe.

Mary H. on 6.8.2010

This summer, I will be going to Virginia to help my son’s family move to another home… going to Texas to see my other son’s family… and watching my granddaughter while my daughter builds her new home.

Donna Tanner on 5.1.2010

I made my husbands favorite…german chocolate cake!

Judith Rainer on 4.27.2010

Any of the homemade soups. Yummy!

Dusty on 4.22.2010

Dark chocolate pudding.

Sara on 4.1.2010

chocolate chip cookies.

Profile photo of tetonvalleygirl

tetonvalleygirl on 3.30.2010

We’ll spend the weekend at church and then enjoying one of the last days of skiing – just got 14″ of new snow and 10″ more on the way.

Kathleen Cortez on 3.29.2010

I made some lemon poppyseed bread for a fast dessert, I had unexpected company with a sweet tooth.

Debs on 3.28.2010

I made some yummy cookies!

BK on 3.28.2010

I baked truffle brownies, using Trader Joe’s truffle brownie mix. Don’t judge; it was still delish!

Karen on 3.15.2010

I made gluten-free lemon custard cakey things.

Christina on 3.15.2010

Seems like you time this particular question perfectly.

I made your Apple Dumplings this weekend. Yum!

Mary Kay on 3.15.2010

Chocolate chip cookies — the only dessert my husband really likes. Just the version on the Nestle’s bag!
MKK

Erin H on 3.15.2010

About a month ago, I took the homeschooled kids who live next door to me on a “field trip” to see how the vets office works. As a treat for being really good, I baked a giant heart shaped cookie for them and their two younger siblings and iced it with pink icing, with their help. Cooking with kids is so much fun!

ginger on 3.13.2010

whoopie pies- back before my twins were born in january

tiff on 3.11.2010

Also curious who won…

Joyce on 3.10.2010

I have been looking also. Not sure where else to look.

Jenn on 3.10.2010

Am I the only one who still hasn’t heard who won this one?

Emily Brown on 3.10.2010

I made Chocolate Chip cookies. They didn’t turn out right but oh well better luck next time!

Nicole on 3.10.2010

Some lemon/plum jam thumbprint cookies. They were so good!

Karen on 3.9.2010

I made chocolate chip cookie bars last night. Yum!

Jilly83 on 3.9.2010

Hi Donna,
I just saw your comment (your daughter sounds cute by the way!) I used just over 2 cups of flour and I found that worked out great. Use just a little more than 2 c next time and maybe it will turn out better for you.

Jill

Jilly83 on 3.9.2010

These are incredible and addicting…not to mention SO Easy!!! I used about half a cup of bittersweet choc chips and the cookie really shines through. I Love almond extract!! Thanks for the great recipe. I will be making these a lot!

Sparsons on 3.9.2010

Chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting –hot pink for my daughter’s fifth birthday!

Donna Norton on 3.9.2010

Help! We made these and they tasted like they had way too much flour in them? Anyone else have that trouble?

We were talking about how the recipe had flopped and my daughter said the reason they tasted bad was because “Mom, they’re pioneer food!”

Blaira on 3.9.2010

I made Cherry Fluff because it was easy “enuff”: 1 can sweetened condensed milk, 1 can undrained crushed pineapple, 1 can cherry pie filling, 1 16oz cool whip folded in at the last. Whenever I do cookie dough, I pull out my Mom’s KitchenAid mixer (circa 1956), and use a dough hook my Dad made for it. That’s a well-made product that you are awarding!

Caitlin on 3.9.2010

Lemon Bars for a outdoor gathering! They were a hit and easy to make!

Imani on 3.9.2010

Coffee cake!

Amy on 3.9.2010

My daughter and I made Snickerdoodle cookies on Sunday and they were gone that night! I can’t even blame it on the kids :)

Annette Taylor on 3.9.2010

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Julie N. on 3.9.2010

I made pecan drop cookies for my resident cookie monsters last week. First trial of this recipe, and the general consensus was that it needed something more to make it outstanding.

Coby on 3.9.2010

cocoa brownies smothered in vanilla ice cream. mmmmmmmm…

Lynette Frederick on 3.8.2010

I made banana cake with cream cheese frosting!

Norma Richardson on 3.8.2010

I made a banana pudding from scratch…flour, sugar, milk…no jello pudding or Eagle Brand milk. Yummy

Katie on 3.8.2010

The last dessert I made was red velvett cupcakes!! They were sooo yummy!

Janet on 3.8.2010

Banana Cake – simple and delicious.

Kristi on 3.8.2010

I made a peach dump cake. Well, technically I let my 8 year old son make the dessert while I supervised.

Sam on 3.8.2010

We call them “crack balls” since they are so addictive, but the real name is buckeyes. ;)

Kay Galbraith on 3.8.2010

A friend I work with returned from Arizona with fresh lemons, so I baked a lemon chiffon pie–using my grandmother’s pie crust recipe, as always. It was delicioius!

MrsBagley on 3.8.2010

An icing cake– you mix the icing in WITH the cake mix. It’s divine. Trust me.

Kat on 3.8.2010

I made some awesome s’mores brownies recently. Sinful!

Patricia on 3.8.2010

No Kidding ! I made the Coffee Toffee Bars yesterday (Sunday) afternoon – I’m gonna have one right now with a cup o hot coffee ! YUMMY breakfast !

Colette on 3.8.2010

Anzac biscuits … yummy but I overcooked them whilst being distracted by my 1 year old and they turned out too hard for my preference :(

Shannon Jacobson on 3.8.2010

open faced apple pie ala mode, and I made it tonight!

Melanie on 3.7.2010

I made a pirate white cake/chocolate frosting cake for my son’s birthday party.

RR on 3.7.2010

BLONDIES! (Doris Blondies Recipe) For my English Class!

LadyJ on 3.7.2010

Chocolate chip coffee cake, a few days ago ;)

Chaucee on 3.7.2010

Oh my LANTA this looks amazing. As soon as I get time on my hands I’m heading to the kitchen and whipping these up!! Thanks for posting : )

Mary on 3.7.2010

Cake mix from a box. With no frosting. Why? No one wanted to eat that.

Mark Eberman on 3.7.2010

It’s been a while, but I’m pretty sure it was a rustic apple tart–the kind where you roll out the crust, pile up the apples and then just turn the edges over to hold them in. If you don’t love crust, or can’t make it well, it’s not much of a dessert. Fortunately, I’m a yes for both.

karol on 3.7.2010

coffeecake

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