The Pioneer Woman Tasty Kitchen
Profile photo of Ree | The Pioneer Woman

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 prizes@tastykitchen.com to claim your loot.

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

More fun giveaways next week – see you then!

___________________________________________________

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.

 
TPW_9126

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

 
 
 

TPW_9129

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.

 
 
 

TPW_9127

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.

 
 
 

TPW_9132

Begin by creaming softened butter and brown sugar.

 
 
 

TPW_9135

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.

 
 
 

TPW_9139

Then you dump all of that into the bowl…

 
 
 

TPW_9141

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

 
 
 

TPW_9142

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.

 
 
 

TPW_9150

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

 
 
 

TPW_9155

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

 
 
 

TPW_9159

And pressed it lightly into the pan.

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

 
 
 

TPW_9167

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

 
 
 

TPW_9172

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***

 
 
 

TPW_9177

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

 
 
 

TPW_9179

Mmmmm. It smells so, so good.

 
 
 

TPW_9183

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.

 
 
 

TPW_9190

Look at that yummy crust.

 
 
 

TPW_9194

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

 
 
 

TPW_9199

Oh, yummy. How lovely!

 
 
 

TPW_9216

And I’m sorry…

 
 
 

TPW_9224

But I had to do this.

The devil made me do it.

 
 
 

TPW_9204

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!

_________________________________

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

26,637 Comments

Comments are closed for this recipe.

Danielle on 3.2.2010

Sunday I made a cake we call here in Brazil “Dois amores”. A dark cocoa dough with white chocolate filling and milk chocolate icing (ganache). Gorgeous!

Millicent on 3.2.2010

Indoor S’mores for Super Bowl Sunday. They were delicious. Here’s the link: http://www.cooksrecipes.com/bar/indoor_smores_recipe.html But I’m going to be making some cake balls soon. I just heard of these little doozies and can’t wait to make some of them!

April in Autumn on 3.2.2010

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

I’m a pretty new cook and am just getting in the groove of regular cooking. Baking is so much more like chemistry, it scares me a bit. So… does opening a box of Sprinkles cupcakes count as preparing a recipe? If not… hm… I made some ginger curry scones a couple of weeks ago and that was at least kind of dessertish.

Chantelle on 3.2.2010

I made peanut butter fudge brownies for my boyfriend’s birthday!

Maria Costa on 3.2.2010

Shortbread button cookies with nutella center posted by http://www.ormolu.typepad.com

Dawn on 3.2.2010

I baked a pound cake with extra lemon zests per the hubby’s request! :)

barbara on 3.2.2010

I made “Blondies” and they are fantastic- with choc chips, chunky pecans and coconut. Really incredible.

jessi on 3.2.2010

homemade samoa bars. three words: to die for (of course if you’re a samoa girlscout cookie lover.

Shae on 3.2.2010

brownies!

Stacey A. on 3.2.2010

I made a Peach and Blueberry Cobbler Saturday night.

Lauren on 3.2.2010

Funfetti Cupcakes two months ago. I am going to make a chocolate cake real soon though.

Kari on 3.2.2010

Heart shaped sugar cookies for my boys class…they loved decorating them!

Jody on 3.2.2010

Chocolate chip cookies!

Karen on 3.2.2010

The last desert I made was Pioneer Woman’s BAKED FUDGE – Yum!!

Courtney on 3.2.2010

I made a tofu pumpkin pie with gingersnap crust. It was amazing!

Tina on 3.2.2010

Jamie Oliver’s Butternut Squash Muffins with frosted tops. SCRUMPTIOUS! These are my new favorite muffins!

Marsha on 3.2.2010

Chocolate sheet cake. With my grandaughter’s toy corrals, and barnyard animals to decorate it.

Elle on 3.2.2010

I made a super easy delicious desert of fresh blueberries, in phylo cups with whip cream for a tapas party we had…..

Marthe on 3.2.2010

I made super yummy sugar cookies.

Janine B on 3.2.2010

On Sunday we made PW’s Chocolate Cake with frosting. Love it, I will never make a box chocolate cake again.

dkmoss on 3.2.2010

I made the chocolate coconut pudding I found right here on Tasty Kitchen – joy, pure joy I tell ya!
My Bodybugg doesn’t agree, though.

KV on 3.2.2010

Deb’s brownie roll-out cookies from Smitten Kitchen. They were a HUGE hit at work, but I did have to rename them “brookies” just because its more fun!

CJ from Maryland on 3.2.2010

3-layer chocolate mousse cake for V-Day. It was really, really…really good

Pattie Meegan on 3.2.2010

Tiramisu Cheesecake! It was my last blog post
xoxo Pattie

MB Partlow on 3.2.2010

M&M bars for my daughter’s bake sale.

Victoria on 3.2.2010

I made the Deep Dark Chocolate Cake from Hershey’s
http://www.hersheys.com/recipes/recipes/detail.asp?id=4608

It was incredible! Got lots of requests for a repeat performance!

Sara on 3.2.2010

Chocolate cake balls dipped in milk chocolate last week. Yummy!

Joanne on 3.2.2010

I just started a cake decorating class last night. I had to make a sponge cake with buttercream frosting. It’s not what I would choose to make but it was still fun to decorate!

Robin Grey on 3.2.2010

Gooey Butter Cake!

Jinxy's Mom on 3.2.2010

Homemade Carrot Cake!!

Sherron on 3.2.2010

Apple Sauce cake

Ruthie Zahm on 3.2.2010

I recently made my homemade chocolate chip cookies, which include nutella AND peanut butter…oh yum!

Janet on 3.2.2010

Baked lemon pound cake – the 7-up recipe. Yum!

amanda on 3.2.2010

i made spreads! they were delicious.

patty streets on 3.2.2010

last week i made devil’s food cupcakes with leftover valentine sprinkles. my little granddaughters thought they were the most beautifuly things ever.

Judy Hamm on 3.2.2010

Chocolate Chip Cookies ………… my husband loves my CCC’s

Michelle Levine on 3.2.2010

The last dessert that I made was my husband’s Grandma’s signature sour cream cake. And for the first time ever I didn’t overmix the batter. Yum!

Patti on 3.2.2010

I do believe the answer is “brownines.” I’ve been wanting to make cinnamon rolls, but the darn butter won’t get itself off the counter (for softening) and get itself working!

Karen D on 3.2.2010

My son was craving an apple cake so I made him one yesterday morning.

Mary on 3.2.2010

Mocha brownies for my college daughter and her room mates. I use a basic fudge brownie recipe and add coffee.

Salli Jo on 3.2.2010

Dark Chocolate Peppermint Brownies – I added peppermint extract instead of vanilla. Yummy!

Shelly on 3.2.2010

Cinammon Swirl Bread…but it should be re-named CAKE!! It was soo good and sooo worth the cheating on my diet!

Laura on 3.2.2010

carrot cake! Made Sunday afternoon, enjoyed with my ladies this morning with a cup of coffee and snow outside the window (a treat-we are in GA)

Wendy L. Riffe on 3.2.2010

oh my gosh~~~i pulled out your cookbook (lord~~who am i kidding~~it is on my nightstand~~and made the brownies with the icing!!!! this is soooo weird that you asked that question~~ i thought i was gonna die and go to heaven!!!! i will be 40 friday–so i used that as an excuse for eating 2~~~LOL~~~i first made the chicken marinara (yours) and then had a salad with some pretty nice red wine!!!! topped it off with a square of brownie or should i say a square of icing LOL!!!!

if i win–just give me one of your shirts!!!!! i have been trying to get one!!! PLEEEEEZ!!!! i love it!!!

Trina P on 3.2.2010

Ahhhhh!!!! I was in charge of a bake sale Sunday for my husbands Rotary Club. I was baking for 5 days straight. Although I love to bake, it was a bit to much. So, with that said, the last dessert recipe(s) I made Chocolate Cupcakes with white icing, Vanilla Cupcakes with white icing and sprinkles, vanilla layer cake with chocolate icing, chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, banana bread, mini cherry cheese cakes, magic bars, breakfast crumb cake, lemon squares and at the last minute decided to make a quick batch of Rice Krispie Treats. I was exhausted but my house smelled oh so good!

Monty on 3.2.2010

Chocolate sheet cake, yummy.

Cindy Greer on 3.2.2010

I made something called Backpack Cookies. They had everything but the kitchen sink in them and were delicious!

Becky K. on 3.2.2010

I made a raisin pie this past weekend that was awesome! The filling tastes like strudel filling so next time I am going to add some sliced apples and coconut! Yummy!

skip2mlu on 3.2.2010

Had a company dinner recently and made crepes filled with homemade cherry pie filling, topped with fresh whipped cream.

Dots on 3.2.2010

chocolate chip pudding cookies!