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.
The ingredients. Simple, pure, perfect…except I called the baking powder BAKING SODA. Why do I do this every time?
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.
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.
Begin by creaming softened butter and brown sugar.
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.
Then you dump all of that into the bowl…
And mix it all together. You’ll want to scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure it all gets mixed together well.
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.
The result was a pretty crumbly dough; I had to really mix it in order for it to come together.
However, it turned out fine! I dumped it into a greased 9 x 13-inch pan…
And pressed it lightly into the pan.
Yes, I will be getting a new manicure, probably sometime in the year 2011.
Then I sprinkled the chocolate chips all over the pressed dough.
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***
Then you just pop it in the oven for about 25 minutes.
Mmmmm. It smells so, so good.
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.
Look at that yummy crust.
Cut the bars into squares or rectangles, depending on how many servings you’d like to squeeze out of the recipe.
Oh, yummy. How lovely!
And I’m sorry…
But I had to do this.
The devil made me do it.
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:
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.
MellyB on 3.2.2010
Chocolate peanut butter cupcakes from Annie’s Eats. Seriously the best cupcake I have ever had…. and I’ve had a lot!
Becky on 3.2.2010
I made Brownies from the hummingbird bakery cookbook this morning – the best recipe for all things baked that I’ve found. Decided to bake them as I’ve had a craving for a few days but am meeting a friend for dinner tomorrow night so I can give her half and not ruin my diet too much
Kaitlin on 3.2.2010
I made Chocolate Hazelnut cake from the Baking Illustrated Cookbook. It was sooooo good
Pamelotta on 3.2.2010
The last dessert I made was your chocolate sheet cake. It was for a mixer to get college girls hooked up with the mom’s at our church so they can learn cooking and mom stuff from us and we can learn how to relax and have fun from them!
Linda G on 3.2.2010
Vegan chocolate mousse
Leighanna on 3.2.2010
Chocolate chip granola bars.
Nikki on 3.2.2010
It was chocolate chunk cookies!
elise on 3.2.2010
Oh so yummy Almond Cake!
found here:
http://www.italian-dessert-recipes.com/almond_cake_recipe.html
The husband didn’t like it so I ended up having to eat it all by myself. Now I need to spend the entire month on the treadmill…
Deirdre on 3.2.2010
I make Ravine brownies from The New England cookbook about once a week and they are only around for about a day- simply, fudgy and so easy-
Michelle on 3.2.2010
Um… not a huge sweets maker, but…. made valentines sugar cake cookies with my girls. Oh yum!
3Moodys on 3.2.2010
The last dessert recipe I made from scratch was Cinnamon Rolls PW’s way. Oh my, how yummy these things are.
The last dessert recipe I made from a box was a Butter Pecan cake mix with buttercream frosting. Not bad for a box mix.
Joanne M on 3.2.2010
Peach crumle coffee cake yesterday!
sewmary on 3.2.2010
White Chocolate Macadamia nut cookies, mmmmmm
Anne C. on 3.2.2010
The last dessert I made were oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for my husband. And I might or might not have given a few small bites to my 11-month-old when no one was looking.
Donna Shepard on 3.2.2010
Red, White and Blue Ice cream cake
Cynthia H on 3.2.2010
I made your Delicious baked fudge and it was a hit! Ohhh it is good I am going to make more this weekend! yum yum yum yum!
Michele Albert on 3.2.2010
The last dessert I prepared was hazelnut blondies on Sunday, you make them with nutella and then frost them with nutella. Yummm!
Liz on 3.2.2010
Chocolate chip cookie bars, 3 weeks ago I made them, the day before I had my first baby:)
Jennifer H on 3.2.2010
Chocolate chip cookies yesterday, along with your donut dough yesterday… ready to be fried and consumed this afternoon.
Cheri on 3.2.2010
Yesterday I made delicious homemade Chewy Brownies courtesy of Cook’s Illustrated:
INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso (optional)
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons boiling water
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate , finely chopped (see note and related illustration)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter , melted
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups (17 1/2 ounces) sugar
1 3/4 cups (8 3/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon table salt
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate , cut into 1/2-inch pieces (see note)
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Referring to directions in Making a Foil Sling (related), make sling using the following steps: Cut 18-inch length foil and fold lengthwise to 8-inch width. Fit foil into length of 13 by 9-inch baking pan, pushing it into corners and up sides of pan; allow excess to overhang pan edges. Cut 14-inch length foil and fit into width of pan in the same manner, perpendicular to the first sheet (if using extra-wide foil, fold second sheet lengthwise to 12-inch width). Spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Whisk cocoa, espresso powder (if using), and boiling water together in large bowl until smooth. Add unsweetened chocolate and whisk until chocolate is melted. Whisk in melted butter and oil. (Mixture may look curdled.) Add eggs, yolks, and vanilla and continue to whisk until smooth and homogeneous. Whisk in sugar until fully incorporated. Add flour and salt and mix with rubber spatula until combined. Fold in bittersweet chocolate pieces.
3. Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake until toothpick inserted halfway between edge and center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack and cool 1½ hours.
4. Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan. Return brownies to wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve.
Michelle Heyn on 3.2.2010
orange chiffon cake last week. I was requested to make a “citrus” dessert. I’m not really a dessert girl, but the cake was fun to make.
Kendra on 3.2.2010
Small ‘o’ oreos. http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/05/my-kingdom-for-a-glass-of-milk/
YUM.
nuisance on 3.2.2010
Toffee with chopped pecans and chocolate topping!!! (also a fruit salad for those who care about their waist line!)
Patricia on 3.2.2010
Girl Scout cookies arranged on a plate. That counts, right?
Melissa B. on 3.2.2010
Brownie roll out cookies, cut into hearts for Valentine’s Day, yum!
Jason on 3.2.2010
Chocolate chip cookies
Erica on 3.2.2010
I made chocolate stout cake from smitten kitchen, with a part cream cheese- part whipped cream- irish cream flavored frosting that was my own creation.
It was very good. It was also pretty ugly.
And then I ran out of frosting gel so all I got on it was Happy B-D.
Emily on 3.2.2010
I just made homemade carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for a baby shower last weekend. Delish!
Kristina on 3.2.2010
the last dessert I made was those chocolate no bake cookies…with oats and peanut butter. yum. simple, but so delicious.
Kylee on 3.2.2010
Key Lime Pie! Complete with homemade whipped cream!!!
Melissa on 3.2.2010
I made my family’s favorite – Pecan Caramel Tart
http://busycooks.about.com/od/sweetpierecipes/r/pecancarameltar.htm
Lisa on 3.2.2010
The last dessert I made was those EVIL apple dumplings you posted about recently! It took every ounce of willpower I have not to eat the whole pan! YUMMY!
Katie on 3.2.2010
I made Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies. They would have been a whole lot easier to make with a mixer…
Melissa M. on 3.2.2010
The last dessert I made was peach cobbler…yum!
Katherine on 3.2.2010
The red velvet truffles I found on this site. Y’all, hands down it was the best thing I’ve ever tasted.
ruth tacoma on 3.2.2010
Butterscotch bars….
amanda27 on 3.2.2010
I made the brownies with mocha frosting from the PW cookbook, and took your advice to make the frosting as thick as the brownies… Lawdy Lawdy we’re they rich/amazing!
AmandatheGinger on 3.2.2010
hmmm….last dessert….it’s been a while. I believe it was baked cranberries/bananas/apples with maple syrup from the “Live Clean Diet”…sounds overly healthy, but it’s delicious!!!
Rani on 3.2.2010
I made chocolate frosted brownies from a box (oh the horror) on Sunday and popcorn bars on Saturday.
Popcorn Bars
Microwave two bags of popcorn (separate the old maids)
Microwave one bag of marshamallows with 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 oil.
Pour melted mallows over the popcorn, stir and add whatever you want. I used gummy bears and m&m’s.
Your kids will love you.
Josh Rountree on 3.2.2010
I helped make brownies last night!
Marcus on 3.2.2010
The last “sweet” recipe I made was a batch of homemade granola that we have been snacking on for weeks.
holly on 3.2.2010
We had massive snow in February, so I made brownies, blondies, cinnamon roll muffins, and monkey bread. Once the roads were clear, I shared with the office.
Amanda on 3.2.2010
I helped my husband make a yellow cake and buttercream icing from scratch!
Christie on 3.2.2010
I last made a rich, amazing chocolate cake called Tunnel of Fudge. I’m going to post the recipe on here before long!
PeggyN on 3.2.2010
Chocolate chip cookies, my favorite!
Sheila Pinson on 3.2.2010
I made a dump cake, last week. I ate half of it that same night I made it. So simple and quick. Cherries, Pineapples and Pecans. I even added some coconut for fun. I brought the rest of it to work, or else I would have had it for dinner the next night.
Mrs. Smith on 3.2.2010
The last dessert I made was raspberry fudge. It was very good, but, alas, it’s all gone now. Guess that means I’ll have to make something else.
Ryan on 3.2.2010
Does scooping out Haagen-Daaz count as making dessert?
Terri A. on 3.2.2010
I made homemade Samoas from bakingbites.com on Sunday for a little party I was having. Everyone loved them.
Shawna on 3.2.2010
I made Bakerella’s Chocolate Chip Cookies the other night… and proceeded to eat almost the entire batch!