Coffee Toffee
This Coffee Toffee recipe is crunchy, buttery, rich, chocolate-y, versatile. Everything a great toffee recipe should be! This Coffee Toffee makes the perfect Christmas or holiday treat for neighbors, teachers, co-workers, friends, and family. That is, if you don’t eat it all yourself first!
Why is this recipe special?
I’ve just started cooking from Smitten Kitchen’s cookbook. I don’t know about you, but I’m a cookbook nerd and love actually reading them like a good novel. Deb Perelman’s writing is entertaining, informative, and funny. It’s a big plus, as well, that everything I’ve made so far has been delicious! This Coffee Toffee recipe is no exception. Here is the link to her original recipe and her beautiful website.
All that to say, this toffee is addicting, rich, and simply won’t last long around the holidays. I love the espresso/molasses combination (don’t be scared to add the molasses, it’s amazing in this recipe). It’s also a great recipe because of how versatile it is. You can top it with dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate. Nuts, pretzels, or nothing at all. You’ll see below that I top mine with semisweet chocolate chips and pretzels (that’s what I had on-hand when I took photos for you all!). My other favorite is semisweet chocolate + roasted pecans. Smitten Kitchen’s recipe calls for roasted hazelnuts. Let me know what your favorite topping ends up being!
If you’re looking to stock your dessert table around the holidays with more than just toffee, try out some of my other favorites like Pecan Pie Bars, or Bourbon Caramel Apple Pie.
Ingredients & Supplies
You’ll need the following ingredients for Coffee Toffee:
- Butter
- Brown sugar
- White sugar
- Molasses
- Salt
- Instant espresso powder
- Semisweet chocolate chips
- Pretzels/pecans/hazelnuts/etc.
You’ll need the following supplies for Coffee Toffee:
(Click the links below to access some of my favorites of the needed supplies, or some that are on my wishlist!)
- Heavy bottom sauce pan
- Candy thermometer
- Whisk
- Spatula
- Parchment paper
- 9×13 pan
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Coffee Toffee: Let’s get cooking!
Line a 9×13 pan with parchment paper and set aside. In a medium-sized heavy-bottomed sauce pan with a candy thermometer attached, melt butter, both sugars, molasses, salt, and espresso together over medium-high heat.
Cook, stirring occasionally with a whisk, until the temperature approaches 250 degrees; then stir constantly until it reaches 300 degrees.
This photo was taken around 220 degrees.
Pour immediately into the prepared pan- spread evenly with a spatula.
Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the toffee, let them sit for a minute until the heat from the toffee makes them soft. Spread the chocolate evenly over the toffee base.
Sprinkle the topping (pretzels, nuts, etc.) onto the melted chocolate. Put the toffee into the fridge to harden. Once hard and set, break it into pieces with you hands. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to a week.
Coffee Toffee
Ingredients
- 2 sticks salted butter
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1½ tsp molasses
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1½ tsp instant espresso powder
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup pretzels, roasted pecans, or another topping of your choice
Instructions
- Line a 9×13 pan with parchment paper and set aside. In a medium-sized heavy-bottomed sauce pan with a candy thermometer attached, melt butter, both sugars, molasses, salt, and espresso together over medium-high heat.
- Cook, stirring occasionally with a whisk, until the temperature approaches 250 degrees; then stir constantly until it reaches 300 degrees.
- Pour immediately into the prepared pan- spread evenly with a spatula. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the toffee, let them sit for a minute until the heat from the toffee makes them soft. Spread the chocolate evenly over the toffee base. Sprinkle the topping (pretzels, nuts, etc.) onto the melted chocolate. Put the toffee into the fridge to harden. Once hard and set, break it into pieces with you hands. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to a week.