Coffee Toffee Brownies

Doesn't that title just make your mouth water?  Mmmmmm!

I think I might be back from my bloggy break.

I'm not sure though.

I will admit that it's been nice to not have to worry about blogging!

Is that bad?

My mouth is feeling much better these days

In case you were wondering.

And... I started cooking yesterday, so I suppose I should share....

I made a basic lasagna for dinner using my homemade pasta sauce I had in the freezer.

And of course, I had to make some dessert to go with it.

I have had this brownie recipe sitting in my inbox since October. 

Every time I buy the heath bars, they get eaten before I can bake. 

This time, I hid them when I got home from the store.... HA!  

Here is the recipe:


Coffee Toffee Brownies:

1 box brownie mix*
3/4 C toffee pieces, for the batter (broken up)  
2 to 3 Tbs instant espresso powder or instant coffee crystals
3/4 C  vanilla frosting  
1 Tbs Irish cream liqueur or coffee liqueur
1/4 C toffee pieces, for the topping (broken up)
*(Don't forget ingredients the box mix calls for ie: eggs, oil & water)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a 9 inch square baking pan ( I used 8x11)
Break up toffee pieces

Prepare brownie mix according to package directions, except stir the 3/4 cup toffee pieces and the espresso powder/instant coffee into batter.

Spread batter into prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes.

If not using frosting, add toffee pieces while brownies are still hot.

Let brownies cool. 

Frosting:

 In a small bowl, combine vanilla frosting and liqueur.

Spread frosting mixture onto cooled brownies.

Sprinkle with the 1/4 cup toffee pieces.

TO STORE: Place bars in a single layer in an airtight container; cover. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3
days.

***Review:These were a definite hit in our house.  I had no doubt that they would be.  Coffee flavored anything is good! Toffee anything is good... mix the two and you have a highly dangerous dessert!  Meaning, I just may eat the whole pan all by myself....lol   I may or may not have eaten these for breakfast AND lunch today!  They are the perfect chewy, crunchy, sweet, salty mix!  I am in love!!!!
Everyone else loved these too.  Although, we didn't use the frosting.... they were still amazing!  

**Tips:
As I said in the review, I did not use the frosting.  I have no doubt that it would add even more yumminess to these brownies... but, I am not a frosting person.  I like my brownies naked.  What I did was just top the brownies with 1/4 C of the broken toffee pieces as soon as it came out of the oven so it would kind of melt into the top. MMMMMMMMMMMM!
But if YOU try the frosting, please comment below and let me know how they were that way!
To break up the toffee bars into small pieces, I put them into a ziplock bag (squeezing out all the air) and used a meat tenderizer to "hammer" them into small pieces.(see photo above)  This way the pieces can be as large or as small as you want. You could also use any blunt object to smash them in the bag... or roll with a rolling pin.  You could get pretty creative :)
Also, as I said, I didnt use the 9 inch square pan.  I had an 8.5 x11 inch pan and that worked fine.  You could probably use and 8 x 8 as well.  
One last thing.... if you plan on feeding these things to children and/or eating them at night, I might suggest buying *Decaf* coffee crystals instead of the regular kind (that I bought).  Hindsight!!!


Printable Recipe:

Coffee Toffee Brownies

1 box brownie mix*
3/4 C toffee pieces, for the batter (broken up)  
2 to 3 Tbs instant espresso powder or instant coffee crystals
3/4 C  vanilla frosting  
1 Tbs Irish cream liqueur or coffee liqueur
1/4 C toffee pieces, for the topping (broken up)
*(Don't forget ingredients the box mix calls for ie: eggs, oil & water)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a 9 inch square baking pan ( I used 8x11)
Break up toffee pieces

Prepare brownie mix according to package directions, except stir the 3/4 cup toffee pieces and the espresso powder/instant coffee into batter.

Spread batter into prepared pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes.

Let brownies cool. 

Frosting:

 In a small bowl, combine vanilla frosting and liqueur.

Spread frosting mixture onto cooled brownies.

Sprinkle with the 1/4 cup toffee pieces.

TO STORE: Place bars in a single layer in an airtight container; cover. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.