Sea Salted Coffee Toffee Bars

Submitted by Sandi From CA

"A dense, buttery cookie with a hint of coffee forms a base for the soft, nutty topping. Finished with a sprinkling of sea salt, these bars offer a contemporary balance of both sweet and savory flavors."

 

• Ready In: 45mins
• Ingredients: 10
• Yields: 18 2-inch bars

ingredients

• First Layer

• 1 cup butter, softened (2 sticks)
• 1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons instant coffee crystals

• Second Layer

• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract or 2 teaspoons dark rum
• 1 1⁄2 1 1/2 cups almonds or 1 1/2 cups mixed nuts
• 1⁄2 - 1 tablespoon crystal sea salt (large crystals)

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat together butter, brown sugar and salt until light and fluffy.
3. Add flour, 1 cup at a time, stirring between additions. Add instant coffee crystals and blend until well incorporated.
4. Pat batter into ungreased 9x13x2-inch baking pan in an even layer.
5. Bake until edges are lightly browned and center is puffy, 12 to 15 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, in heavy saucepan, stir condensed milk and 2 tablespoons butter over low heat until butter melts. The mixture will thicken and become smooth. Stir in vanilla or rum, remove from heat and let sit until bottom layer is done baking.
7. Sprinkle nuts over baked bottom layer and pour hot condensed milk mixture evenly over nuts using a spatula to spread.
8. Return to the oven and bake until top is golden and bubbling, 10 to 12 minutes.
9. Immediately sprinkle desired amount of sea salt over bubbling toffee top. Cool slightly in pan and cut into bars. Bars can be kept up to one week in an airtight container.

Reviews

[triciamcadams]

These are absolutely the best! (P.S. - if you have 3 little kids at your feet and forget to add the vanilla to the condensed milk - they still taste great!) (And if you are quadrupling the recipe and leave out two sticks of butter, you can take out the too dry flour mixture, beat the forgotten butter, and add the dry mix back in to make the dough perfect again.)

 

[Me & Mr. Jones]

These are amazing! I do need to note, though, that I chose to omit the sea salt because I used salted mixed nuts and felt additional salt would be too much. Next time I make these, and there will definitely be a next time (!), I will use unsalted nuts. My only addition was to drizzle some melted semi-sweet chocolate over the top. Thanks for posting, Sandi!

 

[Kevlarturtle]

I should have rated these sooner - I made them for Christmas but I'm only just getting to it! These were a HUGE hit with everyone. I was worried some people might be put off by the salt, but they were the first cookies to disappear. They were also very easy to make, and turned out just as expected. I did go light on the salt and I coarsely chopped my nuts (pecans and almonds) rather than leaving them whole. A keeper!