These Coffee Cookie Bars are infused with coffee flavor inside and out, the perfect complement to the chewy sweetness of the bars.
If the caffeine doesn’t give you a boost, the sugar will. These bars are not only sweet, but tend to caramelize along the edges and bottom. That means you need to be careful that the foil doesn’t adhere!
These bars are great for a breakfast, snack, or dessert.
Modified from Better Homes & Gardens Christmas Cookies 2021.
Bready or Not: Coffee Cookie Bars
These chewy, sticky bars are infused with potent sweetness and espresso. Modified from Better Homes & Gardens Christmas Cookies 2021.
Equipment
- 9×13 pan
- aluminum foil
- nonstick spray
- pastry brush
Ingredients
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
- 1 Tablespoon espresso powder plus 2 teaspoons
- 1 Tablespoon milk or almond milk
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) melted
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a 9×13 pan with foil and apply nonstick spray or butter.
- In a small bowl, mix together the sweetened condensed milk and 1 Tablespoon espresso powder. Set aside 1/4 cup of this mixture.
- In a big bowl, mix together the milk and the remaining 2 teaspoons espresso powder. Add the melted butter, eggs, both sugars, and vanilla, mixing well. Follow up with the flour, baking soda, and salt, scraping the bottom of the bowl to make sure everything is combined. Set aside 1 cup of the dough.
- Place the bulk of the dough in the bottom of the prepared pan and even out with hands. Pour the larger amount of the sweetened condensed milk mixture over the top and spread out evenly. Crumble the reserved 1 cup of dough over the top.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until set. Immediately brush the reserved 1/4 cup of sweetened condensed milk/espresso powder over the top. Cool completely.
- Lift onto cutting board to slice into bars. Be wary that caramelization may make the base quite sticky, so make sure no foil adheres to the bars. Store in a sealed container at room temperature.
I made these for my mom’s mahjong tournament. She asked if we could add chocolate so I finely chopped 2 oz of unsweetened chocolate and added it to the bottom layer. They came out tasty but a bit sweet, I sprinkled the tops with maldon salt and that was the right call, it made them bananas level good.