Coffee Toffee

You will be seeing more desserts, cookies, treats, and candies from me in the next two weeks and maybe a few slowcooker meals in thrown in the mix, too. We have to eat dinner, but most of the time is devoted to baking. It is one of the things that I look forward to the most about the holidays, the baking. I have already been baking and giving away to my dear friends and family and this has had some of the best reviews already. I guess it shouldn't have surprised me, but it did. It was one of the easiest things I made thus far; I have actually made it 3 times already.

If you do not have a candy thermometer, I cannot recommend enough to just get one. I just got one myself in October and had been putting it off and pushing recipes aside that needed them. That was such a shame, it is not hard to use, you literally just clip it onto your pot/pan and it was like five bucks?! Shocking. I think the accuracy from the candy thermometer is what makes this toffee so easy, it takes the guessing game out of, is it done? is it burning? questions that come with making toffee.

This toffee is spiked with espresso powder, molasses, and flaky sea salt. You really can't go wrong there.
Source: Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

Ingredients:
8 tablespoons of Butter
1/2 cup of Light Brown Sugar
1/2 cup of Granulated Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons of Molasses
1/2 teaspoon of Sea Salt
1 1/2 teaspoons of Instant Espresso Powder
1 cup of Semisweet Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup of Hazelnuts, chopped

Directions:
First, line a baking sheet with a silpat mat or parchment paper.

Next, in a medium- sized saucepan, with your candy thermometer attached, melt the butter, brown sugar, sugar, molasses, sea salt, and espresso together over medium-high heat. Cook, whisking occasionally, until the thermometer reads 250 degrees, and then stir constantly until it reaches 300 degrees.

Pour the mixture on your prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top and let rest for a minute. Now use an offset spatula to spread the melted chocolate over the toffee. Sprinkle with the chopped hazelnuts.

Place in the freezer to harden, 20-30 minutes. When it has hardened, break into pieces and store in an airtight container.

*If your kitchen is warm or you are in a warm climate, you may want to keep it in the refrigerator to prevent melting & stickiness.

Enjoy!

Happy Cooking,
The Barbee Housewife