Salted Toffee Blondies

Salted Toffee Blondies is an ultra-rich espresso blondie loaded with chunks of milk chocolate and toffee bits. A sprinkling of flaked sea salt puts the wow! in this gooey blondie.

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Jump to:

• Why We Love Salted Toffee Blondies
• What is a Blondie?
• Why This Recipe Works
• Ingredients
• Step-by-Step Instructions on How To Make Salted Toffee Blondies
• My Top Tips
• More Delicious Treats
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

When is a blondie not blond? When it is loaded with coffee, chunks of milk chocolate, and toffee bits.

What is a Blondie?

The blondie is a bar cookie like a brownie without melted chocolate or cocoa incorporated into the batter. Its main flavor profile is like butterscotch due to the butter, brown sugar, and vanilla in the batter. Blondie recipes also typically include the addition of chocolate chips, nuts, or dried fruit.

Like brownies, blondies can be cake style or “candy bar” style. The cake-style blondie has less sugar and butter. While the candy bar style blondie is loaded with twice the sugar and butter as cake style and has just a little less flour.

These salted toffee blondies straddle the two styles. The center is more set and less gooey than the straight-up candy bar style, which I like. It’s still rich and decadent, but less cloying. I like to double down on flavor, so I add both toffee bits and coffee to the batter to boost the brown sugar and butter flavors.

Why This Recipe Works

I love Autumn... it brings such fond memories of baking and sharing and I have always loved a toffee blondie. Certain foods seem to remind me of a particular season and toffee always reminds me of autumn. Maybe it is from dreams of past Halloween candies... or puddings and treats on crisp November evenings. But a toffee-flavored blondie bar is and always will be a Fall treat to me.

These rich toffee blondies have a good helping of instant espresso coffee that turns the golden blondie batter dark while they bake. Then, chunks of chocolate, toffee bits, and a sprinkling of flaked sea salt make a complex flavor profile that you just can't resist.

Despite being loaded with many flavors, these coffee and toffee blondies are super easy to make in one bowl using the basic creaming method and are ready for the oven in just 15 minutes.

Ingredients

• Salted Butter - I generally have salted butter on hand and for this bake, it's a good choice to help balance the sweetness.
• Light Brown Sugar - A touch of caramel flavor from light brown sugar is amazing in a blondie.
• Large Eggs - I only use large eggs when I bake and I prefer eggs from vegetarian-fed hens. Eggland's Best is my go-to brand.
• Vanilla Extract - Because this recipe has many complementary flavors, you can save a little money and use artificial vanilla in this recipe.
• All-Purpose Flour - Any all-purpose flour will be fine. I generally buy what is on sale.
• Instant Espresso - Use your favorite brand of unsweetened, no creamer, instant espresso.
• Baking Powder - I always use an aluminum-free baking powder to avoid a bitter flavor in my bakes.
• Salt - Just plain iodized salt from the round box is perfect for the batter of this recipe.
• Toffee Bits - These are bits and not chips from the famous Heath Brand.
• Milk Chocolate Bar - One word. Hershey's. I always buy Hershey's chocolate for its distinctive sweet but slightly sour taste. It is delicious and not cloying.
• Flaked Sea Salt - Flaked sea salt sprinkled over the top of the blondie batter has an amazing texture that makes these blondies fantastic. For the wow factor, don't substitute any other type of salt for this flaked sea salt.

Step-by-Step Instructions on How To Make Salted Toffee Blondies

Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper. Measure all ingredients and chop the milk chocolate bar into small chunks.

Using a stand mixer and a large mixing bowl, beat together, butter and brown sugar until the color is lightened and the mixture is fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.

Add eggs and vanilla extract. Continue to beat until all is well combined.

The fully creamed mixture will be extra smooth and light caramel in color.

Sift together flour, instant espresso, baking powder, and salt.

Add flour mixture and beat until it is incorporated.

With a rubber spatula fold in toffee bits and 5 ounces of the chocolate chunks.

Spread the blondie batter in the prepared pan and scatter the reserved chocolate chunks over the top of the blondies. Lightly press the chunks of chocolate into the top, and then sprinkle with flaked sea salt.

Bake the blondies for 30 minutes. Please note that this is a timed bake. The top of the blondies will feel set, but a toothpick might not come out completely clean.

Cool the blondies completely in the pan. Using the parchment paper, lift the blondies from the pan, place them on a cutting board, and cut them into squares or bars. If not eaten immediately, wrap individually and store in an airtight container.

Salted toffee blondies that have cooled can be warmed very gently in an oven or microwave before serving to get a gooey chocolate center.

My Top Tips

♡ About the Chocolate - Hershey’s makes a 7-ounce extra-large milk chocolate bar just the right size for this recipe. I hand-cut the large milk chocolate into ¼" to ⅓" chunks. Even though you can buy milk chocolate already in bags “chunk” style instead of “chips” or morsels, I prefer cutting the chocolate myself. You get all these little jagged bits of chocolate that melt beautifully inside the bars.

♡ Flaked Sea Salt - The flaked sea salt is the one ingredient that brings out all the flavors of this blondie recipe and it only takes a sprinkling of it to transform the toffee, coffee, and chocolate flavors in your mouth into something “more”. I do not advise substituting another salt and recommend Maldon Flaked Sea Salt for the best flavor.

♡ Baking Pan Sizes - An 8-inch square pan can be substituted for a 9-inch. However, the bake time will need to increase by 5 minutes making the total bake time for an 8-inch square pan 35 minutes.

♡ Do not Double - Doubling the recipe and using a larger pan (13 x 9 inches) is not recommended, as the blondies will not bake and set properly.

Once baked and cooled, Salted Toffee Blondies can be cut into perfect squares. I hope you enjoy them!

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