Fudgy Mocha Toffee Brownies

Fudgy Mocha Toffee Brownies

Anytime I can combine two ingredients I love – coffee and chocolate – into one recipe, I know the result is going to be a winner. This recipe proved just that. There’s just something about the flavor of mocha that I absolutely love. In fact, my go-to coffeehouse drink is a tall, skinny mocha. These brownies have that same coffeehouse mocha taste, except in brownie form.

Now, I can honestly say that I’ve never met a brownie that I didn’t like, but my absolute favorite type of brownie is a rich, chewy, fudgy brownie. This recipe created that exact type of brownie. The brownie itself has a wonderfully moist texture, but I also wanted the brownies to have a bit of a crunch, so I topped them off with a sprinkling of toffee bits. They turned out so yummy!!

A brownie was the first thing I reached for when I got home from work today, and I’m desperately trying to resist the urge to grab another. This recipe is definitely a keeper.

~Enjoy~




Fudgy Mocha Toffee Brownies

2 tablespoons instant coffee granules
1/4 cup hot water
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/4 cup toffee bits

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9-inch square baking pan.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine coffee granules and 1/4 cup hot water. Stir until the coffee granules dissolve.

In a small microwave-safe bowl, combine butter and semisweet chocolate chips. Microwave for approximately 30-40 seconds, or until butter melts; stir until chocolate is smooth.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Add coffee mixture, melted chocolate mixture, vanilla extract, and eggs to dry ingredients. Stir just until combined.

Spread batter evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with toffee bits.

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

Fudgy Mocha Toffee Brownies

Mocha Chocolate Chip Brownies

Mocha Chocolate Chip Brownies

Nothing helps to beat the mid-week blues better than a rich, thick, ooey, gooey, chocolate brownie – and this brownie will certainly do the trick.

This thick Mocha Chocolate Chip Brownie has a nice crisp, crackly top, and the inside is moist, chewy and fudgy. Chocolate and coffee make a great combination, and in this recipe they add an extra rich flavor and yumminess to these brownies.

This brownie is delicious all on its own, but feel free to dress it up with ice cream, whipped cream, or a dusting of powdered sugar.

~Enjoy~




Mocha Chocolate Chip Brownies

2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/4 cup brewed coffee
2 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9-inch round baking pan.

In a microwave safe bowl, melt chocolate chips and butter. Stir until smooth. Add brewed coffee and stir until combined. Cool slightly.

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar. Add coffee/chocolate mixture. Mix well.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa and baking powder. Add to chocolate mixture. Stir until well blended. Fold in chocolate chips.

Spread batter into prepared baking pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Cool on wire rack. Cut cooled brownies into wedges and serve.

Makes approximately 12 brownies.

Mocha Truffles

Mocha Truffles

One of my all-time favorite Christmas holiday indulgences is truffles!! They’re so small, delicate, and incredibly delicious. Before I started making them myself, whenever I would see them displayed in a store or candy shop, I always thought they were extremely difficult to make – but they’re really not.

This recipe is very easy to make, but it does require that you chill the truffles overnight – so you’ll have to use a lot of willpower to keep from eating them before they’ve had a chance to chill.

~Enjoy~

Mocha Truffles

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup finely crushed graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup powdered sugar

In the top of a double boiler over hot water, combine chocolate chips, coffee granules, water, corn syrup, and vanilla extract. Heat until chocolate is melted, stirring frequently. With a wire whisk, whisk chocolate mixture until smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in the graham cracker crumbs and powdered sugar. Mix until well blended.

Let stand for about 10 minutes, or until cool enough to handle. Shape mixture into small balls; roll in sprinkles, finely chopped nuts, cocoa powder, or powdered sugar – whatever you desire. Place truffles on waxed paper; cover loosely and chill overnight.

Truffles can be refrigerated for a couple of weeks or frozen for a couple of months. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Makes about 2 to 3 dozen truffles.

Orange Chocolate Chunk Bundt Cake with Mocha Glaze

I used two of my favorite products in making this recipe — True Orange and Ener-G Egg Replacer.

True Orange is a new product from the makes of True Lemon and True Lime. The “True” products are little packets of crystallized fruit flavoring that have zero calories, zero carbs and no artificial sweetening. You can use them for baking/cooking, or you can add a packet to your bottled water or tea. They store well in my pantry, and taste as close to the real thing as any other product I’ve ever come across. If you are interested in trying True Lemon, True Lime and True Orange, just click here to visit their website and request a free sample.

Ener-G Egg Replacer mimics what eggs do in recipes, yet contains no eggs. It’s main ingredients are potato starch and tapioca starch flour. It replaces egg whites as well as egg yolks in baking, and one 16 ounce box, which sells for under $7.00, is equal to 100 eggs. For each egg called for in a recipe, you just dissolve 1 1/2 teaspoons of Ener-G Egg Replacer in 2 tablespoons of warm water, and add it to your recipe. How easy is that? Ener-G Egg Replacer is another product that has become a staple in my pantry.

Both of these products work very well together in this recipe. This cake turned out moist and delicious, and the orange and chocolate flavor combination has always been a favorite of mine.

~Enjoy~

Orange Chocolate Chunk Bundt Cake with Mocha Glaze

3 teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer
4 tablespoons warm water
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter-flavored shortening
6 packets True Orange
2 tablespoons water
2/3 cup chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 12-cup bundt pan.

Combine Ener-G Egg Replacer and 4 tablespoons warm water in a glass or small bowl. Stir until well combined. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Add milk and shortening. Beat with an electric mixer at medium speed for 4 minutes, or until well blended.
Add egg replacer and beat for an additional 2 minutes. Stir in True Orange and the 2 tablespoons water; mix well. Fold in chocolate chunks.

Pour batter into prepared bundt pan.

Bake for 40 – 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Invert onto serving plate and cool completely.
Drizzle with Mocha Glaze; if desired.

Mocha Glaze

3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
1-2 tablespoons warm water

In small bowl, dissolve 1 teaspoon instant coffee granules in 1 tablespoon warm water. Stir in powdered sugar until smooth. If necessary, add more water until glaze is easy to spread. Spoon glaze over cake.

Mocha Banana Bread

Now here’s a bread that will help jump-start your morning…
If your a fan of coffee, or coffee flavoring, then this is the banana bread for you. I was a little bit skeptical at first, as to whether the mocha and banana flavors would pair well, but after one bite I quickly realized that they really do. After all, we all know that chocolate and banana pair well, so why not coffee and banana.

On a side note, I woke up to the news that one of our local volcano’s, Mt. Redoubt, erupted again — that makes four times since 5:30pm last night, and somewhere around eleven eruptions total since March 22nd. This volcano is about 100 miles southwest of my location, and thankfully we have not seen any ash in our area since Mt. Redoubt began erupting last Sunday. They are reporting that a pattern of the volcano dozing and then producing sky-high eruptions may persist for months. Sounds like it’s going to be an interesting Spring/Summer here in Alaska.

Time to finish up my cup of coffee and last few bites of Mocha Banana Bread.

~Enjoy~

Mocha Banana Bread

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg
3 bananas, mashed
1 tablespoon skim milk
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon instant coffee

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream brown sugar and butter. Add egg and beat well.
Mix in the mashed bananas and milk; stir until well combined.
Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
Stir in water and instant coffee.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.

Bake for approximately 60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool on wire rack.