Coffee-toffee caramel cookie bars are the adult version of a magic bar–gooey, dreamy, and perfectly sweet.
All the best things in life start out with an Oreo crumb crust. Amiright?
You don’t have to respond. It’s clearly true. The only way to improve upon an Oreo crust is to top said crust with toffee bits, caramel, pecans, and–oh yes–sweetened condensed milk with plenty of espresso powder mixed into it.
The result when you pop those layers of goodness into a hot oven is an ooey, gooey, decadent, crunchy-creamy, caramel-y cookie bar with just enough coffee flavor to make your eyes roll back in your head.
I am not exaggerating here, people.
After I took my first bite my eyes rolled back and I moaned loud enough for Cookie to come running into the kitchen to make sure I was ok. Then she threw herself at my legs several times to get my attention, just in case I wanted to share. Even if she could eat chocolate I still might not have shared. Am I a selfish mom?
(Speaking of being a selfish mom, Cookie’s birthday is coming up and I’ve been experimenting with birthday cake recipes. But they’re all for humans. I don’t think she’s going to be excited to blow out the candles on a cake I won’t let her taste. . .even if it’s totally adorable and covered with sprinkles. I just can’t come up with a pup-cake recipe that thrills me, and I have to be thrilled with everything I post.)
Fortunately, that’s not a problem with today’s recipe. The only way I could be more excited about my coffee-toffee caramel cookie bars is if I’d added peanut butter to them. But I thought you might be getting a leetle bit tired of all the peanut butter-y recipes that have been popping up around these parts of late.
(Huh? Did I just type tired of PEANUT BUTTER?) OK maybe that’s not possible.
But just in case I’ll lay off for a few days. Coffee-toffee caramel cookie bars are sort of a grown-up (read: caffeinated) version of the magic bar. They have that gooey sweetness that reminds you of childhood and summer break and wearing your Brownies uniform to second grade. They’re fun like that.
And they freeze beautifully so I recommend sticking a few in the back of your freezer and forgetting about them for a few months. That way you can find them hiding back there and surprise! It’s a party. (I live for frozen cookies.)
I also recommend cutting these cookie bars into itty-bitty pieces because they are uber-rich so a little one goes a looooong way.
Oomph. They’re ridiculous.
Coffee-toffee caramel cookie bars are like a grown-up magic bar, sweet, gooey, and totally delicious!
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 14 Oreos to make 1 1/2 cup crumbs
- 1 cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans
- 3/4 cup caramel bits
- 3/4 cup toffee bits
- 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
- 4 1/2 teaspoons espresso powder
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-inch square baking pan with cooking spray then line with foil or parchment paper, leaving an overhang around the edges. Spray foil lightly with cooking spray and set pan aside.
- Process Oreos in the food processor until they form fine crumbs. Pour melted butter into the prepared pan and sprinkle with the cookie crumbs. Pack the crumbs into an even layer in the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with the pecans, caramel bits, toffee bits, and chocolate chips. Stir the espresso powder into the condensed milk until the powder dissolves, then pour in an even layer over the cookie bars.
- Bake until the top is golden and the edges bubble, 25 to 28 minutes. Place pan on a wire rack to cool completely, 1 hour. Once cool, use the foil to remove the cookies from the pan and transfer to a cutting board. Remove foil, slice into bars, then serve and enjoy. (They are very gooey so I recommend refrigerating before slicing and serving.)
Adapted from Baking Unplugged.
Linda says
I was going to make 7-layer bars until I ran across this recipe. These are so good and so easy! Thank you …
Kelsie says
I’m so glad you liked them!
claire says
Do you use semi sweet chocolate chips or milk chocolate? I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Kelsie says
Hi Claire! I used semisweet but you can use whichever kind you like!
kacrofootKim says
Peanut butter anything is the best!! I just made a Peanut Butter PIE for Pi Day!! YUM!!
Kelsie says
I KNOW! Peanut butter is my entire LIFE! I bet your pie was incredible. PB pie is on my list for next pi day :).
Karly says
Holy drool. Cannot contain my excitement over these beauties!! Seriously, need to make these ASAP!
Kelsie says
Haha! Thank you SOOOO much, Karly! You won’t regret making them. Until you wake up from your sugar coma and find you’ve eaten the entire pan. . .not that I did that :).
Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch says
These look incredible! I know my kids will love these!
Kelsie says
Awww thank you Serena! They’re pretty hard to beat; any thing magic bar-adjacent is 🙂
patrick@looneyforfood.com says
These sound absolutely amazing. I have a family party coming up and I think I need to make these for it!!
Kelsie says
Thank you, Patrick! If you make them be sure to let me know how it goes! 🙂
Ruby_&_Cake says
Oh man these sound incredible! They have everything I want to eat right now. That espresso powder is a touch of genius 🙂
Kelsie says
Thank you so much! They’re basically everything I want to eat all the time 🙂
Georgie @ The Home Cook's Kitchen says
Oh my goodness this looks amazing!!!!! probably some of my favourite flavor combos there!
Kelsie says
Thank you so much! They’re some of my favorite flavor combos too 🙂
Kelly Mikolich says
I want to make these NOW!!! I bet that espresso powder just sets these over the top! And yeah….I don’t think one can ever get tired of peanut butter! But these bars sound awesome. Pinning!!
Kelsie says
Thank you so much, Kelly! I’m glad I’m not the only peanut butter fanatic around here :)!
heather (delicious not gorgeous) says
i love the sound of adding espresso to the sweetened condensed milk! magic bars tend to be a little sweet for me, so that hit of slightly bitter roastiness sounds delicious.
Kelsie says
I agree! Magic bars can be a little sugary; the espresso powder definitely counteracts some of that. Thank you Heather! 🙂
blahnikbaker says
Oh I know you are not over exaggerating. anything that starts with oreo crust is bound to be great. Even before toffee bits got into the picture!! Love these bars!
Kelsie says
Thank you Zainab! I’m so glad I’m not alone in loving that Oreo crust :).