I pretty much stand around and wait for the mailman to deliver my copy of Bon Appetit each month...and while I'm waiting I usually have to fight the urge to purchase a copy at the check-out aisle...so when this month's edition arrived I did what I always do...made myself a cup of hot cocoa and headed to the back room where the phone is inaccessible and the doorbell can't be heard - I hate to be disturbed when I have a new Bon Appetit in hand! So - while I perused my copy I come across Molly Wizenberg's article about her friend Leah's recipe for these bars...Molly is the whiz-bang behind Orangette - a Seattle Blog that's taken the nation by storm - if you don't read it, you're the only one...and shame on you...she's brilliant, funny and spot on with her take on food. So when Molly said these were, "the best cookies I had ever tasted" I knew I had to make them. Of course, she said more than that...she wrote about the crumbly-ness and the crispiness and the flavors that were both sophisticated and sublime...basically she wrote food porn and I immediately went into the kitchen and ran some cold water over my hands...then proceeded to make this ridiculously easy cookie.
These look like brownies but don't let the picture fool you...they are NOT brownies...they are more like biscotti - hard and crispy and yet as they dissolve in the mouth you'll be left with this rich, chocolately-almond-coffee-toffee taste...which is why you'll continue to eat them...bite after bite until the plate is half gone and then some alarm bell will sound in your head and you'll return to your senses and flee from the room before your hand - which is quicker than the brain - can stuff another one in your cookie-hole!
As if the God's weren't smiling down on me enough - the same day my copy of Bon Appetit arrived, the same day I read this recipe, my order from King Arthur Flour showed up with my new container of Espresso Powder! When a recipe called for espresso powder I used to substitute instant coffee, but how ignorant I was! They are nothing alike...espresso powder is fine, like a flour - a dark flour, but not as dark as cocoa...and instant coffee is granular, dark in color and very course in texture compared to the powder. Depending on how much espresso powder is used in a recipe you can get a richer, more satisfying chocolate-y taste to a nice mocha taste to a strong, clean coffee flavor...it's very adaptable and because it's a powder it dissolves easily...try it!
Coffee Crunch Bars - Bon Appetit, February 2009, Leah Reich
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups (firmly packed) dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup sliced almonds
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Whisk first 3 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in another medium bowl until blended, about 2 minutes. Add espresso powder and almond extract, beat 1 minute. Stir in flour mixture in 3 additions, mixing until just absorbed after each addition. Stir in chocolate chips and almonds (dough will be thick). Turn dough out onto ungreased rimmed baking sheet. Using hands, press dough into 12-inch square. Pierce all over with fork at 1-inch intervals. Bake until edges are lightly browned and beginning to crisp, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool on sheet 1 minute. Cut into 48 bars. Immediately transfer to rack, cool (bars will crisp as they cool). Can be made 5 days ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.
"Love cures people - both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it." ~ Dr. Karl Menninger
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One year ago today: Dixon's Famous Lemon Cream Cheese Pie
