Mocha Toffee Bars: 1980s Recipes + Menus : gourmet.com

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1980s Recipes + Menus

December 1987

The country went wild for the combination of buttery toffee and chocolate in the 1980s. These chewy bars with bits of roasted cashews epitomize exactly that over-the-top quality that we all craved.

This is just one of Gourmet’s Favorite Cookies: 1941-2008. Although we’ve retested the recipes, in the interest of authenticity we’ve left them unchanged: The instructions below are still exactly as they were originally printed.

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 tablespoons instant espresso powder dissolved in 2 tablespoons boiling water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
8 oz semisweet chocolate
3/4 cup salted roasted cashews, chopped

In a bowl with an electric mixer cream the butter, add the brown sugar, and beat the mixture until it is light and fluffy. Beat in the yolk, add the vanilla and the espresso mixture, a little at a time, beating, and beat the mixture until it is combined well. Add the salt and the flour, beating, and beat the mixture until is combined well. Spread the batter evenly in a jelly-roll pan, 15 1/2 by 10 1/2 by 1 inch, and bake it in the middle of a preheated 350° F. oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until it pulls away slightly from the edge of the pan. Spread the chocolate, melted, evenly over the baked layer and sprinkle the cashews over it. Let the mixture cool in the pan on a rack, cut it into 48 bars, and chill it for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the chocolate is firm. Makes 48 cookies.

Photograph by Romulo Yanes