Irish Coffee Blondies Recipe

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with this decadent Irish coffee blondies recipe, featuring chewy espresso blondies and a fluffy Irish whiskey spiked buttercream.

I’m not usually one to celebrate random holidays. Don’t get me wrong – I’m basically little miss Christmas and I love me some Thanksgiving pumpkin pie. Birthdays are always a huge celebration in my home and I will eat all the chocolate Lindt bunnies at Easter. But specialty holidays like Family Day and these random UK bank holidays aren’t my jam. I mean, what good is a holiday that doesn’t give you an excuse to eat something delicious? Which is part of the reason why I’m sharing this Irish coffee blondies recipe with you today.

St. Patrick’s Day is kind of a weird holiday for me. I’m technically part Irish – I’m able to live in the UK because my grandfather was born in Wales and his mother was Irish. So while an eighth of me feels as if I’m supposed to partake in this day as a familial obligation, I’ve never really felt a strong desire to celebrate it.

I think the reason I’m not into St. Patrick’s Day so much is that I feel the spirit behind the holiday has been trashed by commercialisation. What was once a Christian feast day for an enslaved teenager who went on to establish monasteries and schools has now become a global pub crawl.

I’m not overly religious – I was baptised as Catholic but haven’t practiced since I was 17 – but I can get on board with the idea of rising up from misfortune and not letting your past stop you from making something of yourself and doing what you were born to do. I believe this is a mentality worth celebrating. Unfortunately, St. Patrick’s Day has now become a secular holiday of shiny costume jewellery and tinted beer. It gives people an excuse to pretend they’re Irish and drink themselves to the point of passing out.

So instead, I went back to basics and made this Irish coffee blondies recipe to celebrate. Since there aren’t any desserts specific to St. Patrick’s day, I had to get a little creative with what we have. Irish coffee is one of my favourite after dinner drinks; it was invented in the small town of Foynes in the west of Ireland in 1942. The traditional way to drink it is with a thick layer of cream on top, which you’re not meant to stir in. Instead you drink the whiskey spiked coffee from under the cream and it mixes as you sip.

To emulate this in the blondies recipe, I decided to make a strongly flavoured espresso blondie topped with a fluffy Jameson whiskey infused buttercream. I originally tried to make a topping with whipped cream (for the cream element), but it kept curdling on me after I added the whiskey and just wasn’t meant to be!

The chocolate isn’t traditional either, but I always top my Irish coffees with a dusting of cacao powder or shaved chocolate. Because chocolate + coffee = love.

I like to think my grandfather would give this Irish coffee blondies recipe his stamp of approval. They’re super chewy, taste strongly of coffee, and the Irish whiskey isn’t too overpowering; there’s just enough so you know it’s there.

If you make this Irish coffee blondies recipe, don’t forget to take a photo and tag me on Instagram and use the hashtag #naturallysweetkitchen, so I can share your pictures! It makes my day to see these bakes come to life in your kitchen.

Looking for more traditional St. Patrick’s Day recipes?

• Irish soda bread
• Traditional Irish stew
• Boxty with bacon and eggs
• Colcannon

5 from 1 vote

Print

Irish Coffee Blondies

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with this decadent Irish coffee blondies recipe, featuring chewy espresso blondies and a fluffy irish whiskey spiked buttercream.

Category Bars

Keyword Blondies recipe

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Author Amanda | Naturally Sweet Kitchen

Ingredients

Coffee Blondies

• 113 g unsalted butter melted
• 150 g coconut sugar
• 1 large egg room temperature
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp fine sea salt
• 4 tsp espresso powder
• 62 g unbleached plain flour
• 62 g unbleached bread flour

Irish Whiskey Frosting

• 18 g unbleached plain flour
• 100 g raw cane sugar
• Pinch fine sea salt
• 120 ml milk
• 125 g unsalted butter room temperature
• ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 ½ tbsp Irish whiskey
• Dark chocolate for decoration optional

Method

Coffee Blondies

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF) and grease and line a 8 x 8 in (20 x 20 cm) pan with parchment paper. Be sure to leave a slight overhang of paper for easy removal.
2. In a bowl, whisk together the butter and coconut sugar. Crack in the egg and add the vanilla, sea salt, and espresso powder. Whisk to combine.
3. Fold in the flours using a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared baking tin and bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs.
4. Set the tray on a wire rack to cool for ten minutes, then remove the bars from the tray to the wire rack to finish cooling.

Irish Whiskey Frosting

1. Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Once it comes to a soft boil, allow the mixture to boil for 30-60 seconds or until it thickens enough to reach the consistency of a loose pudding.
2. Remove the mixture from the heat and decant into a container. Cover with a piece of parchment to prevent a skin from forming and allow to cool to room temperature.
3. Once the pudding has cooled, continue making the frosting.
4. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip the butter on high speed for 5 minutes until pale and fluffy.
5. Turn the mixer to a medium speed and dollop 1 tablespoon of the pudding into the mixer. Allow the pudding to fully incorporate into the butter and then continue adding the pudding to the butter slowly until finished.
6. Once all the pudding has been added, add the vanilla and beat the mixture on high speed until light and fluffy. Turn the mixer down to medium-high and slowly drizzle in the whiskey. Beat on high again until fluffy.

Assembly

1. Once the coffee blondie has completely cooled, ladle the frosting on top and smooth to the edges. Finish with shavings of dark chocolate if desired.

Notes

• These blondies will keep sealed in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
• It’s important to use espresso powder for this recipe, not instant espresso or coffee. Powder is much finer and will emulsify with the other ingredients, whereas instant granules will not. This is the espresso powder I use.