Although I don’t ever recall my grandmother actually making Heath bar cake for me, when I stumbled upon her recipe (see the photo below) for such a treat in her tattered, blue, three ring binder, there was no question I’d be trying my hand at one, and these Heath bar coffee cake muffins were born. And I’m not even some crazy lover of Heath bars. Instead, I’m just a sucker for a cake filled with candy. I mean, who isn’t? 
Googling and cookbook-perusing immediately ensued, as I searched to see if Heath bar cake had indeed been a trendy dessert at some point in the past. And so it was that I stumbled upon almost the exact replica of my grandmother’s recipe for toffee coffee cake and candy bar toffee cake. Candy cake recipe development began in earnest. 
My first go-around with Heath bar cake ended up in baked occasions, as the “toffee coffee cake,” and requires that you make your own toffee. But this revamp of my grandmother’s Heath bar cake is closer to the original and calls for store bought Heath bar bits (you’re welcome). It also adapts the unusual mixing method of my grandmother’s, whereby the dry ingredients are mixed with the butter and then all of the wet is added at once. Kind of one bowl-esque and kind of genius, as it is super easy and fast and makes for the moistest and fluffiest of coffee cakes. Or coffee cake muffins as the case may be (the extra yolk and oil I added didn’t hurt either).
And so, candy cake fans, and even those unsure of where they stand re: candy-filled cake, give these muffins a whirl. You will not be sad you did when you find yourself biting into a delectable little cake with a swirl of toffee and nuts and a crumbly candy studded top and wonder – happily – why candy has not made its way into more of your sweets and treats. And if I have my way, it will . . .
[yumprint-recipe id=’95’]
