Sarah turned me on to the Smitten Kitchen web site, where there are a lot of good vegetarian recipes and tons and tons of sweets. That girl likes to bake! I normally don’t like to bake, but these cookies are super-easy and super-good. Best part? You’ll have extra dough, so you can freeze some and bake off fresh, hot cookies whenever the mood should arise.
So you start with some Heath bars.
And some chocolate. Melt the chocolate with some butter:
Chop the toffee and the nuts. Put them in a bowl:
Continue melting chocolate:
Now let it cool a little….
And meanwhile, you can measure out the rest of your ingredients. Eggs and brown sugar go into the mixer’s bowl:
Flour and baking powder and salt in another. Plus you’ve got your nuts and toffee:
Cream the eggs and sugar for about 5 minutes, until it’s thick and light-colored:
Beat in chocolate and vanilla, then stir in flour mixture, then nuts and toffee.
Lay a piece of plastic down on the counter:
Then use a spoon to put some of the batter down in a line along the middle of the plastic. (I realize this doesn’t look that appetizing, but I’m instructing you, so bear with me!):
Wrap one side of the plastic up to the dough, then wrap the other one over that. Use the palms of your hands to make the dough into a cylinder.
Chill in the fridge (or the freezer). Then slice and bake.
Slice:
Don’t forget to sprinkle with flaky sea salt:
Bake.
Then swoon.
Chocolate Toffee Cookies
From Smitten Kitchen, adapted from Bon Appetit
Chocolate Toffee Cookies
Adapted from Bon Appetit
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pound bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 3/4 cups (packed) brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
5 1.4-ounce chocolate-covered English toffee bars (such as Heath), coarsely chopped*
1 cup walnuts, toasted, chopped
Flaky sea salt for sprinkling (optional)
Stir chocolate and butter in top of double boiler set over simmering water until melted and smooth. Remove from over water. Cool mixture to lukewarm.
Combine flour, baking powder and salt in small bowl; whisk to blend.
Using electric mixer, beat sugar and eggs in bowl until thick, about 5 minutes. Beat in chocolate mixture and vanilla.
Stir in flour mixture, then toffee and nuts. Chill batter until firm, about 45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment or waxed paper. Drop batter by spoonfuls onto sheets, spacing two inches apart. Sprinkle with a pinch of flaky sea salt, if you’re using it. Bake just until tops are dry and cracked but cookies are still soft to touch, about 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on sheets. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.)
I know that it will be impossible to let them cool completely, but they really taste a lot better cool, as they continue baking once they come out of the oven.
Note from Liz: went for this slice-and-bake option, but I misread the recipe and thought the “log” was supposed to be .5 inches, not 1.5. So my cookies were more like wafers rather than cookies. Read on:
Slice and bake option: After struggling a bit to scoop these cookies, I rolled the dough into a log 1.5 inches in diameter and chilled it. When I was ready to bake the cookies, I cut it into 1/2-inch slices. You can store the dough log in the freezer, wrapped in waxed paper and then two layers of plastic wrap for up to a month, just baking the cookies off as you need. Cookies baked straight from the freezer may need an additional minute or two in the oven, depending on their thickness.
