Milk Chocolate Toffee Cookies

One could never have enough varieties of chocolate chip cookies in their baking repertoire. I created a version of Milk Chocolate Toffee Cookies filled to the brim with large hunks of good quality milk chocolate and melty pools of homemade toffee.

Making your own toffee requires a few extra minutes but is so worthwhile!

These milk chocolate toffee cookies are soft and chewy and a wonderful departure from the more common semi-sweet chocolate chip cookie.

Not that there's anything at all wrong with that! But variety is a very good thing when it comes to cookies, so let's get baking.

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Why make Homemade Toffee

Most toffee, such as Skor Bar or Heath Bar, contains almonds. And, since my daughter is allergic to peanuts and all tree nuts, of which almond is one, historically, she's been unable to indulge in anything with toffee.

Until I discovered how to make homemade toffee! And believe you me, it's worth the little extra bit of effort to make it yourself, even if you aren't looking out for tree nut allergies.

The toffee bits you find in the store tend to be covered in chocolate, which is a good thing normally. But for these milk chocolate toffee cookies, we really want the toffee flavor to come through and take center stage.

When I tried making these milk chocolate toffee cookies using Heath Bits, I found the toffee got lost in the cookie and wasn't really detectable.

When I made my own homemade toffee, on the other hand, I chose to keep the pieces large so they'd stand out in the finished cookie. And stand out they certainly do!

What makes these Milk chocolate Toffee Cookies so special

These milk chocolate toffee cookies are bursting with chocolate and toffee. And they're super soft and chewy making them such a pleasure to eat.

Typically, chocolate chip cookies use semi-sweet chocolate. The use of milk chocolate and toffee in this cookie makes for a brilliant contrast of flavors and textures.

I choose to chop a milk chocolate baking bar, leaving the chunks in large pieces. Same goes for the toffee pieces. The bigger the better in this cookie!

The toffee melts while baking, creating beautiful caramely pools that aren't too sticky or sweet.

And those chunks of milk chocolate give these cookies the perfect balance of chocolate and sweetness. I'm a big fan, could you tell?!

Tips for Making Milk Chocolate Toffee Cookies

• If you are not allergic to the tree nuts commonly found in toffee bits, such as Skor and Heath, and/or you don't feel like going to the trouble of making your own homemade toffee, just buy a bag of toffee bits and use those in these cookies! You may want to use more than the 1 ½ cups that's called for the in the recipe, so the flavor doesn't get lost amongst the milk chocolate
• When you're making the homemade toffee, stay right by the stove and keep stirring while the sugar mixture comes to a boil. The sugar can burn really quickly, so don't walk away from it. The whole process takes only about 5-7 minutes total, so its not very long that you'll be standing there! Once the mixture starts to smoke, that's the point at which I recommend removing it from the heat, stir for another minute or so and pour immediately onto a prepared sheet tray. Spread it in an even layer quickly as it begins to harden very quickly
• Even though the cookies get placed in the freezer for 30 minutes before baking, they still spread A LOT. This is because the toffee melts and seeps out. Plus, we want a soft cookie here and to create a soft cookie, we don't add a lot of ingredients that tend to create solid structure. So, I recommend taking a large round cookie cutter or even the lid of a bowl turned upside down, place it around each freshly baked cookie and move your hand in a circular motion to get those cookies back into shape. It's important to do this as soon as the cookies come out of the oven while they're piping hot because that's when they're most malleable

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Looking for more Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes? Give these a try:

Milk Chocolate Toffee Cookies

I created a version of Milk Chocolate Toffee Cookies filled to the brim with large hunks of good quality milk chocolate and melty pools of homemade toffee. Making your own toffee requires a few extra minutes but is so worthwhile!

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Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Chilling Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 2 hours 25 minutes

Course: All Recipes, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Servings: 18 servings

Calories: 344kcal

Author: Kimberlee Ho

US Customary - Metric

Ingredients

Toffee

• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• pinch kosher salt

Cookies

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg room temperature
• 2 large egg yolks room temperature
• 1 ½ tablespoons vanilla extract
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup milk chocolate baking bars chopped, plus more for tops
• 1 ½ cups toffee pieces from recipe above
• flaky sea salt sprinkling on top, optional

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make the Toffee:

• Place a silpat or piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet and set right next to the stove top.
• In a medium saucepan, add the sugar, butter, vanilla and pinch of salt.
• Place over medium heat, bringing to a boil while stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon until mixture just starts to brown.
• Typically, you’ll see the mixture start smoking when it starts to brown.
• At this point, turn off the heat and keep stirring in the pan for another 1-2 minutes.
• Immediately pour onto the prepared sheet pan and quickly spread into a thin layer.
• Allow to cool while you prepare the cookies.
• Once cool, break up into small pieces with your hands or by gently banging with a rolling pin or mallet.
• Be gentle, as the pieces break easily and will fly all over your kitchen if hit too hard.
• Place pieces in a jar, bowl, or ziplock bag until ready to use.
• Recipe makes about 1 ½ cups toffee bits; you will use all of these in the cookie dough

Brown the Butter:

• In a medium skillet set over medium-low heat, melt the butter, cooking and stirring until the butter is just browned and smells nutty (keep an eye on it and be careful not to cook it too long or it’ll burn).
• Pour the contents of the skillet into a heatproof bowl, scraping the bottom of the skillet with a heatproof spatula to get all the browned bits.
• Cover and place in the fridge for 60 minutes.
• If you keep the browned butter in the fridge longer than an hour or so, remove it from fridge about 30 minutes before making the cookies to allow it to soften a bit before using.

Make the Cookie Dough:

• In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the chilled browned butter and granulated sugar.
• Beat on medium speed until well combined and light in color, about 2-3 minutes.
• Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom. Add the egg, egg yolks and vanilla. Mix on medium speed for 1 minute.
• Stop and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
• Then add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
• Turn the mixer on low and mix until just combined and no dry spots of flour appear in the batter, about 30-45 seconds.
• Stop the mixer and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl then add the chopped milk chocolate and toffee pieces.
• Turn mixer on low and stir just until combined, about 30 seconds.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Using a ¼ cup (2 ounce) ice cream scoop, scoop the dough and place on the lined baking sheet. You can place them close together.
• Gently press additional chopped milk chocolate and toffee pieces into the tops of each portion of cookie dough.
• Place the baking sheet in the freezer for 30-60 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC) and line a second baking tray with parchment paper.
• Remove the cookie dough from the freezer and place 6 cookies on the second baking tray, spacing at least 2 inches apart, as these cookies will spread a good amount.
• Place the first baking sheet back in the freezer. Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes, rotating the baking tray halfway through.
• Remove from the oven and, using a large cookie cutter or the rim of a small bowl turned upside down, place around the edges of the cookies.
• Move the cookie cutter or bowl in a circular motion around the edges of the cookie to form it into a circle, as these cookies tend to spread a good amount and lose their shape while baking.
• Sprinkle with sea salt, if using.
• Allow the cookies to cool on the tray while you bake the rest of the cookies, repeating the process of baking one tray at a time.
• Allow the cookies to cool completely before eating or storing

Notes

• Toffee can be made a few days ahead of time. Store pieces in a tightly sealed mason jar or ziplock bag until ready to use. If pieces stick together, break apart gently by tapping with a butter knife or handle of a spoon
• Once cookies have cooled completely, store in an airtight container for up to 7 days
• Cooled cookies may be frozen for up to 3 months. Place cookies in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze for at least an hour. Place frozen cookies in a freezer-safe storage bag and put back in the freezer. Thaw at room temperature or by placing in the microwave and heating at 50% power for 1 minute or until desired temperature has been reached

Nutrition

Calories: 344kcal | Carbohydrates: 38.9g | Protein: 3.7g | Fat: 19.1g | Saturated Fat: 11.6g | Cholesterol: 73.8mg | Sodium: 290.6mg | Fiber: 0.8g | Sugar: 24.6g

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