We are having a very happy week here at Creekside.
We’ve all been waiting for our younger daughter and her husband to be blessed with children, and yesterday, they were very happy to welcome their new daughter into the world. Our third grandchild! Not only that, but we are especially thrilled that they now live just a few hours away, instead of 2 days’ driving, so we will get to share in this life of this new little one much more than we had originally anticipated. We feel incredibly thankful right now.
You always hear about the cliche of doting grandparents, but it doesn’t really make sense until you actually have some. I mean, I knew that I would love my grandchildren, but that instant, spiritual connection was totally unexpected to me, and it remains a precious and mysterious bond. The fact that they seem to feel the same about us, is even more treasured. We are looking forward to enjoying many happy times with little Evelyn, just as we do with Mark and Anna.
But life can never be too sweet, which is why I decided to make these cookies. And any happy event can be made better with the addition of a little chocolate, don’t you agree?
It’s actually a lot of chocolate – these are very rich. The outside is crisp and crackly, while the insides are dense and chewy – just an amazing texture party going on!
These Outrageous Chocolate Toffee Cookies are a riff on a Martha Stewart recipe that has been around for awhile. I used a darker chocolate than the original recipe, because I like that extra rich flavor, and I added toffee chips for more crunch and white chocolate chips for contrast and even more chocolate flavor.
These are definitely cookies for chocolate freaks – any cookie that starts out looking like this has got be good, right?
Get out your chocolate – we’re going to make some cookies!
- 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate [I used Trader Joe's 72% Dark Chocolate], chopped coarsely
- 4 tablespoons butter
- ⅔ cup all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar, tightly packed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- ¾ cup almond brickle toffee chips
- Melt the chocolate and butter together- either over a pan of simmering water, or by heating 20 seconds at a time in the microwave, stirring well between - 40 to 60 seconds, depending on the microwave. When the ships are about half melted, stop heating and just stir until completely melted. Cool to room temperature - about 20 minutes.
- When the chocolate mixture is cooled, preheat the oven to 350, and line two large, heavy baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Whisk the flour, salt and baking powder together in a small bowl, and set aside.
- Put the sugar, eggs and vanilla in the bowl of your stand mixer, and mix on low speed breifly, to get them combined.
- Increase mixer speed to medium high and beat for about 3 minutes, until the mixture is creamy, and a little fluffy.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low, and beat in the chocolate mixture.
- Remove the bowl from the mixer and by hand, fold in the flour mixture until about halfway incorporated. Add the chips and finish folding to combine.
- Drop tablepoonsful of batter a couple inches apart on the parchment lined baking sheets.
- Bake for about 9 to 11 minutes, until cookies are very shiny across the tops and puffed somewhat.
- Remove from oven and allow to coo on baking sheets for 5 or 6 minutes, and then very carefully, remove them to a cooling rack to finish cooling. They are fragile when they are hot, so be careful.
- Cool completely, then store tightly sealed - best eaten within a couple days.
I have to admit that these are extremely dangerous to have laying around. They’re completely irresistible, so I did the only sensible thing and sent them off to work with Larry. They were definitely a big hit, and I think someone even licked the crumbs out of the container, because when he brought it back home, it was clean as a whistle. A crew of carpenters really know good cookies when they have some, so you can trust their judgement on this.
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