Holiday Baking #10: Chocolate Toffee Cookies

 This post was almost about lemon ricotta cookies that were supposed to have been tangy, fluffy, and delicious.  Too bad they turned out more like wimpy pancakes than cookies and left my daughter and I high and dry without any cookies for our cookie exchange.   We were running low on time and needed something safe and different...and that's where these delicious little babies from Smitten Kitchen came in.  Chewy, fudgy, and filled with toffee goodness...we knew it'd be hard to go wrong with that combination.  They were every bit the "homerun" we were looking for and I'm already daydreaming about the next time we can make these,  just as much so I can snitch the dough as for the decadent cookies! 

Click here for printable recipe.  

The ingredients:
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 unsalted butter
1-3/4 cups  brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
5 (1.4-ounce) chocolate-covered English toffee bars (such as Heath), coarsely chopped* (I used an 8-ounce  bag of Heath toffee bits)
1 cup walnuts, toasted, chopped

Directions:  Combine flour, baking powder and salt in small bowl; whisk to blend. Stir chocolate and butter in top of double boiler set over simmering water until melted and smooth.  

(Check out our super fancy double boiler--a metal bowl nested into our sauce pan. Despite its laughable appearance, it worked great!)

Remove from over water. Cool mixture to lukewarm.

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 (almost fudge-like in consistency), about 45 minutes. 

(Evil Dough Alert:  This dough is so good you could practically put this in  a pan and serve it up as fudge.) 

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. 

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.)

Let cool completely before serving. 

Slice and bake option: Since the dough is very thick after refrigeration, thereby  making it hard to scoop, it is suggested that you can roll the dough into a log about 1-1/2- inches in diameter before chilling it. When you're ready to bake the cookies, cut it into 1/2-inch slices and bake as directed. 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.  

Enjoy!