For those of you who are new to my newsletter (hello and welcome!), a year ago I moved from Virginia to Columbus, Ohio. Once again, I am surrounded by boxes and unending to do list. At least this time, I am only relocating about a 7 minute drive between old and new homes. After four moves in four years, you might think I am an expert by now. Wrong. I am, however, good at getting quotes from moving companies and making cookies for those helping me.
This month’s recipe is for a chocolate chip cookie where the dough freezes well and the cookie tastes even better a day or two after it’s baked. These cookies must be chilled for at least 4 hours before baking. They are easy to whip up in advance, then freeze the dough, and later bake off as you pack up your kitchen. You will have cookies to enjoy in the following stressful days. The toffee is an optional mix in to the dough and you can omit for a classic chocolate chip cookie.
Salted Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yield: about 2½ dozen, 2 ounce cookies
Ingredients
Salted Toffee (optional but highly recommended)
½ cup (110g) sugar
½ teaspoon (2g) kosher salt
6 tablespoons (82g) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
16 tablespoons or 2 sticks (226g) unsalted butter, browned
1 ¼ cups (200g) dark brown sugar (light brown sugar is fine too)
¾ cups (150g) sugar
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons (8g) vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups (350g) ap flour
¾ teaspoons (3g) baking powder
¾ teaspoons (4g) baking soda
1 teaspoon (4g) kosher salt
12 ounces (340g) chocolate disks, chopped
Salted Toffee, chopped
Flaky salt, for garnish
Instructions
Step 1: homemade Salted Toffee (skip to Step 2 if omitting)
Combine your sugar, salt and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat and occasionally stir. Meanwhile, prepare a baking sheet tray with raised sides and line with a Silpat or parchment paper. As the butter and sugar melt and the mixture starts to bubble, stir constantly. Once the liquid takes on a dark honey or warm caramel color, carefully pour out onto your prepared tray. Let cool while measuring out the ingredients for the cookie dough.
Step 2
In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt your butter. To brown the butter, take the butter past just melted to the point where it is bubbling and emitting a nutty smell. As you scrape the bottom of the pan you will see golden brown particles separating from the butter. Pour into a large bowl. Set aside.
Step 3
In a small bowl, combine your dark brown sugar and sugar. In another small bowl, combine the eggs, egg yolks and vanilla extract. Measure your flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl then whisk together. Chop your chocolate into variously sized pieces and set aside in another bowl. Once you have measured everything out, check your toffee to see if it has cooled. If so, go ahead and chop as well. If it is still cooling, chop right before adding to your cookie dough at the end of Step 4.
Step 4
Since your butter has cooled slightly while you measured your ingredients, you can now start to mix everything together. First, whisk your sugars into the butter. Once mixed (it still may be slightly separated), whisk in your egg mixture gradually, about an egg or so at a time. When the batter comes together and is smooth, almost glossy, stir in the flour mixture incrementally, about ⅓ of the flour mix at a time. When there are no more streaks of flour, add the chopped chocolate and chopped toffee pieces.
Step 5
Cover and chill the batter in the fridge for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.
Step 6
Once the batter has chilled, using a cookie scoop or spoon, scoop all of the cookie dough into 2 ounce balls. At this point, you can move the dough to the freezer or bake. To freeze, chill the cookie dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper until firm then transfer to a large bag or plastic container.
Step 7
To bake, preheat the oven to 350°F. On a parchment lined baking sheet, place the cookie dough balls about 2 inches apart - I usually get about 8 cookies on a conventional sized baking tray. Bake for about 15 minutes, rotating halfway, until they are golden brown and no longer look wet on top. For round and picture perfect cookies, while hot and fresh out of the oven use a mug or large cookie cutter to scootch the cookies’ edges so it returns to a round shape. Top with flaky salt. Let cool. Store up to 5 days in an airtight container. Enjoy!
I can’t stop talking about… the great books I’ve read this year. While packing up my books, I was reminded of some of my favorites I have enjoyed recently. Please let me know in the comments what books you recommend!
The Final Revival of Opal and Nev by Dawnie Walton. I describe it as a smarter version of Daisy Jones and the Six - don’t get me wrong though, I recommend Daisy Jones or anything by Taylor Jenkins Reid. The interview format brings the characters to life and transports you into the past.
The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont. It’s buzzy right now for a reason. A story that really moves and has a payoff that is worth it.
The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand. A mystery from the ultimate beach read author (I mean this genuinely as a compliment). I just started working my way through Elin’s books last summer and can’t wait to continue reading them.
The Wreckage of My Presence by Casey Wilson. I love historical fiction so much that I have to make a point of reading other genres. Essays from women, especially comedians, in Hollywood are consistently so delightful. I really enjoyed Casey’s book and her wild tales.