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Crispy edges, chewy centers, toasty brown butter, and pockets of caramelized toffee sweetness.
What is Toffee?
Toffee is a delicious candy! The texture is similar to peanut brittle or a Butterfinger. It crunches or snaps when you bite into it, but almost melts in your mouth. The flavor can be compared to brown butter or caramel, though it is richer in flavor than both. When used in cookies, toffee melts and re-solidifies into wonderful chewy pockets of flavor.
What Makes a Delicious Toffee Cookie?
In my mind, a yummy toffee cookie needs to be a few things. It needs to have slightly crispy edges, but the rest of the cookie should have a good chew. It shouldn’t be a puffy cookie that’s cakey or doughy, but it shouldn’t be too flat where it becomes super crispy. There should also be enough toffee bits in the dough so the final cookie has a pocket of toffee goodness in every bite. This recipe for brown butter toffee cookies meets that criteria, but it adds an extra level of yum…brown butter. Brown butter itself has an almost toffee-like flavor, which kicks these cookies up a notch! If you want to take it even one step further, sprinkle the cookies with flaky sea salt for a sweet and salty treat.
Where to Find Toffee Bits
Toffee bits can usually be found online or in the baking aisle of the grocery store, typically Heath Bits O’ Brickle Toffee Bits. If you can’t get your hands on them, you can also chop up some toffee candy, such as Heath bars or Skor bars, but you will get a slightly different result as these contain nuts and chocolate as well. My favorite option is using homemade toffee bits. They have a fantastic flavor and can be made in less than 30 minutes. You can find my recipe for toffee bits, here.
Common Questions
Why did my cookies spread unevenly or come out shaped weirdly?
This is a common thing when using toffee in cookies. The toffee bits, that are scattered throughout the dough, melt and spread out from the cookie during baking. This can result in uniquely shaped, less-than-round, cookies. They will still be delicious, but if you’re looking to create a more uniform cookie, bake them as written. Once you remove them from the oven, while they’re still warm, take a round metal cookie cutter (about the size of the final cookie) and use it to gently pull in the sides of the cookie that extend outside of the cutter. Once all parts of the cookie fit within the cutter, place the cookie cutter around the cookie and move it in a circular motion to help the cookie form a round shape. Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 2 to 3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
How do I keep the toffee from sticking to the cookie sheet?
Lining your cookie sheets with parchment paper is the easiest way to keep the toffee from sticking to the pan. Additionally, make sure to remove the cookies from the pan after cooling for 2 to 3 minutes. If you wait too long after baking to transfer the cookies to a cooling rack, the toffee will begin to solidify and may be more likely to stick to the cookie sheet.
Equipment
Especially for toffee cookies, I love using parchment paper on cookie sheets for ease of removal and easy clean up. Some of my other cookie equipment favorites are a thin and flexible spatula to remove the cookies from the baking sheet, a wire cooling rack, and a #40 (2 tbsp) cookie scoop.
Chewy Brown Butter Toffee Cookies
Equipment
- #40 cookie scoop
Ingredients
- ½ cup (1 stick) (113 g) butter, browned & cooled
- ¾ cup (165 g) sugar
- ¼ cup (62 g) dark brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 ½ cups (180 g) flour
- 1 ½ cups (235 g) toffee bits
Instructions
- Cream together browned butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
- Add egg and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
- Add salt and baking soda. Mix until well combined, making sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Mix in flour until just combined. Fold in toffee bits.
- Scoop 2 tbsp (#40 cookie scoop) balls of dough onto a prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 10 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. Allow to cool on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
If you try out this recipe, I’d love to know what you think! Please leave a comment with a rating below and share a photo of your creation on Instagram using the hashtag #BrooksideKitchen and tag @BrooksideKitchen
