Time for Toffee Cookies!

 

The cookie from Kim’s Kitchen that is most frequently requested: Toffee Cookies! These delicious cookies were a Christmas tradition in our family.

My father worked with a photographer in Englewood, New Jersey, after returning home from serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II. His employer’s wife gave the recipe to my mother, sometime in the 1940’s.

 

 

 

 

Ingredients For Toffee Cookies

 

• 1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1/2 pound cold butter
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour

 

Added After Baking the Toffee Cookies

• 10 (+ or -) ounces milk chocolate. I use 7 ounces Hershey’s milk chocolate plus 3 or 4 ounces Symphony milk chocolate. Use any kind of chocolate you prefer.
• 1 to 1 1/4 cups chopped walnuts

 

 

The Process

 

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Cream butter and sugar in a stand mixer until well-mixed but not overdone.
• Add egg yolk and vanilla. Mix, and scrape bowl.
• Add flour in batches. Mix well, scraping bowl. Dough will be thick.
• Spread on parchment-paper-lined cookie sheet that has a raised edge. I use an approximately 10″ x 15″ jelly roll pan, which is thicker than cookie sheets and has been in our family for decades. Use a butter knife and your fingers to spread the dough; this is the hardest part. The palms of your hands can flatten it somewhat; it will flatten more in the oven.
• Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until the top and edges begin to show a light golden brown color. Watch it carefully. One minute too long will result in a crispy cookie, and everyone in my family, except Mother, likes it chewy. Remove from oven.

 

Now, the Toppings

• Break up the chocolate into pieces. Before the toffee cools, place chocolate on top. It will melt on the hot toffee. If the chocolate doesn’t melt, place cookie sheet back into the warm oven, turned off, but monitor it closely. Various brands of chocolate have different melting points. Use a butter knife to smooth the chocolate over the toffee.
• Sprinkle with chopped walnuts.
• Allow the toffee to cool before cutting into squares. This could take a few hours at room temperature. If the chocolate is still soft, your toffee cookies will not cut neatly!
• Cut with a long-bladed knife into 1 1/2″ squares. Place in a cookie tin or plastic container, lined—and layers separated—with wax paper.

 

 

 

More dessert recipes from Kim’s kitchen:

Almond Crescents

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Gingersnaps

 

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