Scrumdiddlyumptious Toffee Cookies

It’s the time of year when, if you live in Canada, the scarves are wrapped tighter, the beanies are dug out of the back of the closet, and I try to determine how many layers is too many layers (the answer is still unclear, but three seems decent).

Right about now, as we sit inside and slowly gain the right amount of weight for holiday hibernation, the question of, “Which dessert is best?” floats in the atmosphere. Many lean into pumpkin and apple flavours but I’m going to take the fall-flavoured sweets to the next level with an oft-overlooked ingredient: TOFFEE.

Toffee is the epitome of fall flavour. It’s sweet and for some reason, the taste lingers without getting any worse? In this case, the aftertaste is just as good as the first bite, especially if you eat a truckload of these things in one sitting (would not recommend). So let’s put a bunch of toffee into a cookie and see what happens right? The awesome part about this recipe is how easy it is to make! I am no expert but these seem pretty fool-proof. (Tried and tested by this here, fool).

Imma walk you through how to make these bad boys. Complete with images of the process because this visual learner knows how helpful they can be. Apologies for not having pictures of every step in the process (I was in a good baking rhythm).

First, the recipe:

1 cup - unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup - icing sugar

2 tsp - vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups - All Purpose flour

1/2 cup - corn starch

3/4 tsp - baking powder

1/4 tsp - table salt

1 cup - toffee bits (I use SKOR bits; they are the perfect size and don’t require any chopping)

Here’s how it’s done:

1. Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. This recipe should make 48 cookies, so I used 4 sheets, 12 cookies per. This is always the first step with baking recipes because the people who write these dang recipe books think you work at lightning speed. I turned on the oven after step 6.

2. Make sure your butter has softened! If it’s hard or too warm (the temperature it would get if you, I don’t know, put it in the microwave??) it will be really difficult to work with. Set it on a plate for about an hour at room temperature and it will be perfect.

3. Get out your trusty beater and beat butter, icing sugar, and vanilla until creamy. This process is super quick so don’t overdo it!

4. In a separate bowl, combine (using a spatula), flour, corn starch, baking powder, and salt.

5. Combine wet and dry ingredients.

6. Add the final ingredient! TOFFEE!!! Combine so toffee bits are uniform throughout.

When all of your ingredients are combined, the pile of dough should look like the image below. Cookie dough is often dry because we need to mold these guys into their proper shape. Also, cookies bake really quickly so wet or oily dough would taste raw at this bake time.

7. If you have kiddos, they may want to join in on this part. Roll the dough into balls! I didn’t use a spoon but I think a regular teaspoon would work well. These cookies spread out a bit so imagine the size you want your cookie to be and make the dough ball just a bit smaller than that. Mine were about 1 inch.

8. Space the balls 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet. Then get your rotation going! One tray goes in the oven while you prepare the next one!

9. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly golden. You can turn the sheet around halfway through bake time if you don’t have a convection oven.

10. Let cool on pan for 5 minutes. Dust with icing sugar if desired.

The toffee tends to run a bit at the edge of the cookies. I like to take a knife and gently push the sides back together while they are still warm. This way, no one can sue you for any sharp toffee related injuries.

These guys freeze well if you want to slowly start on Christmas baking. Baking cookies has always been one of my favourite activities. It’s a fantastic way to unwind and if you’re a sweet-tooth like me, come away with something delicious you made with your own two hands. It’s also a great way to confuse your family members if you bake at 10 pm (and consequently have shadows all up in your photos). But night baking is great if it makes you feel alive!

If someone compliments you on these cookies, they aren’t “just being nice”. These things are delicious. Here are some quotes from the many people who have enjoyed the unparalleled deliciousness that is the toffee cookie:

“These cookies are so good!” My Grade 7 teacher to my mom.

After a bake-sale, my coworker said, “So you’re going to make a special batch just for me, right?”

“The best thing I have ever had the pleasure to try in this universe,” Oprah, probably.

In the midst of the pandemic, I just might be wrapping these in Halloween-themed packaging and chucking them at children from a safe distance on the 31st. That’s allowed, right?