Ingredients
For the Homemade Toffee
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
For the Cookies
- 13 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup organic cane sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
Make the Toffee
First up, get a baking sheet and line it with parchment paper.
In a small pot, melt the 1/2 cup of butter over medium heat. Once it’s melted, add the dark brown sugar and salt and give it a vigorous whisk for about a minute until it’s all combined.
Keep whisking as you bring the mixture to a simmer. You need to let it cook until it hits about 300F on a candy thermometer, which is the temperature it needs to reach to harden properly. If you see the mixture starting to separate, just pull it off the heat and whisk hard until it comes back together.
As soon as it hits temp, pour the hot toffee onto your prepared baking sheet and spread it out into a thin layer. Just let it sit at room temperature to cool and harden completely. Once it’s hard, you can break it into small pieces with your hands or give it a rough chop with a knife.
Make the Cookie Dough
Now for the cookie dough, you’ll start by browning the 13 tablespoons of butter. Melt it in a pot over medium heat. It’s going to crackle and sizzle for a bit; just let it go, stirring every now and then.
When the rapid bubbling dies down, it’ll start to foam up. Keep stirring gently until you spot some golden-brown bits at the bottom and it starts to smell nutty. The moment that happens, pull it off the heat and pour the brown butter into a different bowl so it stops cooking.
You need to let the butter cool down some – it can still be warm, just not hot to the touch. Whisk in the dark brown sugar, cane sugar, and vanilla bean paste.
Add the egg and egg yolk and whisk well until it’s all completely combined. Then, whisk in the baking soda, cream of tartar, cinnamon, nutmeg, kosher salt, and cornstarch.
Switch over to a spatula and fold in the all-purpose flour until you have just a few streaks of flour left. Add your chopped toffee and fold until it’s mixed in and the flour has disappeared.
Chill and Bake the Cookies
Cover the bowl tightly and pop it in the fridge for at least three hours. Since the dough is so soft, you can’t really skip this part if you want thick cookies.
Once it’s time to bake, get the oven going at 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
Scoop the dough into balls, about three tablespoons each, and place them on the baking sheet with 2-3 inches of space between them.
They’ll need about 8-10 minutes in the oven. You’re looking for set edges, while the centers will still be puffy and look a bit soft.
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes before moving them, as they need to firm up a bit first.
Toffee Cookies
Ingredients
For the Homemade Toffee
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup dark brown sugar packed
- 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
For the Cookies
- 13 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup organic cane sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk room temperature
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Melt 1/2 cup butter in pot over medium heat, add brown sugar and salt, whisk 1 minute.
- Simmer mixture while whisking until it reaches 300F on candy thermometer.
- Pour toffee onto prepared sheet, spread thin, cool until hardened. Break into pieces.
- Brown 13 tablespoons butter in pot over medium heat until golden bits form and nutty aroma develops.
- Transfer browned butter to bowl, cool slightly.
- Whisk in sugars and vanilla paste.
- Add egg and yolk, whisk until combined.
- Whisk in baking soda, cream of tartar, spices, salt, and cornstarch.
- Fold in flour until nearly combined, then add toffee pieces.
- Chill dough for 3 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Scoop 3-tablespoon dough balls onto parchment-lined sheet, spacing 2-3 inches apart.
- Bake 8-10 minutes until edges set but centers remain puffy.
- Cool on baking sheet 10 minutes before transferring.
Notes
