food

(amazing) chocolate-toffee cookies

Can you believe this recipe has been in the “to try” section of my recipe binder for over 20 years? Besides the fact that I was able to hold on to a small piece of paper for this long, realizing how good these are after all these years is almost a sin.

My sister-in-law sent me the recipe by email back when I had a Hotmail account, which was like a million years ago. I honestly don’t know why I didn’t make these right away, but I do know how easily I forget things if I don’t write them down, so I finally added “make chocolate cookies” to my to-do list.

(Tip: Lists are a forgetful and distracted human’s best friend.)

Unfortunately, I don’t always remember to carry my to-do list with me, and often must rely on my not so perfect memory. I managed to remember during my last trip to the supermarket, that this recipe called for bittersweet chocolate, so I bought two bars thinking it would be enough. Guess what? I had to go back for one more. I need to work on having these lists with me at all times! I’m working on that.

Don’t let the amounts of bittersweet chocolate and toffee scare you away from making these. Honestly, I almost didn’t use all the chocolate myself, and didn’t add all the toffee, because it seemed like way too much!

Making these cookies is a little like making fudge. There is barely any flour in the recipe, so the batter is quite thick. The resulting cookies crack a little on top and are chewy in the middle.

We loved the cookies, but ended up only baking half of the batter on Sunday night and saved the rest for today. That worked out well, because you only need about two of these to satisfy any chocolate or cookie craving you may have. Just make sure there’s lots of milk in the house. Cold, delicious milk is a must with these!

chocolate cookies and milk
I recommend having some very cold milk in the fridge for these!

My only change to the recipe would be to add more walnuts and all the toffee called for.

(Amazing) Chocolate-Toffee Cookies

  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 pound of bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (I used 4 bars of Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate)
  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) of unsalted butter (If you cannot find unsalted butter where you live, omit the 1/4 teaspoon of salt.)
  • 1 3/4 cups (packed) brown sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 5 oz. Heath toffee bar chips (These are sold in a bag.)
  • 1 cup of chopped walnuts, toasted (A little more would be great.)

  1. In a small bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt, and whisk to blend.
  2. Melt chocolate and butter over a double boiler. Let cool to lukewarm.
  3. In an electric mixer, beat the eggs and the sugar until thick, about 5 minutes.
  4. Incorporate the chocolate mixture, then the toffee and the nuts.
  5. Chill the batter in the fridge for at least 30 min.
  6. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper and drop large spoonfuls of the batter onto the sheet keeping cookies about 2 inches apart. (They will expand.)
  7. Bake until the tops look dry and a little cracked but still soft, about 15 minutes.
  8. Let the cookies cool down and enjoy!

Tip: Don’t make them too tall or they won’t cook evenly.

These will keep well in a cookie tin for about two days. (If you hide it well! 😉 )

Original recipe published in Bon Appétit, 2000.