Toffee Optional: Brown Butter and Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

The pandemic has caused me to pay more attention to what's already in my pantry. The plastic bin where I keep my chocolate chips is almost empty, exposing three bags of Heath Bits O' Brickle that had been buried at the bottom. I decided to try a recipe from Bon Appétit for Brown Butter and Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies, substituting the toffee bits for chopped Skor bars. 

To make the cookie batter, you brown butter and let it cool slightly; mix the butter with granulated sugar and dark brown sugar; add eggs and vanilla; mix in the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, and kosher salt); and stir in the toffee bits and chocolate chips. I used Cacao Barry Extra-Bitter Guayaquil 64% pistoles. I let the dough sit at room temperature for about an hour before using a #30 scoop to portion out the dough; I got 27 cookies from a batch of dough. (I made a triple batch of dough to use up a whole bag of toffee bits.)

The cookies flattened out nicely in the oven and the pistoles melted into attractive little pools of chocolate. The cookies were delicious and had a deep caramel flavor, but they tasted just like... chocolate chip cookies. I could barely make out the toffee bits, and I think it's only because I knew they were in there. If I had used chopped Heath or Skor bars that were in bigger chunks, I'm sure the toffee flavor would have been more prominent. Then again, this is a pretty great chocolate chip cookie and I don't think it actually needs the toffee at all.

Recipe: "Brown Butter and Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies," from Bon Appétit.