Homemade Toffee
1 cup granulated sugar
½ tsp salt
1 cup butter
¼ cup water

In a medium saucepan, cook all of the ingredients, stirring continuously, until they reach the hard crack stage (the toffee will be a rich, dark brown color). Pour onto a non-stick cookie sheet to cool, tilting the sheet to spread the toffee evenly and thinly. 

The Chocolate Pecan Toffee Cookies will use half of this cooled toffee. Take half of the toffee and break into small pieces and then pulse in a food processor until it is in small bits – or place the toffee pieces in a food storage bag and beat them with a rolling pin.

To enjoy the toffee on its own and not in a cookie, melt 1 cup of chocolate chips, toast ¾ cup of pecan pieces and stir the two together and spread over the toffee – store in the refrigerator until firm. (This can be varied – another good option is white chocolate with sliced almonds or dark chocolate with Brazil nuts - always toasting the nuts to bring out their flavors.)
 

The batter for these buttery, rich cookies is pretty soft until you start adding all of the pecans, toffee and chocolate chunks that hold it all together.  We make homemade toffee chunks/bits (recipe follows) for these cookies, but store bought bits works well, too. 

Plus, if you’re one of those people who like cookie dough, this recipe can be made with an egg substitute instead of raw eggs – making it safe for cookie dough consumption!  These cookies can be baked as soon as they’re mixed together, or the dough can be refrigerated for 2-3 days (add about 2 minutes to the baking time).  In addition, pre-measured balls of this dough can be frozen for about 3 weeks and baked from frozen (add about 5 minutes baking time).

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheet with baking parchment  (these cookies will stick).

Mix together dry ingredients:
2 cups flour
½ tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp salt

Blend the following:
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup oil (canola or vegetable)
¾  cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar

Then add to the creamed butter and sugar:
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Mix the dry ingredients and butter together to form a soft dough/batter.  Then add the following:

1 cup toffee bits
1 ½ cups chopped pecans
1 ½ cups dark chocolate chips or chunks

Place mounds of cookie dough – about 2 tbs each – 3 inches apart on baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 10-12 minutes our until brown and crispy around the edges.  Cool until lukewarm on the cookie sheet then remove to a rack to finish cooling.

Yields 24-28 cookies (recipe can be doubled).

  

Copyright 2008.