Toffee Browned Butter Cookies

These toffee cookies are the upgrade that chocolate chip cookies were asking for. The additional salted caramel and browned butter flavors in the dough add the perfect nuttiness to compliment the toffee. I used Wilton Treatology Salted Caramel Flavor to create that caramel-y flavor throughout the entire dough.

I'm always looking for shortcuts, so I made these cookies using Hershey's Heath Bits 'O Brittle baking pieces. You can also make these by chopping up a Heath bar or similar candy roughly using a knife. You could even make homemade toffee to add to your cookies, but to me that seems like a lot of work.

The biggest thing you can do with these cookies, though, is be patient. Leave the dough in the fridge for about 4 hours (you can get away with 2, but 4-6 is ideal). The longer you can leave the dough in the fridge, the more rich and complex the flavors will be. However, if you leave it in for too long (think more than 12 hours), you'll end up with a dry and crumbly dough. If you're making several different types of cookies in the same day (hello, Christmas cookie trays), I recommend making this dough first but baking the cookies last. It's all about patience and multi-tasking.

Ingredients:

• 10 Tablespoons (1 stick + 2 Tablespoons) unsalted butter
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons almond extract
• 4 drops of salted caramel flavor
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 Tablespoons milk (room temperature)
• 2 medium eggs (room temperature)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups bread flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chocolate covered toffee bits (such as Heath Bits 'O Brittle) + 1/4 cup to top
• 1 cup assorted chocolate chips (I used a mix of semi-sweet, milk, and dark chocolate, all different sizes and shapes)

Recipe:

1. Brown butter. Start by melting butter on medium heat. Turn up to medium-high for about 5 minutes (until brown and nutty smelling), stirring constantly to keep spots from burning.
2. Allow to cool completely in a heat-safe bowl for approximately 30 minutes, until the consistency of softened butter. It should be thick enough that you'll require using a spoon to scoop it out, rather than being able to just pour your butter into a mixing bowl.
3. In one bowl, whisk together both types of flour, baking soda baking powder, and salt.
4. In a bowl with your mixer mixer, cream together browned butter, brown sugar, and white granulated sugar.
5. Add in the vegetable oil, vanilla extract, almond extract, and salted caramel flavoring. Continue mixing.
6. Alternate adding one egg and 1 tablespoon of milk at a time, continuing to mix.
7. Slowly add in the flour mixture.
8. Remove from mixer. Stir in 1 cup of toffee bits and all of the chocolate chips by hand.
9. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to chill in the fridge for 2-6 hours.
10. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Scoop roughly-shaped 2-inch balls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and top with remaining toffee bits. Bake for 7-10 minutes. Allow to sit on the pan for an extra 1-2 minutes after removing from the oven, then place on a cooling rack to cool.