Recipe By Matthew Gray – Matthew@HawaiiFoodTours.com
Do you love Chocolate, Brown Butter, Toffee, Espresso, and Nuts? If you are serious about making
the best cookies ever, this is for you…
This is for My Most Amazing Cookies
You’ll be making toffee, and a brown butter, and then will rest your cookie dough in the fridge for 48
hours, ok? Believe me, this step… all my steps, are of the utmost importance. Make a shopping list. Buy all the necessary ingredients and supplies, and plan ahead. It’ll be worth it.
These amazing cookies require a good kitchen scale, one that is accurate measuring grams. Without a scale, pastry and baking will not be to your liking and/or duplicate-able. Believe me, I began as a Pastry Chef. Also, a candy thermometer is *very* helpful. Try to stick to this recipe the first time using weight (not volume) measurements. Later, if you wish, you can improvise. I made these just the other day and added 3 ounces (90 GRAMS) of walnuts (yum!), but pecans would be great too.
INGREDIENTS
For the TOFFEE
6 tablespoons (85 GRAMS) unsalted butter
¾ cup (128 GRAMS) light brown sugar 1
teaspoon (6 GRAMS) kosher salt
BROWN BUTTER
1 cup (2 sticks – 227 GRAMS) unsalted butter
4 ice cubes
COOKIE DOUGH
¾ cup (150 GRAMS) granulated sugar
1 ½ cups (300 GRAMS) dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons espresso powder (Available on Amazon)
2 teaspoons (12 GRAMS) kosher salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 ½ cups (313 GRAMS) all-purpose flour
10 oz. Dark chocolate (284 GRAMS), 50-70%
Chopped flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
PREPARATION
Make the TOFFEE first:
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper…
In a medium nonstick saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter, brown sugar, and salt, stirring until evenly incorporated. If there are grainy lumps or if the fat starts to separate, add a couple splashes of water and stir vigorously to emulsify.
Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture reaches 290°F (143°C), about 10-15 minutes. Pour the toffee onto the prepared baking sheet and spread out slightly with a spatula. Freeze until ready to use, about 30 minutes.
Make Brown Butter
Add the butter to a medium nonstick saucepan over medium- high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the butter turns dark brown and smells nutty. Watch carefully so the butter does not burn. Remove the pot from the heat. Add an ice cube to the butter and slowly let it melt. It may froth and bubble. Add the remaining 3 ice cubes and gently stir until melted.
Make the cookie dough:
In a large bowl, combine the granulated and brown sugar, espresso powder, salt, and baking soda.
Pour the brown butter into the sugar mixture and mix until combined. Don’t worry if it looks separated.
In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and vanilla. Pour into the sugar and butter mixture and whisk until glossy and smooth. Add the flour and fold with a rubber spatula to incorporate until the dough has no visible flour streaks.
Remove the toffee from the freezer (it should be a frozen disc) and break it into chunks that will fit inside a gallon zip-top bag. Double bag the toffee and seal both bags. With a rolling pin, break the toffee into small pieces.
Fold the crushed toffee and chopped chocolate into the dough until evenly distributed.
Measuring 50 GRAMS for each cookie, roll-up into round balls and place onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Wrap the baking sheet(s) in plastic wrap, but leave a small opening at the corner of the tray. Let the
dough rest in the refrigerator for at least 48 hours. This will allow the flavor to develop and the dough to dry out a little as it rests, which will result in less spread when it bakes. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325 °F (163 °C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, or use Silpats as I do.
Arrange cold 50 GRAM cookie dough balls on the baking sheets, leaving at least 2 inches (5 cm) of space between the cookies and away from the edges of the pan.
Bake until the cookies are golden brown with crispy edges, but are still slightly soft in the center, 16-20 minutes. Immediately sprinkle the cookies with flaky sea salt, cool on cookie sheet for 10-15 minutes before cooling completely on wire rack.
Matthew@HawaiiFoodTours.com
Enjoy!
