Orange Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am a cookie fiend. I love baking up the little devils, and I love devouring them even more. Cookies are just so fun. There are a myriad of flavors, textures, shapes, and sizes in the cookie world, a cookie for everyone. Plus, they’re generally pretty simple to make, a great choice for the beginner baker or for any foodie craving something sweet. They’re shareable, delicious, and addicting. Cookies are, dare I say, the perfect dessert.

One of my favorite things to do with cookies is shake up a classic. I love me some Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies. They are honest-to-chocolatey-goodness the best I’ve ever had. I didn’t think they could get any better, that is, until I added some chunks of orange-toffee chocolate into the batter.

Sweet mother of toffee.

Guess what? The best just got better. These cookies are so perfectly thick, soft, and chewy that you’ll think you’re dreaming. They say perfection doesn’t exist, so how can these cookie have such an impossibly ideal texture? I don’t have all the answers, but I do have these cookies.

Besides being thick and chewy, these cookies also have completely delicious flavor. They’re wonderfully sweet, with that deep brown sugar flavor, and a little bit of saltiness to balance it out. The chunks of orange-toffee milk chocolate make these cookies truly magical. Plus, there are chocolate chips too, providing double the chocolatey impact. There’s a little hunk of heaven in every bite.

Bake these, please and thank you.

A Few Tips Before You Get Cooking:

1. You might have a difficult time finding the Toffee Crunch Chocolate Orange since they’re more common at Christmastime. Never fear! Use the original Orange Chocolate kind, which can typically be found in the candy aisle of your grocery store, and add in 1/2 a cup of toffee bits.
2. You must chill the dough before baking. I’ve heard people complain when their cookies go flat, but they don’t chill the dough. If your dough is already room temperature when you bake it, it’s going to spread more in the oven. If it’s chilled, it will take longer to warm in the oven and therefore won’t spread as much.
3. I know the dough-forming process sounds ridiculous, but it really helps make big, thick cookies!
4. Don’t like orange? Make these with plain milk chocolate chunks and toffee bits.
5. The longer you chill the dough, the more flavor it will have. Just make sure you allow it some time to warm up before baking. However, don’t warm it so much that it’s room temperature. You need it chilled, but not so cold you can’t work with it.
6. In my humble opinion, the bigger the cookie, the better!
7. Don’t want to bake all the cookies at once? Wrap whatever you’re not using in cling wrap then seal tightly in a ziplock bag and freeze for up to a month.
8. Do not overbake! This is key for soft, chewy cookies.

Orange Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Baking Illustrated

Yield: about 18 large cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons  all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 6-oz. Terry’s Toffee Crunch Chocolate Orange, chopped into small chunks
• 1/3 cup additional milk, dark, or semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.

2. Either by hand or with an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add the dry ingredients while beating at low speed just until combined. Stir in the chips and chunks to taste. Chill the dough in the fridge for at least an hour before continuing.

3. Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

4. Roll a 1/3 cup of the dough into a ball.

4a. Hold the dough ball with the fingertips of both hands and pull into 2 equal halves.

4b. Rotate the halves 45 degrees.

4c. With jagged surfaces facing up (as pictured above), join the halves together at their base, again forming a single ball, being careful not to smooth the dough’s uneven surface.

4d. Place the formed dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, jagged surface up, spacing them 2 1/2 inches apart. If you have time in between forming cookies while other cookies are baking, put the dough back in the fridge so it stays cool.

5. Bake until the cookies are just beginning to turn brown around the outer edges yet the centers are still soft and puffy, 10 to 12 minutes [checking after 8 min]. Do not overbake; this is crucial for chewy cookies! Remove from oven and cool the cookies on the sheet for one minute. Transfer the cookies from the baking sheets to a cooling rack with a spatula.