Toffee Goodness

Another winner!  Of course.

Maybe I should start being a little more picky about my cookies.  Everything seems to be "fabulous" or "delicious," unless of course the cookie falls into the dreaded "cakey" category, for which I've previously described my distaste.

For today's recipe I tried Martha Stewart's Brown Butter Toffee Blondies, and (surprisingly, I know) stuck pretty much with the recipe.

Well, I took out the nuts, of course, and used homemade toffee instead of toffee bits...mostly because I was too lazy to go to the store, and partly because I can't image that store-bought toffee is better than homemade toffee, and slightly because I wanted to experiment with adjusting a toffee recipe that I wasn't thrilled with.

As for the verdict...these were really, really good.  The boy said that it's the best thing I've made and that his office couldn't get enough (you don't expect the two of us to eat ALL these cookies do you?)

I'm about 98% sold.  I'm not sure if I undercooked them or if it was because I used homemade toffee, but the centers on these stayed very gooey.  Now, it's also possible that I didn't officially wait until they were cool, but the middle pieces had a hard time staying together when I cut the pan.  

The edges were delightful though - chewy, sweet, soft...mmmm.  I ended up putting them in the fridge overnight and have to say that the results in the morning were fabulous.  They were still a little gooey on the inside, but not the falling-apart gooey of the night before, but then who wants a cold cookie?  I think all these really need is theBrownie Edge Pan (which we've registered for and plan to use for lasagna as well :))

The Recipe

1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for pan

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 cups packed light-brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 large eggs

2 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1.25 cup toffee bits

Directions 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper; butter and flour parchment paper.

In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the butter until it turns golden brown; remove from heat, and let cool. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine browned butter and both sugars; stir with a wooden spoon until combined. Attach bowl to mixer; add eggs. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add vanilla, and beat to combine. Add flour mixture and toffee bits. Mix until thoroughly combined, and pour into prepared pan.

Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes (do not overbake). Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before turning out of pan onto a cutting board. Peel off parchment paper; cut blondies into 3-inch squares. Blondies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

Enjoy!

Renee