Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla paste
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2/3 cup dark chocolate M & Ms
1/3 cup toffee bits

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla paste and combine thoroughly. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until a very thick dough forms. Fold in the toffee then the M & Ms. Form cookies by dropping 1 heaping teaspoon of dough on the sheet two inches apart. Flatten slightly then bake 12 minutes. Let cool on wire racks.

Yield: about 2 dozen

My thoughts:

I keep thinking I making some really romantic desserts for Valentine’s Day but all I really wanted to make was cookies. I’m not one to make something for the blog that I don’t want to actually eat so cookies it is! Maybe the baking bug will strike again soon. I do love Valentine’s Day, and I have a ton of Valentine’s Day related baking equipment: sprinkles; liners; and heart-shaped tart pans, mini springform pans, cake pans etc.

These cookies are a bit more special than regular chocolate chip, they are slightly chewy and flecked with toffee and of course, melt-in-your mouth candy shell. The trick is not to overbake them. 12 minutes seems arbitrary but when I’ve baked them for just a bit less (or more) the result wasn’t nearly as good. If you find they are too soft straight out of the oven easily remove to cool on the racks, just carefully slide the parchment paper (with all the cookies still on top!) on to the wire rack, let them cool a minute or two and then remove the paper. You don’t want to leave them on the pan or they will continue to cook and get a little too crispy.