I was a little lost for what to bake but then the fact that I had bought nothing in the kitchen and my apprehensions quickly disappeared.
First of all, be careful when you cut the toffees because they're a bit awkward due to their shape and hitting to hazelnut inside made my knife slip a couple of times. It's all about pressure, swiftness, and a steady hand.
The original recipe, which I've tweaked, from Simply Recipes suggested butterscotch chips but you could use chopped chocolate or walnuts or whatever you want, the toffees just happened to be at my disposal and I thought it would be a fun twist on a pretty basic dessert. Also, I used golden brown sugar and it worked great, gave it a lighter taste than what I assume the dark brown sugar would produce, though still moist and chewy.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter and flour an 8X8 pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together:
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup tightly packed dark or golden brown sugar
Add and whisk:
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
Add and mix together:
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 cup flour
Mix in:
1/3 cup (six pieces) chopped Toffifee
Spread evenly in pan. Bake 20-25 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool 5-10 minutes.
I have a history of never being able to bake peanut butter cookies. However, whilst in a flurry of baking, I decided to conquer my fear of mushy middles and burnt bottoms. Instead of the traditional route I went for the peanut butter cookie's hi-bred chocolate version with a sweet surprise inside that reminds one of the old classic.
This recipe from Dragon's Kitchen takes awhile to put together so I'd suggest holding off on preheating your oven until near the end so you don't unnecessarily waste energy. I bet every time someone says anything remotely about environmental sustainability they get put on a list that adds up until there's enough to dub you an eco-terrorist... But I digress. HA, ANYWAY. It was suggested to use an electric mixer but if you're like me and don't care for, would want to clean, or even have an electric mixer then just use a large (silicone, preferably) whisk and move to a good spatula or wooden spoon when adding the dry mixture into the wet. And last but not least, I know it's tempting to make bigger cookies but this makes 32 if followed and they turn out perfectly.
Cookie:
Toffifee Blondies
First of all, be careful when you cut the toffees because they're a bit awkward due to their shape and hitting to hazelnut inside made my knife slip a couple of times. It's all about pressure, swiftness, and a steady hand.
The original recipe, which I've tweaked, from Simply Recipes suggested butterscotch chips but you could use chopped chocolate or walnuts or whatever you want, the toffees just happened to be at my disposal and I thought it would be a fun twist on a pretty basic dessert. Also, I used golden brown sugar and it worked great, gave it a lighter taste than what I assume the dark brown sugar would produce, though still moist and chewy.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter and flour an 8X8 pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together:
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup tightly packed dark or golden brown sugar
Add and whisk:
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
Add and mix together:
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 cup flour
Mix in:
1/3 cup (six pieces) chopped Toffifee
Spread evenly in pan. Bake 20-25 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool 5-10 minutes.
I have a history of never being able to bake peanut butter cookies. However, whilst in a flurry of baking, I decided to conquer my fear of mushy middles and burnt bottoms. Instead of the traditional route I went for the peanut butter cookie's hi-bred chocolate version with a sweet surprise inside that reminds one of the old classic.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
(I didn't take a prep photo so here's a stock photo of peanut butter.)
This recipe from Dragon's Kitchen takes awhile to put together so I'd suggest holding off on preheating your oven until near the end so you don't unnecessarily waste energy. I bet every time someone says anything remotely about environmental sustainability they get put on a list that adds up until there's enough to dub you an eco-terrorist... But I digress. HA, ANYWAY. It was suggested to use an electric mixer but if you're like me and don't care for, would want to clean, or even have an electric mixer then just use a large (silicone, preferably) whisk and move to a good spatula or wooden spoon when adding the dry mixture into the wet. And last but not least, I know it's tempting to make bigger cookies but this makes 32 if followed and they turn out perfectly.
Cookie:
In a medium bowl combine:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
Set dry mixture aside.
In a large bowl beat together:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
Add and beat well:
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Stir dry into the wet, making sure to get it really mix together. Form chocolate dough into 32 balls about 1-1/4 inches in diameter.
Filling:
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
Set dry mixture aside.
In a large bowl beat together:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
Add and beat well:
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Stir dry into the wet, making sure to get it really mix together. Form chocolate dough into 32 balls about 1-1/4 inches in diameter.
Filling:
In a medium mixing bowl beat until smooth:
3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
Shape filling mixture into 32 (3/4-inch) balls.
Now you should preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
On a work surface, slightly flatten a chocolate dough ball and top with a peanut butter ball. Shape the chocolate dough over the peanut butter filling, completely covering the filling. Roll dough into a ball. Repeat with the remaining chocolate dough and peanut butter filling balls.
Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Lightly flatten with the bottom of a glass dipped in a small bowl of granulated sugar.
Bake for 8 mins or until they're just set and surface is slightly cracked. Let stand for 1 min. Transfer cookies to wire racks; cool.
WOO!
3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
Shape filling mixture into 32 (3/4-inch) balls.
Now you should preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
On a work surface, slightly flatten a chocolate dough ball and top with a peanut butter ball. Shape the chocolate dough over the peanut butter filling, completely covering the filling. Roll dough into a ball. Repeat with the remaining chocolate dough and peanut butter filling balls.
Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Lightly flatten with the bottom of a glass dipped in a small bowl of granulated sugar.
Bake for 8 mins or until they're just set and surface is slightly cracked. Let stand for 1 min. Transfer cookies to wire racks; cool.
