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Hazelnut Butter Toffee and Chocolate Chunk Cookies with a little miso These cookies have a crispy edge and a soft, gooey center. The hazelnut butter toffee melts as the cookies bake creating shiny and gooey caramel pockets throughout. I personally prefer these when they have cooled because I love the texture of solid chocolate pieces, but they are very gooey while warm. Here are a few notes about the recipe: - As always, make sure you weigh the ingredients if you want a perfect spread. A little bit more flour will yield a cake-like cookie that is more compact. If that’s your preference, add 50 grams of almond flour to the dry ingredients. - If you have never made toffee and are unsure about it, I would recommend you get a candy thermometer. Cook the toffee to 300F. Once the toffee reaches that perfect caramel point, it can burn really quickly. Remove the pan from the heat and add the hazelnuts. Use a small saucepan with tall sides to protect you from any splatter (shouldn’t be terrible but best to have some space in the pan when working with sugar). At this point, I do this by eye but a candy thermometer will help. The toffee will completely harden when cool and you can cut it into coarse chunks. - The hazelnut butter toffee makes for double batch of cookies. If you want to use it all up, double the cookie dough recipe. Otherwise, store the remaining toffee in an airtight container for another time (or simply eat it as is!). Will last for a couple of weeks if it’s airtight. - If you are avoiding nuts, you can replace the hazelnuts in the toffee with sunflower seeds. - You can mix the dough in a stand mixer, but make sure not to cream the butter and sugar very long – just until they are creamy and uniform but not airy and lighter in color. - If you don’t have access to gluten-free miso, you can omit it and add 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt to your dry ingredients. And if you prefer a bit more intensity, increase amount of miso to 1 tablespoon. - If you are avoiding eggs, replace it with a flax egg instead or 50 g applesauce, but the cookies will spread differently. - The nutmeg is minimal and can get lost in the flavors, but I do think it adds extra warmth and nuttiness. - You can bake the cookies right after mixing, but they do have better spread and texture if you allow the dough to hydrate in the refrigerator; preferably overnight. You can keep the dough in fridge for up to 5 days. You can also scoop the dough onto a baking sheet and freeze the raw cookies pieces for next time. - The cookies will spread quite a bit so leave enough space in between them (about 3 inches). I actually like to bake one baking sheet at a time because I feel it works better in my oven, but you can save time by baking them simultaneously as I state in the recipe. Bake only until the edges are crispy but center feels soft. Timing might vary depending on your oven and if you are baking one baking sheet or two at once. - The cookies will be a bit wonky in shape when they come out of the oven. Place a large cookie cutter over them and use a circular motion to round up the edges. This is optional, of course, but I do think it helps give the cookies a nicer appearance. Makes approximately 16 cookies For the Hazelnut Butter Toffee 1/2 cup (70 g) raw hazelnuts 1/3 cup (70 g) granulated sugar 1/4 cup (55 g) unsalted butter or vegan butter 2 tablespoons (25 g) water 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt For the Cookie Dough 1/2 cup (115 g) soft, but not melted, unsalted butter or vegan butter 3/4 cup (170g) tightly packed light brown sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 teaspoons (15 g) white or shiro miso 1 large egg 1 cup (140 g) superfine brown rice flour 1/3 cup (40 g) tapioca starch 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (optional) 1/2 cup (90 g) Hazelnut Butter Toffee, coarsely chopped 3 ounces (90 g) 70% chocolate, coarsely chopped · Toast the hazelnuts. Preheat oven to 325F. Place the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes until lightly brown. Immediately after they come out of the oven, transfer them onto a kitchen towel. Rub the hazelnuts against the towel to loosen their skins. It’s ok if some of the skins don’t completely come off. Set aside. · Make the hazelnut butter toffee. Combine the sugar, butter, water, and salt in a small saucepan and bring everything to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook the mixture until it is an amber color, about 7 minutes (but this will depend on your heat and your pan). Be careful not to overcook the toffee or it will burn. Once you start seeing that it’s turning amber, it goes quickly. If you want to be sure, you can use a candy thermometer and the toffee is ready at 300F. Remove pan from heat and stir the toasted hazelnuts into the toffee until thoroughly distributed. Line your work surface or a baking sheet with parchment paper and pour the toffee onto it spreading it evenly. Let it cool completely, then chop coarsely into some small and some larger pieces. Set aside. · Make the cookie dough. In a large bowl, stir together the butter, brown sugar, vanilla, and miso with a wooden spoon until you have a creamy and even mixture. Add the egg and stir to combine. In a medium bowl, stir together the brown rice flour, tapioca starch, baking soda, and nutmeg (if using). Add the dry ingredients into the butter mixture and stir to combine. Add the chopped hazelnut butter toffee and chocolate and stir until the pieces are evenly distributed throughout the dough (if it’s too hard to mix with a wooden spoon, don’t be afraid to get your hands in there and knead it a bit). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or parchment paper so it touches the surface of the dough and chill for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight. · Bake the cookies. Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop 1.5 ounces (about 3 tablespoons or 45g of dough) and place on prepared baking sheets leaving 3 inches in between. Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheets half way through, or until they are golden brown but center still appears a bit underdone. You want the edges crispy but middle gooey. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes or they will fall apart. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
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