Chocolate Chip Toffee Nut Cookies

Do you ever take inventory by your pantry or cabinets and become surprised at what you find?  You know, like an expired box of crackers, two of the same spices that you bought in replacement after you couldn't find the original, or box of chocolates that you forgot about.  Well, in my pantry, I came across some near unopened bags of chocolate chips, walnuts, maple sugar, and toffee.  And, they were imported from Trader Joe's.  (Believe it or not, Colorado does not have Trader Joe's yet, but we will by 2013.  So, until then, Trader Joe's products are extra-special to us Coloradoans.)

I couldn't just let those Trader Joe's treats "sit there," so I whipped up a batch of chocolate chip toffee nut cookies for a summer barbecue with some friends.  I sprinkled them with maple sugar before baking, just because. ;-)  This cookie recipe is based on one of my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes from the brilliant bakers of America's Test Kitchen.

Also, definitely follow the instructions for making the jagged edges on the cookie.  This gives the cookies that crinkled, craggly fancy pants bakery look.  Cooling the cookies on the baking sheets means that they will continue to bake after being removed from the oven, but they will retain their soft texture better on the baking sheet because there will not be the circulating air from a cooling rack.

Chocolate Chip Toffee Nut Cookies
Yields 18 large cookies

Ingredients:
10 5/8 oz. unbleached all-purpose flour (or 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
12 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup toffee pieces
1/2 cup walnuts

Directions:
Adjust oven racks to upper and lower-middle positions.  Preheat oven to 325ºF.  Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

With a whisk, combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl, and set aside.  With a stand mixer or electric mixer, mix melted butter and sugars until throughly combined.  Beat in egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined.  Add the dry ingredients, and continue to beat at a low-speed until the ingredients are combine.  Add the chocolate chips, toffee pieces, and walnuts.

Roll 1/4 cup of dough into a ball.  Holding the dough ball in fingertips of both hands, pull the ball apart into two equal halves.  Rotate the halves 90 degrees, and with the jagged surfaces facing up, join the halves together again at their base back into a single ball, but do not smooth out the uneven surface.  (Basically, you want a "jagged" looking ball of dough.) t(Make sure to leave enough room so the cookies can spread out while baking!)

Bake, and rotate the sheets halfway through baking.  Bake until the cookies are light golden brown and the outer edges start to harden (12-16 minutes).  The centers should remain soft and puffy when you remove from the oven.

Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 10 minutes (or until the cookies can be lifted without breaking), and then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Source: Adapted from Baking Illustrated