A few weeks ago my pal Katie told me about how she was attempting to make a friend an ice cream cake with his favorite ice cream, Ben & Jerry’s Coffee Heath Bar Crunch. I thought that sounded ambitious and delicious, I am a faithful Ben & Jerry’s addict ever since Will made me share a pint with him our first week of dating, destroying my veganism with 16 ounces of dairy heaven. But Katie decided the whole cake thing was not her jam, so being the cookie master she is (I’ve eaten many of her delicious creations) she figured out a way to turn it into a cookie recipe.

I didn’t try one of hers, but after she posted the recipe on her blog, I decided to be the hero at a friend’s birthday in Joshua Tree over the weekend. I don’t really know these friends well, and winning people over with baked goods is my go-to move. Once people were well liquored up, sunstroked and full of desert magic happiness (real thing that happens) – I busted the cookies out of the fridge to the cheers and tears of my fellow party goers (ok maybe not that dramatic but people were pretty excited). They were a hit, but I only got to eat one of them, so naturally I had to make them again this week for a care package I’m sending to a friend. And save half for us, duh. Guys, these cookies are a flippin’ revelation. I would dare to say they rival the most popular blog post I’ve ever posted recipe, and they are so much easier. BUT! They are not for the faint of heart – they are very sweet, and if you don’t like toffee, keep on movin’ (literally, we can’t be friends,this is awkward.)

Let’s do this thing. But before you start I must give you a few tips: cook them nice and big (I put 9 on a pan), and store them in the fridge because they are 100x more delicious out of the fridge.

Espresso Toffee Crunch Cookies by Katie Wilson
(adapted from Ambitious Kitchen’s brown butter cookies, which are life changing)
you’ll need…
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 T instant espresso powder (you can add slightly more at the end for a heavier coffee flavor)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt (this is adjusted, as I always have salted butter on hand. If you use unsalted, up to 1/2 tsp)
2 sticks butter, browned and cooled (see instructions below)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg plus 1 yolk
1 T greek yogurt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
3/4 cup toffee pieces (you want these)
directions…
First, brown your butter: heat slowly in a pan over medium heat. Whisk as you go and watch carefully. After a few minutes, the butter will foam and then recede, turning a carmel brown color. It will smell sort of nutty. Don’t let it burn, but be sure it’s actually browned (not just melted) – when you pour it out of the pan and into a bowl to cool, it should be a rich, burnt sienna color. Let the butter fully cool before you start – 20 minutes on the counter should do it.
Meanwhile, mix together all your dry ingredients (flour, espresso powder, baking soda and salt). In a separate bowl, combine your brown butter and sugars thoroughly. Add the egg, yolk, yogurt, and vanilla and stir until smooth. Gradually mix in your dry ingredients about 1/2 cup at a time. Stir in the toffee bits and chocolate chips until evenly distributed. Taste liberally. Add more espresso powder if you’re into that sort of thing, but be sure to mix well.
Stick the whole shebang in the fridge for at least an hour. Preheat the oven to 375. Roll loosely rounded balls of dough (make sure you get all those chocolate chips in there – sometimes I’ll dot the tops with a few extra) and drop 2-3 inches apart on your pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes. The cookies should look slightly undercooked in the middle, but they will set up within a few minutes of removing from the oven.
Enjoy!

Thank you all for the wonderful responses to the blog redesign! I’m so glad you like it. As a token of my appreciation, how about the world’s greatest cookie recipe in return? When I say “the world’s greatest cookie recipe”, this ain’t no hyperbole my friends, this is the real deal. The holy grail of cookie recipes. The once in a lifetime chance to have access to what my friend Shirley describes to me as “The Only Chocolate Chip Cookie I Will Ever Need to Know How to Make For The Rest of My Life”.

Let’s step back for a second as a recipe like this don’t just show up on your doorstep unannounced. A few years ago, back when we were living in the Lower East Side, Will and I swapped apartments with some friends in Seattle (the greatest thing you can ever do for a vacation, by the way). Upon arriving at their apartment, we discovered an adorable plate of chocolate chip cookies set out for us that Shirley had baked, displayed in a way that would make Martha Stewart proud and any tired traveler thank the gods. See evidence below:

Not only did we inhale them (I couldn’t even wait to take the photo before inhaling one, obviously), but we discovered a bag of extra dough in the freezer, which we shamefully inhaled some of as well. Needless to say I found these cookies to be magnificent. They were the perfect consistency -not too cakey or soft, a little crisp on the outside and gooey on the inside. Caramely and rich, with a sprinkle of sea salt on top. I dreamed about these cookies later. I dreamed about these cookies for almost three effing years until last weekend, trying to figure out what to bring to a potluck, the thought occurred to me to ask Shirley for the recipe. Why I didn’t ask sooner is beyond me. I guess maybe at the time I wasn’t really as into baking as I am now and I thought she just possessed magical skills that caused these cookies to be so good, rather than secret tricks. So I emailed her, and within hours I had the beast of a recipe below in my inbox. I asked her if I could share the recipe on my blog, let the secret out, and she said, “Of course. I don’t want anyone to deal with  a mediocre cookie ever again. Why? The tragedy can be avoided!” Indeed.

I’ve put Shirley’s recipe along with my own notes in italics. I baked two batches and tried different things, which I note below. (Best blog research ever?) Don’t let this recipe intimidate you. The only thing it requires is a little patience due to the refrigerating, and some planning to get everything at room temperature before you dive in. This is no “I want cookies in my mouth hole asap” recipe. This is a “I want the best damn chocolate chip cookies that have ever graced this earth and I am willing to practice some patience to get them in my mouth hole” recipe.

by Shirley Hendrickson, adapted from Leite Torres (Kate: I totally had this link and recipe wrong before, sorry about that!)

Secret 1: The use of a mix of cake flour and bread flour. Cake flour is finer, and bread flour has gluten, both important. Use them and no other.

Kate: I’m fairly certain this is one of the keys to this recipe being so great. It took me ages to find cake flour at my huge grocery store as it’s not super popular and they hid it on the top shelf that I had to have someone help me get down, but dig dig dig as it’s necessary!

Secret 2: Chilling. This is key — KEY! — to cookie texture success. The reason is that letting the dough rest allows all the eggs and the butter and the liquids to ooze and soak and hydrate into all the dry goodness. 24 hours is minimum, 36 is preferable (and noticeably better).

Also, the flavor gets crazy! Deep, caramel-y, toffee-y, and they bake up so much more deliciously brown. Plus, it lets the outside get crisp and crackly and keeps the middle almost underdone when you pull them out — they set up and turn into soft, chewy heaven.

Kate: I baked one batch after only four hours of chilling and they were great – like SO great people begged me for the recipe at the potluck. Then I tried 12 hours, 24 hours, and 36 hours. While 36 was DEFINITELY in-freaking-credible (so true about the caramel-y-ness), if you can only wait four hours, it won’t be the end of the world. This also makes SO many cookies that you could make half and then half later, like I did.

Secret 3: All ingredients. Room temperature. Do it. (Note: The misconception with room-temperature butter: it actually doesn’t mean letting it sit out until it’s supersoft and melty. You should be able to press a slice of butter with your finger and easily make a dent, and it should crack faintly.)

Secret 4: Did you know? People make their cookies way too small! It’s silliness! If you make them too small, they dry out too quick, and they get too crunchy. We want gooey and chewy! The way to achieve that is to scoop your dough out into golf-ball sized — or slightly larger — portions. I use a 1/3 c measuring cup for extra big cookies.

Secret 5: The chocolate. Sorry, Toll House. And don’t even think about the generic supermarket brand. I only use Ghiardelli 60% Cacao chips — they’re pretty widely available the best chips you can buy at a grocery store. However, if you run across anything that is 60% cacao, it’ll be good.

Secret 6: The sprinkle of salt on the top. Makes all the sweetness sing.

Secret 7: Wait. I mean, sure, have one piping hot out of the oven, but the flavors actually meld and deepen once they cool. These are definitely cookies that get better the next day.

Secret 7 1/2: Always err on taking them out too early rather than too late – also essential for middle-softness. They continue to cook on the sheet for a few minutes, so don’t overdo it – underdone is better than overdone, every time (and you can always pop them in for a minute more if you like).

Stick to these secrets, and you will ace chocolate chip cookies forever.

2 cups minus 2 Tbsp. cake flour (8 1/2 oz)*
1 2/3 cups bread flour (8 1/2 oz)*
1 ¼ tsp. baking soda
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 ½ tsp. coarse salt, such as kosher
2 ½ sticks (1 ¼ cups; 10 oz.) unsalted butter, softened
1 ¼ cups (10 oz.) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. (8 oz.) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ¼ pounds bittersweet chocolate chips or chunks, preferably about 60% cacao content, such as Ghirardelli
Sea salt or kosher salt for garnishing

(* to those questioning the weight of the flours – they are indeed correct. Different flours have different weights, so just because you are weighing out the same oz doesn’t mean you are using the same amount, if that makes sense. Trust Shirley on this one.)

Combine flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Whisk well; then set aside.

Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until very light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Reduce the mixer speed to low; then add dry ingredients, and mix until just combined. (Unless you have a plastic guard that sits around the rim of the bowl, this will make a big mess at first, with flour flying everywhere. I found that carefully holding a dish towel around the top of the bowl helped a lot.) Add the chocolate chips, and mix briefly to incorporate. Press plastic wrap against the dough, and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. The dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

When you’re ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F. Remove the bowl of dough from the refrigerator, and allow it to soften slightly. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.

Using a standard-size ice cream scoop – mine holds about 3 fluid ounces, or about 1/3 cup – scoop six mounds of dough onto the baking sheet, making sure to space them evenly. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt, and bake until golden brown but still soft, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then transfer the cookies onto the rack to cool a bit more.

Kate: my oven is a class-act pile of junk, so one batch was cooked at 400 for 15 minutes and I think it turned out the best! One was cooked at 300 for 25 and it was kind of mediocre. So, in my opinion, hotter and faster seems to be better. At least in my crazy oven.

Repeat with remaining dough.

Yield: About 24 (5-inch) cookies. Kate: Mine made more like 18. But I have a cookie dough eating problem.

Go forth and make cookies, people.

Apparently this weekend involved a lot of food. Other things this weekend involved were coughing, coughing, and coughing. I’d been feeling a bit under the weather at the end of last week, but figured it was just allergies, and at the beginning of this weekend I apparently pushed myself over the edge by drinking a liter of beer at Radegast (the size of your head, in case you were wondering) and going to an unheated flea market when it was around 15 degrees. So, Saturday night til this very moment, my bed is my best friend. But I did eat delicious food, find awesome stuff at the flea market, and get a quick trip in to The Folk Art Museum. So all in all, not really that bad of a weekend. Oh and being sick in bed is a perfect excuse to force yourself to finish your taxes, buy marshmallow clouds, and watch Paris, Texas (so, so good) while eating chocolate chip cookies made from the pre-made package (a totally ok thing to do while sick.)

ps. just a reminder that you can click the photos in Bits Of My Weekend to find out more about them! Most hold their own little stories. Well, when I’m feeling up to it. ha.

You may be wondering how my cooking is going. Well friends, I’ll tell you: It’s going fantastic. I feel like I’ve improved my skills by at least 50% right now, and I get SO excited to cook now! I make dinner at home almost every single night now, give or take a few nights where sushi is in order or I really need a break. I make at least one thing that’s semi-complicated a week. Here are my favorites so far, which I sadly cannot find the recipes for most online, so I’ll just describe them as best as I can.

- Sweet & Sour Salmon. (photo above) This recipe is actually for catfish, but my local Chinese grocery store offerings are a bit slim. Salmon is my favorite fish (a true northwesterner I am) so that was ok. It’s basically a thick sauce made of lemongrass, ginger, garlic, a bit of sugar and soy sauce, and the fish is cooked on the stove (I never do that). Lots of scallions, cilantro and cherry tomatoes on top, served with cous cous.

- Baked Shells. I aready gave you a small update on this, it was awesome.

- Chicken with lemongrass and mushrooms. (didn’t take a photo, too busy inhaling it) A very very similar recipe as the sweet and sour fish, only it’s a stir fry and is super spicy from jalapenos. A cooking accident happened when I was cutting the jalapenos and got some juice above my eye and it burned like hell for an hour. Watch out, that shit is dangerous! I hate mushrooms but gobbled these up because the taste masked the mushroom hatred I hold deep inside.

- Peanut Butter cookies : I’ve actually always been pretty good at baking, so this hardly counts as learning, but I found this recipe with the greatest tip for peanut butter cookies: Use the un-stirred natural peanut butter (creamy!) and then add in chopped salted peanuts, instead of just using crunchy peanut butter. Then add some chocolate chips, but use either the mini ones, or chop up the regular size kind so they’re not so big and distracting to the taste. Incredible.

-Blackberryade- A modified version of this blackberry limeade, I made a small 4-drink batch with 1 lime and 1 lemon, sugar, and blackberries. I smashed the blackberries up, added the lime, lemon juice (saving 2 slices of lime for garnish) and sugar. Then I strained the juice over ice into 2 glasses, added a shot of vodka in each, seltzer water to fill the glass and the lime slices. Have fun getting drunk on this one, because it’s easy.

Next I want to try something harder and very different as everything I’ve been sticking to is fish and stiry fry, mostly. BUT! Tonight, I’m making these fish tacos. Yummy.