Does anyone remember those amazingly delectable, perfectly chewy toffee crunch cookies that Panera Bread used to sell in their bakery? They were downright incredible — and about six months ago they stopped selling them. Slightly tragic news for me. (Seriously — they were really good! And they’ve been replaced by a nowhere-near-as-good “Peanut Butter Dream” cookie, which also has toffee bits. I’m not a fan.)
Looks like I’m not the only one disappointed in this menu adjustment. This self-dubbed lazy mom wasn’t thrilled, either:
Anyway, I recently had a craving for said toffee deliciousness and, since obviously Panera can no longer help with that (thanks a lot!), I decided to go to the all-knowing Google in search of an imitation recipe. I found this one, and decided tonight was the night to give it a shot. (Note: I opted not to use walnuts, though the recipe I found called for them.)
The result? Chewy, toffee-filled amazingness. I highly recommend this recipe, whether you recall the Panera version or are just a lover of good cookies.
(P.S. Like my new dessert plates? They’re from the Target Neiman collection, and I adore them!)
Here’s how you can recreate the cookie magic in your very own kitchen:
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup (two sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups chopped Heath Bar pieces (about eight regularly-sized 1.4 ounce bars) — I used my food processor to chop these bars
Directions
- In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.
- In a mixer, beat together the butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time, and add vanilla.
- Alternatively mix in the Heath Bar mixture and the flour mixture, a third at a time, until well blended.
- Cover and chill cookie dough for an hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line cookie sheet with your trusty Silpat (or parchment paper).
- Roll chilled cookie dough into small, two-inch diameter balls. Be sure to leave a bit of space between each ball of dough, as they tend to spread while baking.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are just beginning to brown (cookies may appear underbaked).
- Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for a couple of minutes, then cool completely on a wire rack.