Advent Shadowbox: Day 1, Baking Cookies

November 27, 2011
First Day of Advent 

28 Days ‘til Christmas
No Time to Sit Around & Wait!
It’s Time to Test New Recipes
For Santa’s Cookie Plate!

This is what the kids will see on the hallway table when they come down the steps this morning:

And this is what they’ll read on the oustide of the shadowbox (my apologies for using “time” twice. I was up at little too early this morning…):

The next step will be to open the shadowbox:

and to read the brand new recipe inside:

It didn’t take long to figure out what to do on our first day of Advent. After all, we needed a new weekly lunchbox treat!  Luckily, my friend Evelyn Manangan-Price, from http://www.fromtheseed.blogspot.com had posted a “wish-I-could-eat-the-picture” photograph of a glorious batch of cookies she’d whipped up, and she was gracious enough to point to where we could find her inspiration recipe.  So, with a few additions of our own (we had “toffee bits” on hand), we had something “new” to try on this, the first day of a “new year,” according to the folks that  matter.

Below, you’ll find a plain text version of the recipe, which is an adaptation of a Cook’s Illustrated classic. You’ll notice the inclusion of a “secret ingredient” which our friend was kind enough to share with us. We didn’t ask for her permssion, though, to share it with the rest of you. So, for right now, it’s still a secret! Please note that it is not necessary to use the secret ingredient to produce absolutely fabulous cookies. It’s just an added bonus. Why not try a secret ingredient of your own? Anything you have on hand…a pinch of this, a dash of that..a crushed candycane, perhaps, or a splash of orange liquer. Or bide by my personal motto: “If your response to the dish is ‘Alack,’ add a splash or two of your best cognac!”

Chewy Chocolate Chip Toffee Bit Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon of our homemade vanilla extract
1 egg & 1 egg yolk
1 ½  cups of our Favourite Chocolate Chips
3/4  cup Toffee Bits
1 tablespoon “Mrs. Santa’s Secret Ingredient”

Preheat oven to 350. Mix the dry ingredients. Cream the wet ingredients. Blend the two together. Add Chips, Toffee Bits and Mrs. Santa’s Secret Ingredient. Bake on parchment-lined sheets for 8-12 minutes, depending on cookie size.

Afternoon Update:

As you can see from the pictures above and to the left, we made the cookies for the first time this afternoon, and they were EXCELLENT! Sooo soft and chewy! 10 minutes was the perfect time in our convection oven! And the dough wouldn’t hold more than 1 1/2 cups of chips and 3/4 of toffee bits, so we’ve revised the recipe accordingly. The crunchy toffee bits made for a great contrast to the eewwy gooey chewy cookie goodness. And we’ve managed to talk Evelyn into letting us post her secret ingredient…..So, what was it?

1 tablespoon of blackstrap molasses!

Print Recipe

Chewy Chocolate Chip Toffee Bit Cookies

Author: Roseanne Carrara, The Lunchbox Season

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter melted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon of our homemade vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 eggyolk
• 1 ½  cups Chocolate Chips
• 3/4  cup Toffee Bits
• 1 tablespoon "Mrs. Santa's Secret Ingredient" - i.e. Blackstrap Molasses

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Mix the dry ingredients.
• Cream the wet ingredients.
• Blend the two together.
• Add Chips, Toffee Bits and Mrs. Santa's Secret Ingredient.
• Bake on parchment-lined sheets for 8-12 minutes, depending on cookie size.