This week while I was stress baking on Election Day, I accidentally made the best cookies of my life. (One of very few good things that came from that day, IMO). Since the world is a stressful place for a lot of us right now, I thought we could all use some comfort in cookie form. Thus, I decided to call these cookies Comfort Cookies.
Chocolatey, Salty, Buttery Comfort
This is a recipe I’ve been working on for a while, but it just wasn’t quite right. It was missing something.
This time around, I had a bunch of homemade toffee bits taking up counter space (left over from testing these Cherry and Toffee Oatmeal Cookies), so I decided to toss them into the cookies…and it was a very, very good idea.
In addition to buttery homemade toffee pieces, these beauties also have a ton of chopped dark chocolate, a handful of oats and coconut, and a little malt powder to boost the chewy factor. Then, they’re topped off with a sprinkle of coarse sea salt.
They bake up on the thin side, with soft middles and crisp, caramelized edges. Crisp, chewy, and soft…sweet, salty, and buttery…these cookies are the epitome of comfort.
Homemade Toffee Bits
Homemade toffee is one of the best things on this Earth. You can certainly use store-bought toffee bits for these cookies if you want to save some time (I get it, sometimes you need cookies NOW). But homemade ones are SO flavorful and buttery…and honestly pretty easy to make.
You only need three ingredients: butter, brown sugar, and salt. Put them in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat the mixture to 300°F on a candy thermometer. Then pour it onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, let it cool, break it up, and add the bits to your cookies. Et voilà, homemade toffee bits!
Pro tip: as you’re cooking your toffee, if it starts to separate and look a little weird, don’t panic. Just pull it off the heat, whisk it till it comes together again, and pop it back on the heat to continue cooking.
A Few Tips for Making Your Best Comfort Cookies
Before we get to baking, here are a few things to keep in mind so your cookies turn out juuuuust right.
- Chill your dough. I know, I know…it’s not anyone’s favorite thing to read in a recipe. But chilling your dough for even an hour makes a big difference in the end result. You get softer, more flavorful cookies. Plus, with the melted brown butter, this dough is a little on the wet side, and chilling it gives the butter a chance to solidify a bit.
- Make them BIG. We’re using our large cookie scoop for this one (approx 3T). Trust me, you’re going to want these in jumbo size.
- Do the Cookie Scoot. Due to melting toffee bits, you may end up with some cookies that aren’t as round as you’d like. If that happens, grab your largest round cookie cutter or the lid of a wide-mouth mason jar and “scoot” it around the outside of each warm cookie to nudge it back into a circular shape. Here’s a YouTube video showing you how to do it (plus some other great cookie tips from one of my fave baking bloggers).
Ok, now it’s time to bake! This recipe only makes a dozen cookies, but it works great doubled as well…in case you want to share a little delicious comfort with those around you.
Take care, friends. 🫶
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Comfort Cookies [a.k.a., Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies With Toffee and Sea Salt]
Ingredients
Homemade Toffee Bits (or use store-bought)
- 1/2 c butter
- 1 c light brown sugar, packed
- 1 tsp kosher salt
Comfort Cookies
- 1/2 c butter
- 1 c all-purpose flour
- 1/4 c old-fashioned oats
- 1/4 c shredded coconut
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp malt powder, optional
- 1/2 c brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp milk
- 1/2 c granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 c chopped dark chocolate (or dark chocolate chips)
- 3/4 c homemade toffee bits
- coarse sea salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
Homemade Toffee Bits (skip if using store-bought)
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt butter over medium heat, then add brown sugar and salt. Whisk vigorously for about a minute, until everything is well-combined and the sugar has melted. Continue cooking, stirring often, until the mixture reaches right around 300°F on a candy thermometer.Note: if it separates at any point, don't panic. Just remove the pan from the heat and whisk vigorously until it combines again, then return it to the heat and continue cooking.
- Once it reaches 300°F, immediately pour the toffee onto your prepared baking sheet and let it spread out (if you want, you can spread it out further for thinner toffee bits using a heat-proof spatula).
- Let the toffee cool for about 20 minutes, then break it into bits. I've found that tapping it with a wooden spoon breaks it up nicely, but a knife and cutting board will work well too. Or, to avoid flying shards, you can put it in a plastic bag and break it up with a rolling pin or wooden spoon.I like a mixture of big and small bits of toffee in my cookies, but you do you and break them into whatever size you like!
- Measure out 3/4c of toffee bits for your cookies. The remainder can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for a couple weeks. They're great on ice cream, as a cake topping, or just for snacking. 😉
Comfort Cookies
- Brown HALF of the butter (leave the other half at room temp to soften). See my post on Brown Butter for instructions. Pour brown butter into a bowl or other container to cool for 20 minutes.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, oats, coconut, salt, baking soda, and malt powder (if using).
- Using a stand mixer or a handheld mixer, beat the other half of the butter with the brown sugar until smooth, about 2-3 minutes on medium speed. Add vanilla and milk and mix until combined.
- Add the COOLED brown butter and the granulated sugar. Beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes on medium speed.
- Add egg and beat until well combined, about 1 minute.
- Add flour mixture and mix on low just until combined. You should still have some bits of unmixed flour throughout the dough. Fold in chocolate and toffee bits.
- Refrigerate dough for 1 hour (or at least 30 minutes if you can't bear to wait that long ;)). Meanwhile, line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and preheat your oven to 350℉.
- Using a large cookie scoop or a spoon and your hands, form dough into about 3T balls and place 2" apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until beginning to brown around the edges and set in the middle.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool on cookie sheet for about 10 minutes, then move cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely.Note: these cookies tend to spread a lot, and they can look a little wonky. If that bothers you, use a large round cookie cutter to "scoot" the edges of your cookies into a rounder shape while they're still warm, like in this video.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to a month.
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