madcity girl

The addition of toffee and dried cherries in this recipe for chocolate cookies is what initially drew me in. I found this one in a cookbook my brother gave me for Christmas—In the Sweet Kitchen: The Definitive Baker’s Companion, by Regan Daley. Ever since I baked up a batch of Thick and Chewy Double Chocolate Cookies earlier this month, chocolate cookies have been top of mind. Those may have been the best cookies I’ve made yet—so chocolaty and uniquely chewy and brownie-like. But perhaps I just needed to try another recipe to confirm their perfection.

I had high hopes for the Chocolate Cookies with Toffee and Dried Cherries. And they were pretty tasty straight out of the oven. But disappointingly, by the next day they had hardened quite a bit and were anything but soft and chewy. And the toffee and dried cherries didn’t add much—in fact, they only seemed to overwhelm the cookie. So my advice? if you’re going to make chocolate cookies, stick with the best.

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup tightly packed dark brown sugar
3/4 granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup plump, moist, dried sour cherries
8 oz. bitter or semisweet chocolate chopped into chunks about the size of the cherries
1 cup English toffee pieces for baking such as Skor Bits

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two heavy baking sheets, not non-stick, with parchment paper and set aside. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt together into a bowl and set aside. In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and both sugars until light in color and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the vanilla. Stir in the flour-mixture in 3 additions, blending just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in the chunky ingredients and mix until they seem evenly distributed.

2. Drop the batter by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets and place them in the center of the oven. Bake the cookies for 15-18 minutes, or until barely set in the center and just firm around the edges. Rotate the sheets once or twice. Cool the cookies on the tray for 3-5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely before storing. Store the cookies in airtight containers, layered between sheets of parchment or waxed paper for up to 5 days.