“OMG, these are the best cookies I’ve ever eaten in my life,” I mumbled to mom the other day, mouth full of cookie, one hand reaching for another. “Would you please get the recipe from Claire? Puhleeezzzz?”
Claire is my mother’s friend, a lovely woman in her 80s, recently widowed, who brought my mom these fabulous cookies for a book club gathering.
I couldn’t figure out what was in them that made them taste so good. I recognized some chocolate and a few nuts, but what was the rest?
Praise be to mom who delivered Claire’s recipe a few days later.
Heath Bars. The secret ingredient was Heath Bars.
Well no wonder! If you like toffee as much as I do, you’ll love these cookies.
Heath Bar Cookies Recipe
- Prep time: 20 minutes
- Cook time: 12 minutes
- Dough chilling time: 30 minutes
- Yield: Makes 5 to 6 dozen small cookies
Heath Bars are popular American chocolate-covered-toffee candy bars. Heath Bar toffee bits are often available in the baking section of grocery stores. Either chopped up candy bars or the bits can be used for this recipe. The bars have chocolate, the bits don’t.
Note these cookies are supposed to be small and rather flat. The plate in the photo is a teacup saucer, if that helps give a sense of perspective on what to expect.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups chopped Heath Bar pieces (Eight 1.4 ounce bars)
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Method
1 Whisk dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, vigorously whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside. In a separate bowl, combine Heath Bar pieces and chopped walnuts. Set aside.
2 Whisk butter, sugars, vanilla, then add eggs: In a large bowl, beat together the butter, brown and white sugars, and vanilla. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
3 Make and chill dough: Add the flour mixture a third at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in the Heath bar walnut mixture. Chill cookie dough for at least 30 minutes (better an hour or longer).
4 Spoon out dough balls onto cookie sheet: Preheat oven to 350°F. On cookie sheets lined with parchment paper or Silpat, spoon out the cookie dough in small 1-inch diameter balls (size of a large marble).
Place dough balls 3 inches away from each other on the cookie sheets. (Make sure there is plenty of room between the cookie balls, and that the cookie balls aren’t too big. These cookies spread!)
5 Bake: Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are just starting to brown. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes. Then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
