Salted Chocolate Chip, Butterscotch, and Toffee Bars

In the ongoing saga of my husband complaining that I never bake chocolate chip cookies, I try to be on the lookout for interesting cookies that resemble chocolate chip cookies. This recipe was pretty close, but the mix-ins are slightly different: milk chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and toffee bits. I typically have those items on hand, although my supply of butterscotch chips was very low. I’m not sure what I have made with butterscotch chips- I really don’t tend to use them often.

When I was making this recipe, it really seemed like a lot of dough. But then I looked at the ingredients, and the quantities of butter, sugar, and flour weren’t out of line with what I expect, so I don’t quite know what to say. Even the 2-1/2 cups of mix-ins isn’t that much, as a typical cookie recipe usually uses a bag or two cups of chips. It wasn’t as overwhelming when I pressed the dough into the pan, so that was good.

Getting these bars baked right took a little more time. They got lovely and browned along the edges, but the center was clearly not done. I baked them for a few more minutes, then a few more, and finally I felt that the center was done, although maybe slightly under baked. Letting the bars cool completely helped enormously, as they are nicely baked all the way through. Perhaps you could cut the butter back a tablespoon or two, but why would you do that? The butter adds a lovely crispness to the edges of the bars which is wonderful.

Salted Chocolate Chip, Butterscotch, and Toffee Bars
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup milk chocolate chunks/chips
3/4 cup butterscotch chips
3/4 cup toffee pieces
Flaked salt
    
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9” x 13” pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar on medium until light. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Fold in the milk chocolate chunks/chips, butterscotch chips, and toffee pieces.

Press the dough evenly into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the bars with flaked salt.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the bars are golden. Allow the bars to cool completely before cutting into squares.

Recipe from Sweet Recipeas

Butterscotch Toffee Shortbread

I have to say that summer is certainly not my season and I am looking forward to cooler weather this fall. Baking in the summer is difficult, but I have tried to bake when the house isn’t too warm. I’m also glad that so far, we’ve only had a couple of very warm days. September is when the weather usually begins to cool, and even if the day is warm, it will cool off in the evening and overnight. Let’s hope that this is true this year!

Since I have been working remotely, I haven’t been taking cookies to work, and I really miss that. I had the opportunity to visit with my coworker friend so that we could (socially distanced) watch Hamilton via Disney Plus. I figured I would make cookies as I don’t often have that opportunity. I did use rubber gloves and washed my hands a lot, so I never actually touched the dough. I do have to say that it’s challenging trying to be so careful, but I am getting used to it. 

I made a half batch of this recipe and it ended up making about 18 cookies. I didn’t do the best job in cutting the cookies in even slices, so that will certainly impact the baking time. The thicker cookies needed the full 12 minutes to bake, but if yours are thinner I would check them after 10 minutes. I didn’t make any other changes to this recipe, although I was supposed to chop up the butterscotch chips and I didn’t, but that didn’t seem to make any difference. The simplicity of a shortbread cookie really shines here, with the buttery, crumbly shortbread paired with the distinct flavors of butterscotch and toffee.

Butterscotch Toffee Shortbread 
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup toffee bits

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, and salt; set aside. In a large mixer bowl beat the butter and powdered sugar on medium until creamy. Add the vanilla and stir to combine. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture. When almost incorporated, add the butterscotch chips and the toffee bits and stir on low until the mixture comes together.

Divide the dough into tow halves and shape each half into a log, about 3 inches wide. Wrap each log in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least an hour.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats. 

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and remove the plastic wrap. Slice the cookies into 1/3” thick slices and place on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until set. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Mom on Time Out

Crispy Cookies with Chocolate and Butterscotch

As folks continue to stay at home, they sure must be doing a lot of baking. For several weeks in a row, I have put flour on the grocery list, only to find that there is no flour to be found. I’m still ok, but I see my flour supply getting lower and lower. When this all started, I had selected several recipes that used a minimal amount of flour. Thankfully, I am still working through that list. As I also don’t have people to deliver cookies to, I can get by with much smaller batches.

I ended up halving this recipe, and it still made 2-1/2 dozen! I guess you may want to cut the recipe in half anyway. Half of the recipe used 18 tablespoons of flour, which is just over a cup, so that isn’t too bad. I often have a variety of chips on hand and I had both mini chips and butterscotch chips. You could really use any sort of leftover chips that you might have on hand. I had purchased crispy rice cereal for another recipe, which I haven’t made yet, so those were handy, too. I don’t like to eat it as cereal, unless I add a lot of sugar!

This is a variation of a chocolate chip cookie, or a chocolate chip cookie meets a ranger cookie. My husband loves chocolate chip cookies, but I prefer something with more components, and these fit the bill. The butterscotch chips on their own would be too sweet, but they combine well in this cookie paired with semi-sweet chocolate. The crispy rice cereal adds a good crunch, just be careful to avoid mixing the dough too much.

Crispy Cookies with Chocolate and Butterscotch

2 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup mini chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips

2 cups crispy rice cereal

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and brown sugar on medium until light. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix again on medium to combine. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture. When almost combined, add the mini chips, butterscotch chips, and the crispy rice cereal.

Form into 1-1/4” balls and place on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 9-12 minutes until lightly golden around the edges. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Yellow Bliss Road

Butterscotch Toffee Cookies

It’s rare that twice in a month I make cookies based on a cake/brownie mix, but in January I find it difficult to know what to bake. I don’t want super extravagant cookies, but it seems too early to focus on the flavors of spring. Right after the holiday I pinned a number of recipes that I thought would be good for the New Year and this one was included. It’s a very simple recipe and I made sure I had the butterscotch chips and toffee, but this recipe almost didn’t happen.

As I don’t use cake mixes, I was unaware that the grocery stores now carry a very small selection of mixes. I needed a butter pecan cake mix, which did not sound unusual, but was difficult to find. None of the stores that I regularly visit carried what I needed. I made my every-year-or-so pilgrimage to Walmart, as they often have prepared foods that need for baking. Again I lucked out and they had it available. I was relieved as the only other option was to buy online, and that would have been expensive.

This recipe is so easy to make. It’s just the cake mix, oil, eggs, and mix-ins. Normally when recipes call for room temperature eggs, I don’t pay much heed, but this time I took the time to do it. I’m not sure how much of a difference it makes, but the dough came together well. The dough is sticky, but they bake up fine. I used my medium cookie scoop and made about 3-1/2 dozen cookies. The cookies come out of the oven looking perfect. These cookies are quite sweet, with a lovely combination of chewy but also crunchy from the toffee bits.

Butterscotch Toffee Cookies

2 eggs, room temperature

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 package butter pecan cake mix

10 ounces butterscotch chips

8 ounces milk chocolate English toffee bits

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the eggs and oil until blended. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the cake mix. With the mixer on low, fold in the butterscotch chips and toffee bits.

Drop by tablespoonfuls on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Allie Blinder, Taste of Home