Cashew Toffee Cookies

After making the toffee cashew cookies and then a gluten free variation, I realized that both versions contained chocolate! I needed to make a chocolate free version, and I wasn’t sure quite what to do. I could have made the browned butter toffee cashew cookies and left out the chocolate chips, but I did have this recipe that didn’t call for chocolate, so I went with this one. I didn’t have quite a full cup of cashews and probably didn’t have quite enough toffee bits, but it was close. For the chocolate-free version, make sure you use the toffee bits that don’t have chocolate (usually called English toffee bits).

These again were easy to make, and the slight variation in the quantity of cashews and toffee bits didn’t seem to make a difference. I have never made a recipe that called for 1-1/8 cups flour, so that was certainly different. The recipe asks that you refrigerate the dough for several hours or overnight, and I didn’t have time to do that. I chilled the dough for about an hour, and hoped for the best.

My cookies did brown a bit more than expected and they spread some, which I think is likely because they didn’t get as chilled as they needed to be. I have thought of making another batch, refrigerating the dough more appropriately, but I’m not sure I will get to that. Probably not! While I would have liked these to look a little better, the flavors were lovely and it’s hard to go wrong with cashews and toffee, and you don’t notice at all that there’s no chocolate.

Cashew Toffee Cookies
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 1/8 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup toffee bits
1 cup chopped cashews

In a large mixer bowl, combine the butter and brown sugar. Mix on medium until light, then stir in the vanilla and egg. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Fold in the toffee bits and chopped cashews with a spatula.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours.

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

Using a cookie scoop, scoop the dough into the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden. Cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Small Town Woman

Browned Butter Toffee Cashew Chocolate Chip Cookies

It’s back to school time and for our opening meeting at work I try to make different cookies that fit different dietary restrictions. These cookies are the original inspiration, full of dairy, gluten, and chocolate. As this was the starting point, I also made a gluten free cookie that was somewhat similar. I felt so accomplished having made two types of cookies, and then I realized I needed a chocolate-free cookie, so I made a cookie similar to this one with no chocolate.

These cookies are also inspired by my lack of chocolate chip cookie making. My husband complains about this, and there are only so many variations of a chocolate chip cookie that I can come up with. These are different, with the browned butter, and the addition of cashews and toffee chips. I’m never sure if browning the butter changes the flavor a lot, but I think it does. As always, watch your butter carefully when it is on the stove, as it can burn easily.

These cookies aren’t so different from chocolate chip cookies, and browning the butter is the only step that takes a touch longer. There’s no chilling, which is helpful when you are making several different varieties! I used toffee chips that contained chocolate, as they also contained chocolate chips, but you can use anything you have on hand. I love cashews and they add a lovely sweetness, and toffee adds a buttery flavor that is hard to resist.

Browned Butter Toffee Cashew Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 cups flour
1 cup salted cashews, chopped
3/4 cup toffee bits
1 1/4 cups chocolate chips

In a small saucepan, heat the butter over medium low heat. Melt the butter, swirling the pan occasionally, until the butter begins to brown and starts to become nutty. Transfer the butter to a small dish and cool for 30 minutes.

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

In a large mixer bowl, combine the cooled butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Beat on medium until combined, then stir in the eggs, vanilla, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer running on low, slowly add the flour, stirring until the mixture is almost cohesive. Fold in the cashews, toffee bits, and chocolate chips.

Using a 1-1/2 tablespoon scoop, shape the dough into mounds on the prepared baking sheet. Place 8 balls of dough on each baking sheet, as the cookies may spread.

Bake the cookies for 8 minutes, then rotate the cookie sheet and bake for an additional 4 minutes. The cookies may be ever so slightly under baked, but they will firm up as they cool. If necessary, use a small spatula to reshape the cookies into rounds.

Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Cookies and Cups

Cashew Bars with Eggnog Glaze

It’s Christmas cookie time! I really love this time of the year, and I have planned what I would like to bake. It’s always interesting to look back and see what I actually end up baking. I inevitably come across some recipe that I end up making instead of what I had planned. That’s ok- baking Christmas cookies is for fun!

On my desk at work, I have one of those page a day calendars and the theme of the calendar is that every day is a holiday. I guess you can find a holiday for anything. I typically look ahead and see if any of the Friday holidays are related to baking or celebrate an ingredient I can use in baking. Most of the time I don’t have luck, but this week, Friday is National Cashew Day. I figured I didn’t want to miss this opportunity.

I found these cookies in a Christmas cookie magazine that you see in the stores this time of year. The original recipe used macadamia nuts, but I knew that I could substitute cashews with no problem. This recipe uses a different method. You typically cream together the butter and sugar, but for these bars you melt the butter and sugar together. That gives the bars a slightly different texture, and the bars are nearly perfectly flat. With the nutmeg and eggnog, these cookies instantly make you think of Christmas.

Cashew Bars with Eggnog Glaze

2 cups sugar

2/3 cup butter

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup chopped cashews

1 cup powdered sugar

¼ teaspoon vanilla

About 2 tablespoons eggnog

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9” x 13” baking pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and butter. Heat over medium heat, stirring until the butter melts. Allow the mixture to cool slightly. Transfer the sugar mixture to a large mixer bowl. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix on medium until combined. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, baking powder, and nutmeg. Stir in the cashews. Spread the dough into the prepared pan.

Bake for about 25 minutes, until the edges pull away from the edge of the pan and the bars are slightly browned. Allow the bars to cool on a wire rack before glazing.

Make the glaze: in a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon eggnog. Add additional eggnog until the glaze is the right consistency for drizzling. Drizzle over the cooled bars. Allow the glaze to set before cutting into bars.

Recipe from Better Homes & Gardens Best of Christmas Cookies

Chocolate Chunk Cashew Cookies

My husband is always asking me to make chocolate chip cookies. They’re his favorite but they aren’t super exciting to post on the blog. Occasionally I am able to find recipes that are a variation on the basic that I think others would enjoy. This is one of those variations. I hadn’t initially thought of them as a chocolate chip cookie, but that’s really what they are. They are from a British food magazine, which is different, and uses a couple of different add-ins.

This recipe uses cashews, which aren’t super common in recipes. I like to eat cashews but I can only think of one recipe off the top of my head that uses cashews. I had to buy roasted and salted cashews as that was what my store offered. I left out any extra salt in the dough, but if you use unsalted cashews I would add about ½ teaspoon salt with the flour. The original recipe had you make the dough by hand; I made quick work of it by making it in the food processor. This method is a bit different the cookies turned out just fine. They are classic, but a little bit different with the cashews. I used a mixture of milk and dark chocolate, so use what you like the most.

A note about the measurements here: I usually change the ingredient quantities to ounces. I actually measure everything in grams on the scale I have, so I’ve decided to include both. Measuring by weight is the most accurate way, and I absolutely encourage you to purchase a scale that weights in grams and ounces.

Chocolate Chunk Cashew Cookies

100 grams/3.5 ounces cashews

250 grams/9 ounces flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

200 grams/7 ounces sugar

10 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces

100 grams/3.5 ounces cashew or peanut butter

1 egg, beaten

2 tablespoons golden syrup or honey

200 grams/7 ounces chocolate, cut into chunks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the cashews on a baking sheet and toast until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Cool and then roughly chop. 

Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, baking powder, and sugar. Pulse to combine. Add the butter pieces and the nut butter to the food processor. Pulse on and off several times until the mixture looks like crumbs. Add the egg and the golden syrup and pulse until the dough comes together. 

Transfer the dough into a medium bowl. Add the toasted cashews and the chocolate chunks and stir with a spatula to incorporate the add-ins into the dough.

Shape the dough into 1-1/4” balls and place on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until golden around the edges. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for several minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from BBC Good Food

White Chocolate Cashew Bars

I have this small counter in my kitchen, the counter above where I store the flour, sugar, and other baking ingredients. It happens to be the counter where I store extra baking ingredients. I always want to have a prepared pantry so I try to stock up. This counter is getting a bit out of hand and it’s piled fairly high. I try to use up odd bits of ingredients, but I haven’t been doing a very good job of that lately! I came across this recipe and it used up cashews and white chocolate chips, two ingredients that were in the random half bags in the cupboard. 

This recipe uses an unusual method, which seems like I am encountering more and more of those lately. You beat the eggs, then add sugar and beat, stir in the flour and add a melted butter/white chocolate mix. It’s interesting to melt some of the white chocolate and add it to the batter. You do have to be careful when melting the white chocolate. It gets too hot very quickly and will seize into a horrible clump, so watch it carefully when you are working with the white chocolate. Don’t walk away for too long while the chocolate is melting or you might have a big mess.

These bars are very cakey, which is lovely. I like the white chocolate in the batter, as it gives the bars a delicate sweetness. That pairs nicely with the salty cashews. You don’t notice the white chocolate chips on the top of the bars as much, but that’s ok. The star of these bars is the cashews. I was really pleased that these came together quickly, were easy to cut, and were overall very nice.

White Chocolate Cashew Bars

2 eggs

¾ cup sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup white chocolate chips

½ cup butter

1-3/4 cups flour

1 cup salted cashews, toasted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9” x 13” pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the eggs until they start to become foamy. Add the sugar, salt, vanilla, and baking powder and beat until pale yellow and shiny. Add half of the flour and stir to combine, then add the remaining flour and stir until incorporated.

In a small saucepan over low heat, melt ½ cup of the white chocolate chips and the butter. Stir until smooth. Add this mixture to the egg/flour mixture and stir until combined. Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Top with the remaining white chocolate chips and the toasted cashews.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until browned around the edges and a thin knife inserted in the bars comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Lift the bars from the pan by lifting the foil; peel away the foil and discard. Cut into bars.

Recipe from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion