Butter crunch cookies

These buttery, deliciously chewy and sweet cookies are the perfect addition to your cookie rotation that everyone is sure to love! They are crispy with a chewy center that nearly melts in your mouth thanks to the brown butter and toffee bits.

A while back, I asked my followers on Instagram for advice on what cookie recipe to work on next. Someone sent me a message and suggested that I work on a butter crunch cookie recipe. I had to admit, I had never had them! When I started researching the recipe, I recognized the plastic wrapped cookies from childhood but didn't remember the taste. I found that they are often made with brown butter and are full of toffee, and I was intrigued. The recipe came out so much better than I could've imagined and I know they're going to be in my rotation now.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to use store bought or homemade toffee bits, but after testing with store bought and seeing how well they came out I decided to keep the recipe simple. Also, since we do brown the butter in this recipe it felt like an unnecessary and time consuming step to add a homemade toffee. And aside from browning the butter, the recipe comes together really simply - no special equipment needed, and just about an hour of chill time which means you'll get to the end product quickly!

When you make your dough, there will be two short chill periods. The first is before scooping to give your dough a little time to firm up before scooping and shaping your dough. The second is after you've scooped and shaped your dough to allow the dough to rest and chill before hitting the oven.

I did test this recipe with a few different butter brands and here is what I found. While any unsalted butter will work well, this is a time where it's well worth it to splurge on a European style or high butterfat content butter. A few I highly recommend are Vital Farms (85% butterfat), Cabot Extra Creamy (83%), or Plugra (82%). I usually test my recipes with Plugra and these cookies will truly be delicious with any butter, but I will say that for this recipe the higher butterfat content in the Vital Farms brand led to our favorite batch.

Ingredients:

• 9 tablespoons (127g) unsalted butter

• 1 1/3 cup (160g) all purpose flour

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup (96g) light brown sugar

• 1/3 cup (64g) granulated sugar

• 1 large egg*

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 3/4 cup (120g) toffee bits

• 2 tablespoons (20g) toffee bits, for topping

*I recommend taking your egg out of the fridge about 30 minutes prior to starting

Prep time: About 30 minutes

Chill time: 1 hour

Bake time: 11-13 minutes

Servings: 10 cookies

Equipment

• Spatula or large spoon

• Cookie sheets

• Parchment paper

• Large cookie scoop (3 tablespoons)

• Heavy bottomed nonstick pot

  
  

Cooking instructions:

Brown your butter. Place your butter in a pot or pan (I recommend using a nonstick heavy bottomed pot) on the stovetop on a low to medium heat. After it melts, you'll hear it begin to crackle. Stir the melted butter and watch it carefully as it can burn easily. You'll start to smell a nutty aroma (you'll know it when it happens). Once you see the color turn to a light brown or amber, remove your pan from the heat and transfer your butter and all of the brown bits at the bottom into a large, heat proof bowl and set aside. (It should be about 108g after browning.)

In a medium bowl, combine your dry ingredients - flour, baking soda and salt.

Add your light brown and granulated sugars to your browned butter. Stir together using a spatula or large spoon to help further cool your butter and to fully combine your sugar into the butter.

Ensure your butter and sugar mixture isn't too hot (it's okay if it's warm to the touch), and add in your egg. Mix quickly to incorporate, and then add in your vanilla and continue mixing until smooth and thickened.

Add in your combined dry ingredients to your wet ingredients, and fold together until a shaggy dough forms. Then add in your 3/4 cup (120g) of toffee bits and continue mixing until your dough forms and your toffee bits are evenly dispersed.

Place your unscooped dough, uncovered, into the fridge to chill for 15 minutes. Note: do not chill your unscooped dough for any longer than 30 minutes - if you need to, just be sure to cover it with plastic wrap.

In a small bowl, add your two tablespoons (20g) of toffee bits. Onto a lined cookie sheet, I used parchment paper, use a cookie scoop or large spoon to portion out your dough - it should make about 10 cookies, 3 tablespoons per cookie (60g each). Roll each dough scoop in your palms to smooth the exterior, and then top each dough ball with toffee bits. Place your dough back into the fridge to chill for about 45 minutes. Note: if you plan to chill for any longer than an hour once scooped, be sure to cover with plastic wrap so that your dough doesn’t dry out.

When you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Space out your dough balls onto two large, parchment lined cookie sheets and bake for 11-13 minutes one cookie sheet at a time. They should be golden around the edges when fully baked. Allow your cookies to cool for at least 15 minutes, and enjoy!

Your baked cookies will stay fresh in an airtight container for at least 3 to 5 days if stored in the fridge once cooled. They will taste best when enjoyed the same day, but if you keep them in the fridge they really will be delicious for a few days afterwards (if they last that long!)

Carb and serving info: 

Servings: 10 cookies

Carbs per serving (1 of 10): 37

Carbs for full recipe: 371

Carbs from toffee: 84

This is based off of the gram measurement from the Heath package not the U.S. cup measurement - when I measured myself, 1 cup was equal to 160g which is not the same with what is listed on the package.

Note: Carb information is calculated based on the specific ingredients I used to cook with to help guide my own insulin to carb ratio when dosing before I eat my home cooked recipes.