Toffee chocolate chunk cookies

Buttery and crisp, this cookie is packed with homemade chunks of chocolate covered toffee in every single bite.

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I have to admit, I am not the biggest fan of toffee. It can be intimidating to make if you haven't tried before, and if it's not made right the texture can be sticky and just all wrong for what you want in your cookies. After trying the seasonal toffee cookie though at Levain in 2025, I knew I wanted to perfect my toffee making skills so that I could use it in a recipe of my own. And so I turned to Handle the Heat! I remembered using her toffee recipe years ago, and the way she breaks down the process was just so incredibly helpful. For this recipe, I used a slightly modified version of her toffee recipe (primarily just scaled down) that gets coated in a thin layer of semisweet chocolate. If you're looking for a true breakdown of how to make toffee, I can't recommend her detailed recipe enough.

For me, the biggest game changer in my toffee making confidence was the use of a food thermometer. Getting your toffee heated to 300-305°F is the true key to ensuring your toffee has the perfect crunch and buttery crack to it. I found it takes about 10 minutes to fully cook and heat, but without the thermometer it's almost impossible to tell when you've reached that stage, and without the temperature check you'll risk having chewy and hard to eat toffee. I also use a probe thermometer in my pudding recipes (and very often in my savory cooking) so I promise you it won't go to waste. A candy thermometer can work great here too, I just find that there just are fewer uses for it.

Rather than adding in chocolate chunks, once the toffee cools you'll melt chocolate and spread a thin coat on both sides of your toffee. This really makes sure that you get subtle bites of melty chocolate while allowing the toffee to be the star of the show, rather than simply chopping chocolate or using chips which would leave you with big bites of chocolate (which I usually love but didn't want here!). You can add your chocolate once your toffee has fully cooled, and to help it set quickly you can place it in the fridge for a short chill (20 minutes or so), but if you prepare your toffee ahead of time be sure to store it at room temperature rather than in the fridge so you don't risk altering the texture of your toffee.

When I started developing this recipe, I originally wanted to create a thick NY style toffee chocolate chunk cookie. After a failed first batch, mostly due to toffee difficulties, I tested again and the updates I made caused the dough to bake thinner than expected. I was shocked, but I absolutely loved it. The cookie had crisp edges, the dough was just sweet enough with the right balance of salt, and there was toffee and crisp cookie edge in every bite. I made some last adjustments and then finalized the recipe. These cookies aren't thin, but they are a medium thickness that just works so beautifully with the pieces of toffee.

Toffee is of course a sweet mix in, so salt became really important in this recipe. You'll use kosher salt in the toffee and in the dough, and then a flaky salt for sprinkling. This will ensure the perfect balance of sweetness with just the right balance of salt, and helps to bring out the buttery vanilla flavor of the dough too.

The cookie dough is simple, and made with cold butter which means there is no need to wait for room temperature butter. Using a stand mixer is important especially when working with cold butter, and will also help to break up the toffee pieces throughout the dough. If you don't have access to a stand mixer, I'd recommend using room temperature butter and a hand mixer with a longer dough chill (2 hours), but know that the end result may be a little bit different.

When shaping your dough, after scooping and before chilling, we'll use the "butterfly" method. To do this, take one scoop at a time, split it in half and then press the two pieces back together with the broken edges now on the outside. You can see a photo below of my dough! This is how you'll get the beautifully uneven exterior to each cookie and also helps to ensure the golden brown wrinkles across the tops of your cookies.

While the toffee is a labor of love, the dough itself chills just for about an hour before hitting the oven. This dough also does freeze well so for guidance on how to freeze your dough and bake from frozen, scroll to the bottom of the full recipe!

For the best results, I highly recommend using the gram measurements provided

Ingredients:

Toffee chocolate chunks*

• 85g (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter

• 144g (3/4 cup) light brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon salt 

• 142g (5oz) semisweet chocolate

Cookie dough

• 113g (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cold and cubed

• 126g (2/3 cup) light brown sugar 

• 64g (1/3 cup) granulated sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract 

• 1 large egg + egg yolk

• 200g (1 2/3 cup) all purpose flour 

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• Optional: Flaky salt for topping 

*I leveraged this Handle the Heat recipe as my base for the toffee. I highly recommend giving her recipe a full read for all of her incredible tips and tricks on toffee making!

Prep time: About 40 minutes

Chill time: 2 hours

Bake time: 12-14 minutes

Servings: 13 cookies

Equipment:

• Heavy bottom nonstick pot

• Thermometer (instant read or candy)

• Stand mixer with paddle attachment

• Spatula or large spoon

• Cookie sheets

• Parchment paper

• Large cookie scoop (3 tablespoons)

Cooking instructions:

First make your toffee. Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Melt your unsalted butter in a nonstick pot over a low heat. Once just melted, stir in your light brown sugar and salt until combined. Turn your heat to medium, and use a spatula to mix continuously to ensure your toffee doesn't separate as it's cooking. Keep mixing until your mixture thickens and bubbles. This will take about 10 minutes, and you are done once your mixture heats to 300-305°F - do not remove from heat at a temperature any lower than 300°F!

Once heated, immediately pour your toffee onto your parchment lined cookie sheet and spread into an even layer. Let sit at room temperature for about 20-30 minutes or until until cool to the touch.

Once your toffee has cooled completely, melt your semisweet chocolate. Spread about half evenly on to one side of your toffee, then flip your toffee and spread the rest of your chocolate into a thin layer to completely cover. Place into the fridge just for about 20 minutes until your chocolate has hardened, then remove and chop into medium sized pieces and set aside. This step can be done ahead of time, just be sure to store your toffee pieces in an airtight container at room temperature rather than in the fridge.

Then make your cookie dough. Add your cubed butter, light brown and granulated sugar into your mixer with the paddle attachment secured. Mix on a medium speed until just combined, about two minutes, it's okay if there are still visible pieces of butter at this point. Use a spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of your mixer bowl

Add in your vanilla, egg and egg yolk, and continue to mix at a medium speed for another minute or two until fully combined, and at this point you shouldn't see any streaks of unmixed butter.

Add in your dry ingredients, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and start your mixer at a low speed mixing until your dry ingredients are about half incorporated. Scrape your paddle attachment and mixer bowl, being sure to reach down to the bottom to catch any uncombined dry ingredients.

Add your chopped toffee chocolate chunks into your dough and turn your mixer back on at the lowest speed for about 15 to 30 seconds or until your dough has just formed and your toffee pieces are evenly dispersed. Your toffee chunks should break up a bit more while mixing, but still be very visible.

Onto a parchment lined cookie sheet that can fit in your fridge, portion out your dough using a cookie scoop or large spoon. It should make about 13 scoops, 3 tablespoons per scoop (about 65g each). After you've portioned your dough, break each dough ball in half, then smoosh the halves back together with the "broken" sides now on the outside. Place your dough into the fridge, uncovered, for about an hour to chill.

When you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350°F. Space out your dough onto parchment lined cookie sheets, and bake one cookie sheet at a time for about 12-14 minutes. You can gently shape your cookies right when they come out of the oven using a round cookie cutter or cup/bowl that are larger than your cookies to gently nudge the edges in for perfectly round cookies. Allow them to cool for 10-15 minutes and then enjoy!

Additional Baking and Storing Guidance

If you want to save some of your dough, you can place some or all of your scooped cookie dough onto a baking sheet and place into the freezer (after you've completed the chill in the fridge) for 12-24 hours. Then, transfer your frozen dough to a plastic bag or airtight container and store in the freezer. To bake from frozen, set your oven to 325°F and bake for 14-16 minutes. This dough is best baked from frozen within 2 months.

Carb and serving info: 

Servings: 13 cookies

Carbs per serving (1 of 13): 45

Carbs for full recipe: 587

Carbs from chocolate: 85

Carbs from toffee (no chocolate): 150

Carbs from dough: 352

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.