Thursday, June 18, 2009

Cashew Toffee Cookies

You know you want these! When you have that first bite, you’ll know it was meant to be. When you bake them, you’ll thank me. Or, you may hate me--because these are hard to stop eating.

I bought this tub of little cookies at Trader Joe’s months ago. In fact, I made these months ago, but I’m just getting around to posting them now. You know how it goes. You make something, take the photos, eat or give away all of the goodies, and the cycle begins again. Before you know it, you have a bunch of recipes and photos sitting around, waiting their turn. Plus, life happens and you’re busy, maybe you can’t get to your blog as much as you’d like. My train of thought has left the station…

Back to the cookies! I can’t remember what the Trader Joe’s cookies were called, but oh my gosh, were they good! Bits of cashew, pockets of caramel, crunchy cookie. I’d guess they were called something along the line of Caramel Cashew Cookies. See how I made that connection? ;)



I wanted to try to make them at home, and figured it couldn’t be too difficult. And as it happened, I’d picked up the April edition of Everyday Food. There was a recipe in it for Pecan Sandies that had all of the flavors I was looking for in the cookie base, so I ran with it. And don’t believe the reviewer on the site that said the recipe needed an egg, it doesn’t. It’s basically a shortbread cookie, which doesn’t need an egg. (Yes, I know, my mom’s shortbread does use an egg, but it’s an old family recipe, and I’m not messing around with that one. It’s untouchable, like most treasured family recipes are, right? Plus, my mom loved it, and she’d be thrilled that I shared it with all of you.)

I didn’t change much in the recipe, but I did double it. Because if you’re making cookies, why would make only 18 of them? And I increased the salt, to play off the sweetness of the toffee bits. mmmmm….


Bonus! There’s no egg in this, so if you’re inclined to eat raw cookie dough (and seriously, who isn’t?), then this one’s for you.

Cashew Toffee Sandies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cashews, coarsely chopped
1 cup toffee bits (like Heath)



Heat oven to 350. In the bowl of your mixer, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy.
Beat in the vanilla and salt.
With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour, mixing until combined.
Fold in cashews and toffee bits.


Roll the dough (it's really easy, not sticky!) into 1 1/2 inch balls, and place them on parchment lined sheets.
Wet the bottom of a glass, and lightly flatten the dough balls. (you'll need to re- wet the glass a few times.)
Bake 15-17 minutes, or until golden brown. If you put more than one sheet at a time in the oven, rotate them halfway through baking time.
Cool on wire racks, and store in airtight container.
Makes about 36 delicious cookies.

27 comments:

  1. Love these! I am a huge toffee fan!

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  2. Yum! Hubby is a Pecan Sandie fanatic. He would kiss my feet for these.

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  3. Maria--I am, too!

    SB--he will, trust me!

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  4. Yum!!! These remind me of the ones I made for the Gourmet Cookies challenge in December!!! Loved them!!!

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  5. Judy--I remember you doing that! So many cookies, so little time, hehe.

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  6. OMG! You've hit every note with this one!

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  7. These cookies sound heavenly. Hubs loves cashews, pecans, walnuts....almost any kind of nut. I could probably make them with any of those. Thanks for the recipe.

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  8. Yeah, I definitely want those. They look awesome, cashews are my favorite nut. Heh, I wish I had a backlog of recipes and pictures. I'm always posting what I cooked yesterday (sometimes today!).

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  9. Oh YUM!! I LOVE toffee in my cookies and these sound delicious right about now. 18 is such a random number of cookies; good thinking doubling them!!

    Sues

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  10. Yum! I love toffee bits in my cookies!

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  11. They sounds heavenly! Now to get my lazy cookie making butt into gear. I don't know why but subconciously I think of cookies as a lot of work!
    ~ingrid

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  12. My oh my these look delicious!!!

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  13. Huge fan of the raw cookie dough too! I would not double the recipe because I would be stuck eating a lot of them. Good for now until I hit the cookie coma.

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  14. you can't go wrong with that combination, no ma'am. i love the flatness of them too. excellent work, elle. :)

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  15. oh my goodness, this reminds me so much of buttercrunch cookies they used to serve in middle school!! girl i would by these by the bag full!! i'm making these. for real i am... u took me way back!!

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  16. Oh I bet these are absolutely wonderful! Shortbread & toffee, perfect!

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  17. I havent used toffee in such a while! These sound perfect!!!

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  18. I love toffee. These look wonderful. Can't get toffee bits here so I will need to take a rolling pin to some sweets. :)

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  19. TJs always inspires me too. Your cookies look fantastic!

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  20. WOW, those DO look good Elle! I am sure they are as addictive as you say they are - I would have added more salt too! ;)

    And I SO know what you mean about those back posts!

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  21. That sounds AWESOME Elle!! I can just taste the sweet and salty combo...mmm....

    Emily

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  22. Oh, wonderful! Thank goodness I don't have any nuts or toffee in the house right now, or I would already be preheating the stove! (And I am trying to lay off of baking for a while, because I eat everything I bake!)

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  23. My moms shortbreads use an egg yolk - makes them so tender!

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  24. I just wanted to let you know that I love looking at your blog! Hope you are having a great summer!!

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  25. These look great! I think I actually tried to make them once and unfortunately mine did not turn out.

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  26. Awesome post .i hope everybody will like your post

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