Chocolate Hazelnut Toffee Cookies

I recommend using good quality chocolate for both the melting and the chips; I use Ghirardelli. Also, toffee chips are available in bags for baking, either Skor or Heath (I prefer the latter), but if you can’t find them, you can always finely chop or process a Heath bar in the food processor!

I can not stress this enough, and this is the reason why I labeled this recipe as intermediate: the cookies will not look done when they come out. In fact, they will seem underdone and will still be incredibly soft. They will have lost most of their shininess, but will be so soft it will almost look like they are about to deflate. However, trust me, if your oven is truly 350F, and you use a #40 scoop (scraping off excess dough), they should be ready to come out of the oven at right around 12 minutes, even if they are so soft they are souffle-like.

You need to leave them on the cookie sheet outside of the oven for an additional 5 minutes to continue baking before removing them to a cooling rack to cool and harden further. The thing is, these cookies harden. A lot. And if you don’t take them out while they are still underdone, you will end up with chocolate hazelnut hockey pucks. Which isn’t tragic—they will still taste good—but the consistency will be off a little. I know, I know, it is a leap of faith for me too every time I pull them out of the oven at 12 minutes, but it always ends up being the right call. Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait until the cookies fully cool down to believe this, because they will be soft right up until they achieve room temperature. But trust me.

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Spread hazelnuts (for the mix-ins) onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet and toast at 350F for 10-15 minutes, keeping close watch on them.

3. For the batter, cream together butter and sugars until fluffy

4. Add in eggs and vanilla and combine.

5. Add in melted chocolate and combine.

6. Combine dry ingredients (flour, baking power, baking soda and salt) into a bowl, and add to wet ingredients, mixing until combined.

7. Add the mix-ins (toasted hazelnuts, oatmeal, chocolate chips, toffee bits) and stir until combined.

8. Use a #40 scoop to scoop dough onto a cookie sheet, and bake for about 12 minutes (cookies will still look underdone and too soft when done).

9. Cool on the pan for at least 5 minutes before removing to racks.

10. Let cool completely before storing.