Brown Sugar Toffee Rounds

Brown Sugar Toffee Rounds

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
2 Tbsp milk
1/2 tsp almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 package almond toffee pieces (1 1/2 cups)

1. In a large mixing bowl beat butter and shortening with a electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg, milk, and almond extract until combined. Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour and the almond toffee pieces.
2. Divide dough in half. Shape each half of dough into a 10-inch-long log. Wrap each log in plastic wrap. Chill about 4 hours or until logs are firm.
3. Preheat oven to 350F. Using a serrated knife, cut logs into 1/4-inch slices. Place slices 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake about 9 minutes or until edges are firm. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

Makes 80 cookies

Here is last week's cookie of the week. This recipe comes from the Better Homes and Gardens' The Ultimate Cookie Book. I received this book for Christmas the year and every recipe I've tried out of it thus far has been awesome. This was my first attempt at this recipe. Other than making quite a few less cookies than touted in the recipe, it went well.

The ingredients:

You are never supposed to soften butter in the microwave; it cooks off a bit of the water in the butter which will affect the texture of the cookies. Nevertheless, I was very rushed and went ahead. Here is the butter and shortening after they have been whipped together.

This is the dough right before adding the flour and toffee. The almond extract makes it smell really good. I kind of wanted to eat it straight from the bowl at this point.

The finished dough is quite mallible and soft. It was kind of like a delicious smelling playdough; I had difficulty stopping playing with it.

Among my many shortcomings, I have a inability to divide things evenly. Whenever I have to divide something in half by eyeballing, I get it wrong. I've come to terms with this. Another inability I have is eyeballing lengths. For that, I got out the ruler. Here is one of my 10-inch logs.

The recipe said to chill the logs for 4 hours. When I finished the dough, it was almost 6pm so I didn't feel I had that much time.

To hurry things along a bit, I stuck the logs in the freezer for the first 30 minutes. I tested the dough after about 2 more hours and stuck them back in the freezer for another 30 minutes to get them to the right firmness.

I seem to have also have some difficulty judging a 1/4-inch thickness. The recipe says it will make 6 1/2 dozen but I was only able to get 5 dozen. They didn't turn out any worse for being extra thick.

The final product was very chewy and moist. The toffee added a subtle flavor and a very pleasing crunch to these cookies. I'll definitely be making these again. However, I will try to allot the full four and half hours next time.