Coffee Toffee Brown Sugar Cookies

So I have this trusty brown sugar cookie recipe that's, well, trusty.  I always have the ingredients on hand, you don't need a mixer to make them and most importantly, they're super delicious.  I should have expected nothing less from an America's Test Kitchen recipe.  

And speaking of ATK (that's what I call America's Test Kitchen because we're totally on a nickname basis), it's sorta my dream to work there.  My life's dream, guys.   I would be paid to bake all day and not only that, you bake recipes over and over again until they're perfect.  It's quite literally a test kitchen.    So it's sorta like you're paid to mess up.  And if that's the case, I'd be super rich.    

I'll tell ya' what though.  I certainly did not mess up on these cookies.  I thought to myself, "I would like to add coffee to these cookies because I'm pretty sure coffee and sugar tastes great together.  And let's add toffee so it rhymes."  And so it was done.  

And if these are baked just right, the center will look deep and gooey while the edges have a crackly crust.  Sometimes the only thing better than puling a perfect tray of cookies out of the oven is finding out they have a deep gooey center with a crackly crust.  Am I right?  (I'm right)

Here's the recipe!

Ingredients:

14 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 cups packed dark brown sugar

2 cups plus 2 Tbsp all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

4 Tbsp instant granulated coffee**

1/2 tsp table salt

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

1/4 toffee bits

Instructions:

1.  Brown the butter: Heat the 10 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium-high heat, about 2 mins.  Continue cooking and swirling the skillet until butter turns a golden brown color and has a nutty aroma, 1-3 minutes.   (Baker Girl has a great visual and description).  Transfer to a heatproof bowl and adding 4 remaining tablespoons of butter to melt.  Allow to cool. 

2.  Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat to 350 degrees.  Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment or Silpat.  In a shallow dish, mix granulated sugar with 1/4 cup packed brown sugar until well combined.  

3.  In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and coffee.  Set aside. 

4. Add remaining 1 3/4 cups brown sugar and salt to bowl with cooled butter; mix until no sugar lumps remain, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula; add egg, yolk, and vanilla and mix until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down bowl. Add flour mixture and mix until just combined, about 1 minute (it may seem like too much flour at first but stick with it). Add toffee bits. Give dough final stir with rubber spatula to ensure that no flour pockets and toffee is fully incorporated and ingredients are evenly distributed.
5. Roll dough into balls, 2 Tbsp in size. Toss the balls into the reserved sugar mixture to coat and place on baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
6. Bake one sheet at a time until cookies are browned and still puffy and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft (cookies will look raw between cracks and seem underdone), 12 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Do not overbake. **


Notes

**I've used instant granulated coffee in other recipes and I always seem to add more than the recipe calls for because the coffee flavor seems lacking. I used 4 tablespoons in this recipe but it might be worth starting with 2 or 3 tablespoons and adjusting for your preferences.

**Baking sheets one at a time may seem unnecessary but I really recommend it. My oven can be finicky so I baked these cookies for 6 minutes and then rotated the pan and baked for 6 more minutes. They needed exactly 12 minutes. Don't be fooled if these cookies don't look quite set in the center. Allow them to cool on the sheet for a few minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

  

Recipe adapted from America's Test Kitchen