Romanticizing, etc.

TOFFEE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES INCOMING 🍪

I wrote some of this last Thursday, and felt like it should become a newsletter. So, here ya go!

8 years strong ❤️

Looking out a car/train/plane window and pretending to be in a movie or music video hits WAY different at 26. And like. Not always in a good way. Flying back to Nashville tonight with a blessed empty middle seat and some mild turbulence found me blasting “Bless the Broken Road” by Rascal Flatts. This is one of the only songs I have downloaded to my phone on Spotify.

The old “stare out the window and pretend you’re in a movie” trick still really works re:romanticizing, but if you’re anything like me you’ll start thinking (UGHHHH the worst). You’ll think about landing in the city that you still call home despite moving away almost three years ago. You’ll think about what’s changed in three years.

You’ll think about the friends you’re meeting up with for the eighth annual lake trip. The friends that saw you as a woefully insecure but very bold college freshman. The same ones that saw you sobbing at the end of senior year about how much you had grown to love yourself and trust that your friends loved you too. You might accidentally have to fight back a lump in your throat mid-descent (I’m still on a plane, remember).

Keith Urban is playing now, btw. Thank goodness my mom’s favorite DJ growing up (Gerry House- just asked) was on the country station, because I cannot imagine NOT listening to Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts, Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood… The list goes ON, so I’ll spare you. Fourth grade saw the switch to pop music, and I never really kept up with what was popular in country again. All of that being said, I love the way that a song can take me back to a specific moment. Or, make me stare out of an airplane window and hold back tears. Music! Emotions!

The ever-rotating queue at lake lake was less “lump in your throat” and more “sweaty frat party”. I got a little bit of a hangover just listening, to be honest. Regardless, I’m always in awe of my friends’ ability to pick up where we left off even after four years of being “grown ups”. I shouldn’t be surprised, though. As I mentioned earlier, these are the girls that showed me what unrelenting friendship looks like. I hope that everyone gets to experience friendship like this. If nothing else, they provided me with ample validation re: my toffee chocolate chip cookies that I brought to share. So, let’s get to that recipe, shall we?

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These cookies, you guys! They’re something kinda special and magical and DELISH. I’m extra proud, because I developed this recipe for Off Track and feel like it’s really mine 💓 Plus, you’re about to find out that homemade toffee isn’t nearly as terrifying as it seems. Let’s GOOOO!

Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies (Makes a lot!!!!! Bake some now & scoop some to freeze!!!!)

Ingredients

• For the toffee

  • 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter

  • 100 grams (1/2 cup) granulated sugar

  • 1 large pinch of salt- If you’re scared of this ambiguous measurement, I’d go for 1/2 tsp

• For the cookies

  • 3 sticks (12 oz) unsalted butter, softened

  • 4 large eggs

  • 500 g granulated sugar

  • 85 g dark brown sugar

  • 1 TBSP vanilla

  • 1 tsp kosher salt

  • 1/2 TBSP baking soda

  • 1/2 TBSP baking powder

  • 1/2 TBSP espresso powder (optional, but delish if you have it!)

  • 600 g All Purpose flour

  • one bag of dark chocolate chips (or 300 g if you want a gram measurement)

  • 250 g toffee pieces

  • more salt for sprinkling on top!

How To:

1. Start by making the toffee!

   1. Combine the butter, sugar and salt in a medium sized saucepan and place over medium heat.

   2. Stir! A lot! You’ll probably think at some point that you have too much butter. Don’t stress, just keep stirring!

   3. Once your toffee has bubbled and then relaxed a bit it should eventually reach a deep caramel color. Try not to take it off too early- trust that you won’t burn it!

   4. When the toffee is done, pour it onto a baking tray with a silicone mat (or onto a nonstick baking sheet with no paper). Sprinkle with some extra salt if you’re feeling silly

   5. Let the toffee cool at room temp (DO NOT REFRIGERATE!) and chop into small pieces.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

3. For the cookie dough, start by creaming together your softened butter & sugars

4. Add your eggs and vanilla and mix again.

5. Sift together your flour, baking soda + powder, salt & espresso powder.

6. Scrape the sides of your mixing bowl and start slowly adding the dry ingredients to the butter, sugar & eggs.

7. Once everything is combined and there are no dry or wet spots in the dough, fold in your toffee pieces and chocolate chips.

8. Ideally, chill your cookie dough for an hour before scooping! They’ll still be delish if you don’t though.

9. Scoop individual cookies onto a baking sheet (leave some room- they’ll spread!) and bake for 12-14 minutes. Keep an eye on them, because you don’t want them to burn, but definitely let the edges start getting golden brown.

10. Once the cookies come out of the oven, you can use something round like a cookie cutter or bowl to round off each cookie. The toffee can sometimes spread and cause uneven edges.

11. Sprinkle with a littttttle extra salt¹ & ENJOY!!!!!

1. IMO, the presence of salt in a chocolate chip cookie is CRUCIAL. You might think there’s a lot in these, but I promise it’s essential.