When I say Crunchie, I'm not talking the texture, but the
British candy bar. Even if you're not in the UK, these candy bars can generally be found all over. My local grocery store (Fresh and Easy, owned by Tesco) carries them, but you can also pick them up at any British food store. If you're still having trouble finding them, check out some online candy retailers or even,
Amazon.
So, what are these? Well, if you haven't had them, they're pretty unique. I can't compare them to any other mass produced candy bar in the States. Essentially they're a milk chocolate candy bar with a honeycomb like center. It's not actually honeycomb but a type of crispy caramelization of sugar. Pretty amazing if you ask me. We have family in Canada (where they are also found in abundance), and between them and my local grocery store, I'm never in short supply of these delicious bars. That being said, I was looking for a way to step them up. I love toffee in cookies so I started to wonder what a Crunchie bar would be like in one. Time to try it out...
I used the Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe from Annie's Eats. She declared them the 'perfect' homemade chocolate chip cookie. I figured, if the candy bar filling didn't make it, it would still be a darn good cookie. Lucky for me, it was both.
The Crunchie bar almost caramelized when baked and on some cookies you would see the toffee forming. Oooooh they were good. They reminded me of the toffee cookies that you could once get at Mrs. Fields - actually, the only cookie I would get from them... until they discontinued them! Well, now I don't shop there, and I don't need to - I have this recipe instead! I took the cookies to dance class where they were snatched up instantly. Luckily, I saved a couple for later.
Oh, and if you don't want to use Crunchie bars, you can use toffee bits, or even just stick to the chocolate chip recipe as is - the hubby thought they were incredible in their original form too. He considers himself the chocolate chip cookie connoisseur of the house.
Crunchie Bar Cookies (or) Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Original Recipe from
Annie's Eats. I indicate my modifications with a *
Ingredients:
2 cups plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
12 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
* 2 Cadbury Crunchie bars, chopped into large chunks, or 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions:
1. Adjust oven racks to upper and lower-middle positions. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpats.
2. Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl; set aside. With an electric mixer, or by hand, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly combined. Beat in egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add dry ingredients and beat at low-speed just until combined. Stir in *Crunchie bars or chocolate chips.
3. Roll a scant half-cup of dough into a ball. Holding dough ball in fingertips of both hands, pull apart into two equal halves. Rotate 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, place formed dough onto cookie sheet, leaving ample room between each ball. Bake, reversing position of cookie sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden, yet centers are still soft and puffy (approx 11-14 minutes). Do not overbake.
4. Cool cookies on sheets until able to lift without breaking. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Now, I normally use a small ice cream scoop to shape my cookies, but I read a couple of recipes that used this technique for this type of dough and that it really makes the difference. So, I followed their directions exactly and admit that this was one of the best cookies I've had. Is it because of how they were placed on the cookie sheet? I don't know, but I'll take the extra couple of minutes to do it.
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