Toffee Chocolate Chip Shortbread

One. More. Week. 

That is exactly how long there is until my "retirement." Well......7 days, 6 hours, 12 minutes and 35 seconds........but who's counting? ME. I am. Very much. 

Quitting my job is genuinely frightening. As much as I loathe don't like my day job it has this annoying habit of providing a sense of security....and pays bills. 

As excited as I am to be moving on to a new adventure, there are two parts of my personality battling it out in the back of my head. 

Me: FREEDOM! 

Me: OMG, money! I need money! 

Me: You'll be so much happier! 

Me: I'll be broke! Poor! What if I fail and lose it all?! 

Me: But you can sleep in everyday! 

Me: Oooooh....sleeeeeep.....

The side that gets the most sleep always wins...big part of why I don't have kids yet, either. Hmmm. 

I find my retirement nerves are only truly satisfied with Pinterest and baked goods. Probably why I've already made spritz cookies and cinnamon slowflakes already this week! The closer I get to the big day the more I find myself in the kitchen!...and pouting in bed that I still have to wake up! lol. 

The latest batch I made is your basic log, cut and bake shortbread. To jazz it up I through in some mini chocolate chips and toffee chunks. By some I mean a ton.  Some people medicate with pills, some with toffee bits! You don't blog this much without a healthy appreciation for eating your feelings! :) 

I hope you enjoy! 

Toffee & Chocolate Chip Shortbread

1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup cake flour

2/3 cup mini chocolate chips

2/3 cup toffee pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cream butter and powdered sugar until fluffy. Stir in vanilla; add flours and mix well. Add chocolate chips and toffee pieces and mix again.

Shape dough into a log, wrap in wax paper and allow to rest in the refrigerator for half an hour.

Remove dough from the refrigerator and cut into 1/8th inch thick slices. Place cookies onto a lined baking sheet. Chill in refrigerator for another half hour.

Remove from fridge and bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to a cooling rack.

Salted Almond Toffee

I love toffee! So I play around with the recipe now and then. A year ago, the salted caramel craze got me thinking and I made my first batch of salted almond toffee. I love the combination of the crunchy toffee with the salted almonds! I hope you do too!

A couple weeks ago I got an offer to see what some of my photography would like put onto canvas from Easy Canvas Prints and I jumped at it. Who wouldn't? Put a favorite print on canvas? Yes please!  My mother and I had been talking a few weeks before about how she'd like to get some of my photographs up on the walls of her cabin (This is your cue to say "Ah! What a sweet mother!") and I thought this would be a perfect gift for her (Ah! What a sweet daughter!").

You can see the original photo on the left and canvas print on the right. It's a lovely replication. A few minor differences get made in the translation between photograph and canvas, as you can see: slightly more dark, a little less crisp, and the colors are a bit cooler. When they aren't put side by side you'd hardly notice. The texture of the canvas is lovely, very smooth, fluid even. My mother is absolutely delighted with it and is thinking of getting a few others and creating a collage. I find it a little funny that instead of putting my artwork on the fridge like mom's do in elementary school....she's putting up my artwork of what's in my fridge. Trust me, this looks much better than my finger paintings of unicorns! 

Now, back to toffee (Ah! What a sweet treat!). Is that getting old yet? I love toffee. It's one of my obsessions. Now, as I am focusing on my summer being more like a true summer vacation, I decided some toffee was in order. A tin of toffee on my desk at work just makes the horrid heat, the annoying boss, the excessively large stack of work that got put on my desk while my back was turned all feel far more manageable. Everything feels better with toffee...even work.  

So why salted? Just for a little twist, a little salty sweet flavor. If you like that idea you should also look at this toffee:

Bacon Toffee

But, if bacon's not your style, salted almonds add an extra bit of flair for your traditional toffee. Enjoy!

Salted Almond Toffee

2 cups blanched almonds

1 cup + 2 tsp. unsalted butter, divided

2 tsp fleur de sel

1 cup sugar

5 tablespoons water

1 cup chocolate chips (I prefer dark or semi-sweet)

Preheat the oven to 350.

Place the almonds in a baking dish. Toast until golden, about 12 minutes.

While the nuts are still warm, toss with two teaspoons of butter and fleur de sel until coated.

Spread the nuts out one a piece of aluminum foil into the shape of a large oval.

Cook the remaining butter, sugar, and water in a heavy saucepan, stirring constantly, until a candy thermometer says it has reached the hard crack stage. Remove from heat immediately and pour over nuts.

Allow to sit for five minutes and spread chocolate chips over the surface of the warm toffee.

When melted use a knife to spread the melted chocolate across the top of the toffee.

Any salted almonds that are not covered in toffee or chocolate can be removed and chopped as a garnish.

Allow the toffee to sit until the chocolate has set. If you’re in a hurry, place the toffee in the refrigerator to set more quickly.

When set, use a large knife to cut the toffee into pieces.

Enjoy!  

Bacon Toffee

Yes, bacon toffee. It almost speaks for itself. Bacon, sugar, butter, chocolate....what else could be better? Well, for one, replacing some of the butter with bacon drippings. Yep. I'm all about healthy eating. No, that's the wrong platform, reducing waste? Oh, like I really need talk you into something this delicious. I had you at bacon and you know it! 

This last Sunday was Iron Chef DC: Bacon! Yes. Bacon! As far as the eye can see! For years we've never picked an ingredient that would exclude the vegetarians.....years. YEARS. Last months winner is a genius and decided that we'd been nice about it long enough. It was time for bacon. Yes. It. Was. 

We had an excellent pasta carbonara, yummy corn muffins, and a winner takes all twice baked potato (Congrats Kate!) but as for me, I decided it was high time I rip off Voges genius idea and make some bacon toffee. Best. Choice. Ever. 

Bacon Toffee

1 pound thick cut bacon

roughly 6 oz unsalted butter, about 3/4 cup

1 cup sugar
5 tablespoons water
1 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil

Arrange bacon slices on the foil and place the baking sheet on the center rack. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until very crisp. When fully crisp, remove slices to a paper towel lined plate to soak up any excess grease. 

Measure the bacon grease in ounces (for me it was 2 oz) and pour into a thick pot. Add enough butter to make 8 oz. 

Arrange the 3/4 of the bacon strips into an oval about 8x14 inches on a greased sheet of aluminum foil. Crumble the remaining bacon and set aside. 

Cook the butter, bacon grease, sugar, and water in a heavy saucepan, stirring constantly, until a candy thermometer says it has reached the hard crack stage. Remove from heat immediately and pour over bacon strips.

Allow to sit for five minutes and spread chocolate chips over the surface of the warm toffee.

When melted use a knife to spread the melted chocolate across the top of the toffee. Garnish with crumbled bacon.

Allow the toffee to sit until the chocolate has set.

When set, use a large knife to cut the toffee into pieces.

Caramel Apple Toffee Pastries

This was the winner of Iron Chef Apple and is one of my favorite fall desserts! How could you ever go wrong with caramel, apples, and especially toffee? The phyllo that wraps it all up adds the perfect bit of crunch!

One line reminder to vote for Cherry Tea Cakes in the Express Night Out Best of DC Food Blogger Vote through September 30th! See instructions here! 


Sorry for being late with this post. I came off of a long day at work after a night full of red eye flights, airports, and next to no food or sleep..,oh, and did I mention food poisoning? As it is, I am taking a detox day. Fruit juices and salad only to get my body back to normal...and to make it worse with the sleep deprivation, from what I read online...you shouldn't have caffeine when you are getting over food poisoning. Worst. Monday. Ever.

Butchie had to put up with me without sleep, without food, and trying to recover on our weekly baking night. And MAN was I on one! I have next to no filter when I'm that tired and hungry. [It's fabulous--she was smiley and punchy and rude and maybe now I will never let her sleep again. --B.] Never ask me what I really think in that state. I answer as honestly as I usually do, but with less tact and diplomacy.

So I asked Butchie what she wanted to make and she answered just as bluntly honest: apples! If you want to hear some gushing on how great fall boots, fall sweaters, fall scarfs, and all flavors are--note the trend--then you should talk to Butch. She has an endless supply of enthusiasm for fall. [How could you not? Gorgeous yellow leaves, pears everywhere, perfect snuggling temperature, fireplaces with ACTUAL FIRE IN THEM. Plus, Halloween! This year I was thinking I'd go as a sexy autumn leaf. Now that Halloween is just an excuse for ladies to be as close to publicly naked as possible. --B.] Anyway, this is a good recipe for us: I have an infinite amount of enthusiasm for toffee, and even though I do not care about autumn or its apples, basically at all, Butchie makes up for it. [Maybe I'll go as an apple. --B.]

There are two ways you can make this dessert: make it all, or buy it all. We made toffee and caramel from scratch, but you can buy it too, and these pastries are still very good. I am all about lessening the chemicals I can't pronounce in my diet, so I go the scratch route...plus, c'mon, homemade caramel? Way better!

Caramel Toffee Apple Pastries

3 large baking apples, peeled, cored, and finely chopped

1/2 cup caramel, store bought or see the recipe below

1/2 cup toffee bits, store bought or see the recipe below

16 sheets phyllo dough

Preheat oven to 375. Spray two muffin tins with cooking spray. In a medium mixing bowl combine the chopped apples, caramel and toffee bits. Set aside.

Lay phyllo pastry sheets flat on a work surface and cover with sheet of plastic wrap. Place a slightly damp kitchen towel over the plastic wrap. Removing one sheet of pastry at a time spray completely with cooking spray top with another sheet of phyllo pastry and spray with cooking spray. Repeat until four sheets of phyllo are stacked. Cut the stacked pastry into 6 equal squares. Press each stack into a muffin tin.

Place 1/4 cup of apple mixture inside each phyllo lined muffin tin, pour a little of the caramel over the top, and pinch the corners together to form a pouch. A ring of aluminum foil can be placed around the pinched dough to hold them together if desired.

Repeat with remaining sheets and apple filling. Wrap and refrigerate any remaining phyllo.

Spray tops with cooking spray. Bake 12-15 minutes or until pastries are golden brown.

Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Eat immediately, as they will not remain crisp for more than an hour.

Toffee Bits

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 tablespoons water

Place all ingredients in a pan and bring to a hard boil, cook until a candy thermometer reads hard crack. Poor onto a greased sheet of aluminum foil. Allow to set, chop.

Caramel Sauce

3/8 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1/8 cup light corn syrup

3/8 cup whipping cream

Combine sugar, water, and corn syrup in heavy medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and bring to a boil without stirring until mixture turns a deep amber color, occasionally brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush and swirling pan, about 10 minutes, until caramel has reached a dark amber color. Remove from heat, carefully and immediately add cream--it will bubble and clot. Stir sauce over low heat until sauce is smooth.

Florentines

If you are a toffee addict like me, the classic florentine cookie will be one of your new favorites. This flourless cookie is reminiscent of a toffee wafer and every bit as delicious!

Grrrr. I hate it when I forget the recipe at home. And I did. And I forgot to write up this post with enough time for Butchie to insert her comments, advice and general sarcasm into the post. [Reporting for duty, such as it is. --B.] Anyway, sorry for putting this up a few days late.

Moving along! I bought a new "toy." Okay, not so much a toy as the most insanely wonderful book, one that will engross me more than a pre-teen reading Twilight. Oi. [I think we're past the cultural moment when Twilight jokes are funny. Not that I'm going to stop making them. --B.]

The book in question is Bo Friberg's The Professional Pastry Chef. Nearly 1000 pages of baking glory, a glossary that doesn't quit, and tables and charts comparing, among other things, the composition of eight types of pastry dough. It's intense. There were types of dough I've never heard of, and in honor of this book that is teaching me so much, we made an adaptation of its Florentine cookies.

I'd like to say we immediately gloried in our success at this particular recipe, because that would mean that we are close to the level of skill this book deserves. That would be lying. So, when we first opened the oven door the reaction was a little less than triumphant. Turns out they spread out a little more than we had expected based on our previous experiences with florentines. We had one pan-sized florentine. But the good news is that this recipe is surprisingly forgiving--the sugar is so hot at first that it hasn't solidified yet, so we made an attempt to pull the goop back into cohesive cookie-sized forms. It resulted in rather misshapen cookies, but cookies nonetheless. Butchie actually thought they were cute that way [I like imperfect things, ok? Bite me (Edward). --B.], but while her back was turned I made a play for a circular cookie cutter and trimmed the edges back into perfect circles. I'm sneaky like that. [Sneaky like a vampire. Not that anyone likes those. --B.]

Then we tried our hands at making that iconic wavy florentine chocolate bottom to the wafer. It's just a fork and chocolate. I would have thought that would go a little better. [It went as well as a werewolf in a...ok, never mind, I'm done. --B.]

At the end of the day I am so thrilled about this book! I can't wait to keep digging my way through it! Anybody want to buy the book and bake their way through it with me? At 1000 pages it should only take us our entire lives if we bake one recipe a week. :) Who's in? In any event I can't start that this weekend, because in just a few hours I'm heading to the airport for vacation. But maybe when I get!

Florentine Cookies

7 tablespoons unsalted butter

Scant half cup sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1/8 cup heavy cream

Scant half cup almonds, chopped

Combine butter, sugar, corn syrup, and heavy cream in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Add the almonds and cook for about 3 minutes.

Refrigerate the dough until firm.

Preheat oven to 375.

Using wet spoons divide the dough in to teaspoon sized balls and place four inches apart on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Flatten each about to be about three inches wide.

Bake for roughly 8 minutes or until light brown.

If you prefer a perfectly round cookie, allow the cookies to set up for a minute or two, and then use a cookie cutter to trim the edges.

When the cookies have fully cooled brush the bottom with melted coating chocolate. Using a fork, you can carve the wavy pattern iconic to the Florentine cookie.

Allow the chocolate to set up and serve.

Enjoy!