Toffee and pretzel cookies

A small batch, salty-sweet treat!

Over the holiday season (okay, actually any time of year at all), I love having a few easy cookie recipes that I can whip up on short notice. Bonus point are always awarded to small-batch recipes for those times when I don’t have room to tuck extras into the freezer. For these delicious sweet treats, I recommend breaking the pretzels apart with your fingers to create pieces that are about 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) in size. To make these cookies even more delightful, you could add in 1/3 cup (55 g) mini chocolate chips as well.

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups (160 g) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon each baking powder and baking soda
• 1 cup (220 g) brown sugar (lightly packed)
• 1/3 cup (76 g) salted butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon (15 mL) hot water
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup (55 g) SKOR toffee bits
• 1/3 cup (30 g) broken pretzel pieces

Method

• Combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda in a small bowl; set aside.
• Put the brown sugar in a large bowl (use a stand mixer if you have one); add the butter, hot water and vanilla then beat until blended. Add egg and beat again till smooth.
• Add the flour mixture to the bowl along with the toffee bits and pretzel pieces. Beat just until combined. Place bowl in refrigerator for 30 minutes to firm up.
• Preheat oven to 375F.
• Drop dough onto parchment-lined cookie sheets, spacing about 2 inches (10 cm) apart. You can use two teaspoons or a 2 teaspoon sized cookie scoop to do this.
• Bake 8-9 minutes, until cookies have flattened but are still soft and chewy. Let cool for 5 minutes on baking sheets then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 2 dozen irresistible cookies.