“You know you’re crazy,” says my husband as he observes the kitchen counter covered with crumbs and cookies in various stages; each pile labeled with sticky notes. Yes, I realize I’m crazy…but I don’t care. Some people are passionate about music or sports. Me – I love to play with food. I love to develop and perfect a great recipe. I love to research why certain ingredients and techniques create different results. I love to hear, “OMG that is the best _____ ever!” Crazy = Tasty food, so watch who you’re calling crazy!
This toffee bar cookie originated when I was a second grade teacher at Mattison Avenue Elementary in the early 90’s. We were a tight knit group who loved teaching and working at this great little neighborhood school in Ambler, PA. I would make big batches at holiday time and give them as gifts to my school friends. They became a delicious tradition of many years. I haven’t made those cookies in quite a while, but a taste for them must still linger…as I recently received an email from a school friend I hadn’t spoken to in ages – asking for the recipe! The recipe was not super original – I would simply mix up a batch of Toll House Cookie dough, but instead of chocolate chips, stir in a dozen crunched up Skor Bar toffee candy bars. Hmm…Maybe I should make some!
Well, the first batch did not look amazingly appealing, they spread in the oven and came out completely flat. I think I made them exactly how I used to. Was I happy with completely flat cookies back then, or was my gas powered apartment oven of the 90’s a perfect cookie baking machine? I wonder what causes cookies to come out flat? Do I need to tweak the recipe? Is my oven accurate? Should I change the baking temperature? And so the madness begins… After consulting some cookbooks and noodling around online, I decided to play with the ingredients a little, I would increase the flour just a smidge, adjust the ratio of sugars and decrease the baking soda. Also, I wanted to explore creaming the butter vs using melted butter and baking on ungreased shiny baking pans vs parchment lined ones.
In the end, I came up with a craggily topped and slightly mounded, buttery tasting, toffee filled, chewy cookie that was absolutely delicious!
I dedicate this cookie to all those students, families, teachers and staff who enjoyed their time at Mattison Avenue Elementary School as much as I did. The school was closed last June for the last time.
Skor Bars: These toffee bars make all the difference, IMHO!
If you’re unfamiliar, a Skor bar is a rich, crispy buttery toffee milk chocolate covered candy bar. I was curious as to how exactly they differ from other toffee bars and found a great blog that compared 3 popular toffee bars. I do not recommend using toffee chips. You really want the various textures you get when these candy bars are crunched up by hand; dust, crumbs and chunks…mmm…
The Findings of my Experiments – The Baked Results:
I will preface this by saying that none of these cookies tasted horrible! They were all happily gobbled up by my trusted taste testers. However, the one on the bottom left was the clear winner in my book. You can see by its smaller diameter that it did not spread out like all the others. (I controlled the dough balls by using a measured cookie scoop.)
Outstanding! I always love your thoughtful approach to recipes. And, by the way, I love crazy! 😉
Thank you very much Mister Martha!! Crazy loves good company! ( ;
Tina,
You just made my day!!! I can’t wait to make these and to share your blog with Mattison Friends!!!
Yum!!! I can taste them now!! What wonderful memories!! Kathy 🙂
Yay!! Glad you like ( :
Loved my Mattison Avenue days – they were long days, but great ones filled with wonderful people!!
Hope they taste as good as you remember.
Tina
These are delicious !! We all love them. Your details are wonderful, reminds me of someone I know. We are not crazy just can’t help the cooking bug !! Thanks so much for sharing.
We do have the cooking bug don’t we Joanne!! So happy that you made the cookies and enjoyed them – makes me so happy!! ( ;
These look amazing! You are definitely not crazy! Just passionate! And, like you said, the results speak for themselves! I definitely want to make these. Pinning!
Hi Kristin – Thank you so much!! I know you understand the crazy I’m talking about!! Thanks for pinning ( :
Tina, I loved your story, I do remember those school mornings. I plan on making these for my Book Talk group next week. Mom
Hey there Mom!! Good job on figuring out how to comment!! WooHoo for you!!
Yes, busy school mornings ( :
I hope the Book Talk group loves them!!!
They sell the Skor bars where they sell the single candy bars – usually near the check-outs.
I have bought them recently at CVS and Acme. Wawa may have them too!
Let me know if you have any questions!
XOXO Love u!!
Tina- It was so great seeing you at our Mattison BAM group! The Mattison Ave. cookies are amazing and I can’t wait to make them for my Mattison graduates!! SO proud of you…Hope to see you soon!
So great to see you too Terry!! Looking forward to many more BAM groups ( :
Hi Tina, trying out this recipe! I couldn’t find the skorr bars in the three stores I went in so ended up using chocolate chips. I’m wondering about your thoughts on the pampered chef baking stone vs. "Shiny silver" baking sheets? Looking forward to trying them! Sarah????
Hi Sarah –
Thanks for trying out the recipe! I find the Skor bars at CVS at the check-out counter where they sell the single candies and gum. I also find them at ACME again at the check out.
I have never used a PC baking stone, so I can’t say. I like "shiny silver" baking sheets as opposed to those dark non-stick ones. In my experience, the dark coating gets hotter and tends to burn the bottoms of cookies. I do like using parchment paper with these cookies as the toffee from the skor bars can make them stick a bit.
Let me know how they turn out!!
Thanks!! Tina