The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap: Chocolate Orange Toffee Crunch Cookies

A few weeks ago, my friend Meagan (aka Scarletta), of Scarletta Bakes tweeted me to ask if I was participating in the #fbcookieswap. I quickly did a little research and learned about The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap being hosted by Lindsay from Love and Olive Oil and Julie from The Little Kitchen.

Hm. Let’s see…

Make a yummy new cookie recipe to send to three food bloggers in exchange for three batches of delicious cookies from three other food bloggers. Yeah. Amazing.

Not only was it a great chance to make a new cookie (as if I need an excuse), but it was also a wonderful opportunity to connect with other food bloggers.

Sign me up!

Meagan and I tweeted like eighth graders about how we so hoped we’d get each other (we didn’t), then I got busy coming up with a tasty recipe inspired by candy from my childhood.

I baked them up, they were delicious, I shipped them out…pretty much on pins and needles, waiting for cookies of my own to try.

Then I got a package in the mail…

The first cookies to arrive were these gorgeous and scrumptious Molasses Crinkles from Jen of My Kitchen Addiction.

The other cookies I got were these fun, festive Peppermint Spritz Cookies from A Clove of Garlic, A Pinch of Salt.

My third, and final, cookies were these rich Chocolate Chunk Peanut Butter Cup cookies from Danielle of Cloud 8 1/2 – Close to Bliss & Loving It.

For my Cookie Swap recipe, I was inspired by Terry’s Chocolate Orange candy.

When I was  little girl, my parents had the sneaky habit of buying us at least one candy that they knew we didn’t like for holidays. Then, they’d claim they forgot that we didn’t like said candy, and they would take it for themselves, rather than “letting it go to waste.”

For my dad, it was Peeps. Every Easter, he bought all three of us girls those giant packages of yellow Peeps. And every year, we all groaned in disgust. Meanwhile, my dad would “save the day” by doing away with the Peeps himself.

For my mom, her sneaky candy of choice was always Terry’s Chocolate Oranges.

But every year, she failed to remember that I, at least, loved them. It eventually became a race between the two of us to see who would get to my sisters’ oranges first: Mom or me.

I think my mom went about the whole sneaky candy trick better than my dad did. Chocolate Oranges have, like, 327 wedges of yummy chocolate in each package. There’s only about 12 Peeps, even the big packages. All for close to the same price.

I never regularly bought chocolate oranges, but I’d get one most years around Christmas time.

Then, they went and did this. Toffee Crunch Chocolate Orange?!

Yes, please.

I love the Toffee Crunch version of chocolate oranges way more than plain chocolate oranges. They’re a lot like Toblerone, but with orange flavor.

Okay, alright, so honestly, I never liked toffee all that much until a few years ago when I made my first homemade batch. Holy yum. So good.

I’ve never been a huge fan of super crunchy stuff, so toffee was never at the top of my candy list, but I love homemade toffee. So. Much.

My favorite homemade toffee is my coffee toffee, which I made Irish for St. Patrick’s Day this year.

Now I like to mix toffee into things whenever I can…like in scones. Or like today, in cookies.

These cookies are basically a crunchy chocolate chip cookie with lots of tasty toffee and a subtle orange flavor. They are amazing. Even if you’re not a fan of crunchy stuff, like me. They’re excellent dipped in milk or hot tea, or a dark espresso.

I had so much fun participating in The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap. I loved getting in touch with bloggers I previously hadn’t corresponded with and getting to taste their yummy cookies, and share them with my family. Hopefully, my cookie recipients were as happy as I was. If they’re anything like my family, I think they probably thoroughly enjoyed the cookies. I hope you do, too. Enjoy!

Chocolate Orange Toffee Crunch Cookies [Printable Version]
Makes 36 cookies

Ingredients

2 cups (254 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks, or 170 grams) unsalted butter,
melted and cooled to room temperature
1 cup (255 grams) packed brown sugar
1/2 (100 grams) cup sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla
1 cup chocolate toffee (find my recipe here [coffee optional] or store-bought)
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

More toffee for sprinkling on top after baking (optional)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat mats.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking soda; set aside.

In a large bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer, combine the butter and sugars and mix well. Stir in the eggs, vanilla, and orange zest and beat until combined. Sprinkle about half of the flour mixture on top and mix until just combined. Add the other half of the flour mixture and mix well. Stir in the toffee and chocolate chips until evenly distributed.

Using a small (1 tablespoon) scoop, or a regular tablespoon, scoop out tablespoonfuls of batter and place on the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 to 3-inches between each cookie.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until dark golden brown at the edges and lighter brown in the center. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack.

Recipe by Darla

**Disclaimer: This is not a paid endorsement. The makers of Terry’s Chocolate Orange (Terry, I would assume?) have no idea who I am. I just really love candy. I really love their candy.**

Be sure to check out Love and Olive Oil and The Little Kitchen for a complete list of all of the bloggers (and their cookie recipes) that participated in The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap.