It’s that time of year again, folks.
Cookie time.
Each year, my pal Becca and I bake up 12 different cookies in celebration of the holiday season. We started doing this several years ago alongside the Food Network’s 12 Days of Christmas Cookies, but after discovering that we had no interest in baking a lot of their suggested cookies, last year we went wild and picked 12 days of cookies that we wanted to bake. We’re doing the same thing this year. When I first selected my 6 cookies for the season, 5 of the 6 were some version of chocolate chip cookies. Lucky for you, I expanded my horizons a bit and ended up with only one cookie with chocolate chips. That’s growth, people.
I actually let Eric have the final word on my cookie selections for this year, as cookie baking time coincides with finals week. And since we all know that cookies have a positive effect on productivity, I’ll be sending extras to school with him for his fellow students.
That being said, let’s get the 12 days of cookies started.
My first cookie was selected in the parking lot after church, a somewhat rushed decision since I didn’t realize December was arriving so quickly until a text from Becca reminded me it was time for cookies. So a quick search of my “Sweets” board on Pinterest resulted in these coffee toffee thumbprint cookies.
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2¼ cups flour (I used 1 cup whole wheat, 1¼ cups all-purpose)
- 1 cup toffee bits
- 2 tablespoons instant espresso powder (I used 4 Starbucks Via instant coffee packs)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 18 soft caramels, unwrapped
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Cream together the butter and sugar. Mix in the egg and vanilla.
- In another bowl, combine the flour, toffee bits, espresso powder, baking powder, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients and beat until combined.
- Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place on the baking sheets. Use your thumb to press an indention in the middle of each cookie (the thumbprint). Bake 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the cookies are cooling, combine the caramels and heavy cream in a microwavable bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, or until melted and smooth. Spoon a little caramel into each thumbprint. Let cool for 15-20 minutes to allow the caramel to set completely.
*recipe from Crumb
You can check out cookie selections from the past few years here. Happy cookie days!
-Ally
The Editor says
Reblogged this on Recipe Reblog.
kickinitnthesticks says
I love your idea of the 12 days of cookies. These sound amazing. I cannot wait to try them and possibly make them for Christmas gifts. Thank you so much for the recipe!
ericandally says
Thanks for reading! We’ll be sharing lots of cookie recipes over the next few days!