The Ultimate Oatmeal Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookie

First, forgive the lack of photos. I had no idea how great these were going to turn out, so I didn't document the progress...only the final product. I modified a recipe from The Frog Commissary Cookbook that I found online. They turned out perfectly; crispy outside and soft on the inside with a sweet taste of toffee, milk chocolate chips and semi-sweet chocolate chips, and oatmeal. Totally yummy and a big hit here.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup salted butter (room temperature)
1/2 cup Butter Flavor Crisco
1 cup sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs (room temperature)
1 TBSP milk (whole)
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups "Quick Oats" (can substitute "rolled oats" but not "instant")
1 8oz package Hershey's Heath Milk Chocolate Toffee Baking Bits
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (important, they tend to stick)

In a large bowl, cream together butter, Crisco, and sugars until mixture is blended. Beat in the eggs, milk and vanilla. Beat until well combined. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Gradually add flour mixture to sugar mixture until incorporated using mixer at low speed and scraping bowl frequently.

Stir in oats, toffee and semi-sweet chips by hand until well-blended.

Using a tablespoon, drop dough onto parchment paper leaving room for each cookie to spread. I was able to get about 10 cookies on each cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-13 minutes. I found that 12 minutes was the perfect time for my oven, your mileage may vary. When you first remove them from the oven, cookies will be puffy but golden brown and the toffee adds a bit of sheen to the tops of the cookies. Take cookies out of the oven and cool on the cookie sheet on a cooling rack for 3-5 minutes before transferring to the cooling rack; cookies will continue cooking on the cookie sheet and will also "fall" so they're flatter.

Totally yummy, and then went like crack here. Enjoy!

Going nuts over bananas and Cheerios

In honor of Carol's Saturday Stirrings Cheerios gift basket giveaway at "I Throw Like a Girl", I'm posting my favorite recipe which just happens to include bananas and nuts:

Banana Toffee Crunch Bundt Cake with Chocolate Glaze

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups of ripe mashed bananas
1/4 cup milk, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
2/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
5 milk-chocolate-coated toffee bars, 1.4 ounces each, crushed to small chunks.**
2/3 cup slivered blanched almonds, chopped and toasted

Chocolate Glaze

3 ounces of semisweet chocolate
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 12 cup Bundt pan or fluted tube pan. Lightly dust with flower and tap out excess. In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, stir together bananas , milk, and vanilla until blended. In a large bowl, using a hand-held mixer, cream together butter and sugar until blended. One at a time, add eggs to butter/sugar mixture, beating well after each addition. In three additions each, alternately beat in flour mixture and banana mixture, until just combined. Stir in toffee chunks and nuts.

Spread evenly into prepared Bundt pan. Bake for 65 to 75 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Remove pan to wire rack to cool. Cool 10 minutes before inverting cake onto cooling rack. Finish cooling on wire rack.

Prepare Glaze:
In a small saucepan, melt chocolate and butter over low heat, stirring often until mixture is completely smooth with no streaks. Remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes. Pour evenly over cooled bundt cake. Place cake in refrigerator for 30 minutes to set glaze. Store cooled cake in an airtight container in refrigerator. Allow cake to reach room temperature before serving.

I'll be you could add some crushed Banana Nut Cheerios cereal on top of the chocolate glaze for some extra taste.

**My tip for crushing the toffee bars. Put the toffee bars in the refrigerator for a few hours before crushing them. I put them into a large Ziploc freezer bag, lay a dishcloth over the bag, and use the flat side of a meat tenderizer to crush them. Cooling them before you beat them means less chocolate rubs off onto the Ziploc.