On this Sunday morning, the wind is howling and rain is lashing our windows, and inside we are snuggled under a cozy sweater blanket with the christmas lights. Â I think it’s the right time to talk cookie bark.
The base is a toffee cookie – it tastes more like toffee candy than cookie. Â It’s miraculous.
Melted milk chocolate is slathered on top, followed by a sprinkling of toasted almonds and flaky sea salt. There’s really nothing more to be said except that it is insanely addictive.
Use good chocolate – it doesn’t have to be the most expensive, but at least something you would enjoy in a bar, not waxy chocolate chips. Â I usually buy Lindt bars in bulk at Costco, but for this I just used good store brand milk chocolate bars.
Maldon salt really takes this bark over the top. Â If you don’t have some, you should buy it. Â I use mine to finish all kinds of dishes – from salads, to pizza and most things in between. Â The delicate flakes kind of burst on your tongue with a crunch that is subtly, not aggressively, salty.
When baking the base, keep in mind that it should be deeply golden (you know, like toffee).  Because the ingredients are similar to a chocolate chip cookie, you might be tempted to under-bake, but this is not the place for that.  Also, keep in mind that the chocolate can take a long time to set – mine took overnight to harden enough to cut.  So plan timing accordingly. (Although in a pinch, you could pop the pan in the fridge – not ideal to submit chocolate to large temperature changes, it can lose its sheen, but your sins will be hidden under a blanket of almonds. I stored a batch in the freezer and it was totally fine.)
I used a pizza roller to slice the bark into irregular triangle shapes – that’s the fun part! (And eating all the scraps too small to store).
Add this to your holiday baking this year and I can almost promise that everyone will ask you for the recipe.
Salted toffee cookie bark
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter softened
- ¾ cup brown sugar packed
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
- 300 grams 10 oz milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup blanched sliced almonds
- ½ tsp maldon salt for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.  While oven is still preheating, spread almonds on a baking sheet and toast until golden brown - keep an eye to make sure they don't burn.
- Beat butter with sugars, egg yolks and vanilla. Stir in flour. Dump onto a large, parchment-lined baking sheet and use your palms to spread it out to a rough rectangle of 1/4" thickness (it doesn't have to be a perfect shape). Â Lightly dampen your hands as needed if dough gets too sticky. Bake about 15 minutes, until deep golden brown (it'll smell like toffee!). Â Let cool about 10 minutes on baking sheet.
- Meanwhile, place chocolate in a large microwave-safe measuring cup or bowl. Â Microwave at 50% power for 2 minutes, then let stand for 2 minutes and stir to finish melting. (Alternatively, melt in a heat-proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.) Â Spread chocolate evenly over cookie base, then top with almonds and sprinkle with salt. Let cool in pan until chocolate is completely set (up to 12 hours), then cut or break into pieces.
