Brown your butter in a skillet to take these toffee chocolate chips cookies to the next level!
We are going to DISNEY WORLD! This trip was a year and a half in the making and it’s finally here! My side of the family is traveling down from Michigan to meet up with us. We are renting a huge house with THREE master bedrooms, two kids’ rooms, a playroom and a pool/hot tub and fully stocked kitchen. It cost us (as a group) about $200 a night. CHEAP! I’ll follow up with a post after our trip to tell you allllll about it.
I’ve gathered some Disney World tips from my personal Facebook friends, but let me hear yours! I could NEVER have too many tips! My sister and I are renting two double strollers from Kingdom Strollers so we have them with us the entire week. We have 5-day park hopper tickets, and plan to have one day to chill at the house or explore Downtown Disney, etc.
A friend down the road from me just returned from Disney and said that we should divide Magic Kingdom into two days instead of cramming into one day. Do one half of the park one day, then the other half the next day. I’m down with that! Now, can you tell me is Animal Kingdom worth seeing? I’m not a big zoo person…
Anyway, we are driving from Mississippi to Orlando so I can make a few things to bring with us to eat through out the week. These cookies will be one of them.
Here’s the deal with these cookies. I’ve been stashing them in my freezer and eating one almost every day. I look forward to having my little treat when it comes to these cookies. I first made them almost a year ago, from Julie’s site. If you don’t know about Julie and her recipes, head over there now! (You may never return here… but I’m hoping you do!) She’s a sweet friend, and has a cookbook coming out later this year. Yay!
Anyway, the cookies are phenomenal. I made only a few small changes over the year of making them. But, let me repeat again how well these freeze after being baked. When you’re ready to eat one, just remove it from the freezer and let it stand at room temperature for about 20 minutes. Or, you can microwave it for a few seconds, too. I prefer the room temp method, though.
Don’t shy away from brown butter! All you do is melt the stick butter in a skillet and let it cook (without stirring) for a few minutes until it’s browned. It gives the cookies a beautiful nutty flavor. SO delicious! Then, use a bag of the Heath toffee bits (you can find in the baking aisle). I like the ones that also have the chocolate, but just the toffee pieces without chocolate work fine, too. If you can’t find the bag of toffee bits, then buy some whole Heath bars and chop them up. No biggie.
PS – Next time you see me, I’ll be wearing Mickey ears. 😉
Brown Butter Toffee and Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 14 Tablespoons unsalted butter , divided
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar , packed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup toffee bits
- 1 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with silicone mat or parchment paper.
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Melt 10 tablespoons of the butter (sliced to ensure even melting) in a small skillet, swirling the pan as it melts and browns. It should be browned only a couple of minutes after the butter is completely melted. Meanwhile, place the rest of the sliced butter into a small bowl. When the brown butter is ready, pour it over the butter in the mixing bowl and stir until all of the butter is melted together. (Do not use the stand mixer bowl for this step, or any stainless steel bowl, as the heat from the brown butter will not cool enough and will cause the cookies to bake unevenly.)
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Combine both sugars, salt and vanilla to a large mixing bowl (this can be the stand mixer bowl). Add the melted butter and beat until everything is incorporated. Add the egg and egg yolk, and continue to beat at medium speed until smooth and no sugar granules appear.
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Allow the mixture to rest for 3 minutes while you use a separate bowl to whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside. After 3 minutes is up, come back to the sugar/butter mixture and beat at high speed for 30 seconds. Repeat this process of resting and beating for 2 more times until the mixture is thick and smooth.
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Stir in the flour and baking soda until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and toffee bits.
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Use a medium sized cookie scoop to spoon the cookie dough onto the baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes (rotating the pans halfway through), or until the edges are crispy and insides are still soft.
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Allow the cookies to rest for 5 to 10 minutes on the cookie sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
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Recipe Source: Table for Two, originally from Cook's Illustrated
A cookie a day keeps the doctor away, that’s what they say isn’t it? 🙂
My boys LOVED Animal Kingdom, it was the surprise hit of the whole trip I think. You need to make time to see the Lion King stage show, your boys would enjoy that. Do the safari trip, that was Joel’s favorite as the giraffes came up close to the safari truck, he was talking about it for days. It’s not as big as the other parks so you can do it in a day easily.
My favorite ride was Soarin’ in Epcot, we did one that several times 🙂
We finished Animal Kingdom by 4ish so we went to Epcot for the evening. My kids were 12 and 15 at the time so they could handle a really long day. Use the fast passes and keep in mind that popular rides run out of fast passes very early in the day. Check out the websites that list fast pass rides vs continuously loading rides. While waiting in line, look for hidden mickeys (there are web sites devoted to that). Bring snacks. That kept the boys busy during long lineups. Go to rides during parades, then take your spot to watch the parade near the endd of the route. Take the time to do the “boring” or less popular rides/shows because they give you a forced break. Have fun! By the way, my kids loved Epcot the most.
Thank you! GREAT tips! This is my first time hearing about the hidden Mickeys in line. Will have to look that up! 🙂
I will second the comment about the safari ride. It was a little bumpy and longer than I had anticipated (maybe 20 minutes) but was a great relax time. Our guide was very good.
I didn’t think the food purchase options at Animal Kingdom were as extensive as some of the other parks. Definitely take snacks. I used a backpack so my hands were free.
We are repeat offenders when it comes to Disney – we go at least once a year with our girls. My girls are about the same age as your boys and I’ve found that the park hopper passes are a great investment. Animal kingdom, Hollywood studios and Epcot just aren’t full day parks with an almost 5 year old and a 2 year old. We typically spend a few hours and ride the few rides we can with the girls and end up at the Magic Kingdom in the evenings! Have a magical time!
That’s sort of what I was thinking… glad we got the hoppers! 🙂 Thanks, Beth!
We just got back in November and I miss it so much. Anyway, here’s the biggest things I learned:
Don’t go to Downtown Disney Friday through Sunday. It’s insanely crowded. Go Monday through Thursday. Much better. And when you do go, eat at Earl of Sandwich. OMG, so good. Holiday sandwich is amazing.
The food in Disney is just ok. I read all these reviews of the great food and wasn’t impressed at all. The hot dogs at Casey’s are pretty good and the food in Cinderella’s Castle is delicious. Mickey waffles are good too. Otherwise, it’s just ok.
Stay for Wishes. Even if the kids fall asleep. It’s pure magic.
Set aside pool time! I think you already did that but my kid asked for the pool hourly. It was slightly ridiculous but she was happy once we spent an afternoon there.
I planned our trip to the minute, naps included. On day one all my daughter did was cry because she was tired. So we hit the “abort mission” button and went back to the room for a 3+ hour nap. We missed out on several things but she was in a much better mood. The rest of the week, I tossed our plans and just followed her lead. We had a wonderful time.
Have fun!
Oh, one other thing. Dole Whips are majorly overrated.