Chocolate Toffee Pecan Cookies

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I love to bake. Baked goods are meant to be eaten when they are fresh; so my baking experiments, usually cupcakes, end up being passed off to my neighbors and coworkers. When I go to work with cupcakes, Al, a coworker, always says he wants cookies...with nuts. Even though I have all kinds of chocolates and nuts in the pantry just waiting to be made into cookies, I continually put off my promise to make cookies for Al. Finally, this week I made good on my promise and baked cookies for Al. It made me feel really good baking for someone else, and I'm pretty sure they made Al feel good too. I don't know why I put off baking cookies for so long because they were so easy. They were so much quicker than baking a cake with homemade buttercream, which I continue to commit myself to baking weekly, hoping to find that perfect cake that tastes great and is equally beautiful. After looking through my stash, I pulled out Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate chips, Heath toffee bits, and pecans. I decided to try a new recipe and settled on"My Best Chocolate Chip Cookies" recipe from Dorie Greenspan's Baking from my home to yours. The results were delicious.This is my new favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. The cookies bake super thin with a crisp edge and a chewy center. So good!

Chocolate Chip Toffee Pecan Cookies

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 2 sticks butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 10 oz bittersweet chocolate chips
• 6 oz. toffee bits
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. (First I tried wax paper and then switched to parchment. Do not use wax paper! The parchment kept the cookies from becoming too crisp on the edges. Now is not the time to be a rebel... follow the recipe.)

Beat the butter on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add both of the sugars and continue beating until smooth, about 2 more minutes. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for one minute after each egg. Reduce the mixer to low and add the dry ingredients in 3 portions, mixing until just combined. With a rubber spatula fold in the chocolate, toffee, and pecans.

Spoon rounded tablespoons of dough onto the baking sheets, 2 inches apart.

Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes until the edges are golden, the centers will still be soft. Let the cookies rest for 1 minute before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.