Toffee Butter Cookies

It's been a while!

I'm back at Bowdoin following our two-week long spring break. As repayment for a ride back from the airport, I promised a friend cookies. Since she's gluten-free, I decided to opt for these cookies.

I've made them many times before, usually gluten-free but sometimes with gluten. The verdict - according to both me and others who tasted both - is that the gluten-free version is actually much tastier.

Here's the recipe, adapted from this blog (which is fabulous, by the way).

Toffee Butter Cookies

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup brown sugar, tightly packed
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup Heath Toffee Bits (not the chocolate covered kind)

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a stand mixer using a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar on medium speed, until fluffy, about three minutes.

Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined, about 30 seconds.

Reduce speed to low and add in dry ingredients, just until incorporated. Fold in toffee bits.

Divide dough in half and roll each piece into a log about 9 inches long and 1 ½ inches in diameter. Flatten logs into 2 ½ inch wide rectangles. Wrap rectangles in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 ½ hours.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Using a chef’s knife, cut dough into ¼ inch thick slices; transfer slices to parchment lined sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Bake until just browned around edges, 10-12 minutes, witching and rotation sheets halfway through. Let cookies cool completely on baking sheets. The cookie will crisp up as it cools off.

My comments:
To make this recipe gluten-free, I've found that the easiest thing to do is use a pre-made gluten-free for the dry ingredients. (I've tried making it with xanthan gum and it didn't turn out as well.) My personal favorite is Pamela's Baking & Pancake Mix. I find it at the local Hannaford. What I like about it is that it has little bits in it that complement the crunchy toffee bits well.

I use about 2 1/3 or 2 1/2 cups of this mix instead of the flour, baking powder, and salt. Other than that, I think I stick to the recipe. Sometimes with recipes I ignore the refrigeration step - but you cannot do that with this recipe.

This recipe is always a hit - people usually don't believe it when I tell them it's gluten-free.