Brown Butter English Toffee and Pretzel Cookies

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Brown Butter English Toffee + Pretzel Cookies || To Salt & See.

If you read last week’s blog post, you would already know that we have been having car troubles. We took our car to the Subaru dealership where we normally service the car, and found out that the transmission needs to be replaced, which would cost more than the car is worth. WHYYYYYYYY (insert all sorts of angry and sad emoji faces)?! So naturally after hearing this news we started frantically thinking about how we would get my car out here from California. We found cheap one way tickets to fly home in 2 days, and had the intention to drive the car out. I love planning trips, so naturally I was already thinking of how we could see the maximum number of national parks on the way as possible, and the beautiful places where we could stay in Utah and Colorado.

Plans started slowing down once those cheap flight deals were no longer available, which then made shipping the car out the cheaper option. So after a lot of thinking, estimating costs, and talking to my uncle who is a mechanic, we decided to get the car checked out by a transmission specialist. We have an appointment to take it in on Thursday, so wish our car luck!

In the meantime, we are feeling first hand the inconveniences of not having a car, and realizing how much we took having a functional car for granted! Again, I am so thankful that, while it would have been best to not have this problem at all, that it happened during the month of July. Alex took this month off already in order to study for his next medical school board exams, so he doesn’t need to use the car to get to work now. And I am able to bike the short distance to and from my hospital.

Getting groceries and spending time with friends is a different issue… We’ve had to go back to the grocery store multiple times this week because we can only carry so much in our backpacks and side bag. (It also didn’t help that I decided to test 4 new recipes this weekend, and thus needed to get all those supplies in addition to our regular groceries). And in order to hang out with our friends in St. Paul, we’ve had to do a bike/train combo that turns a 15 minute drive into an hour commute each way. Needless to say, we are eager to get things moving in the direction of getting a working car again!

But do you know what makes you feel better when things aren’t going great? COOKIES. These Brown Butter English Toffee and Pretzel Cookies are so yummy! I don’t think that you can ever go wrong with the added depth of flavor and nuttiness that brown butter adds to a recipe, and when combined with the sweetness from the toffee, and saltiness from the pretzels, it creates a magical creation. These cookies are easy to make and only requires one bowl (which folks like me who don’t have a dishwasher greatly appreciate)! The recipe also calls for minimal preparation time and baking time, with just 30 minutes of waiting time as the brown butter cools. They are the perfect cookies for sharing with friends at a summer BBQ or World Cup party, or simply enjoying by yourself. 

Brown Butter English Toffee and Pretzel Cookies

Prep time:

Bake time:

Serves: 28 cookies

Ingredients:

  • 16 Tablespoons (1 cup) unsalted butter
  • 1 1/4 cups brown sugar, packed
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 3/4 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup toffee bits
  • 3/4 cup pretzels, crushed

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon mat, and set aside.
  2. Brown the butter: melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly with a non-plastic spatula. After a few minutes the butter will turn an amber color and have a nutty aroma. Quickly remove from the heat and transfer to a large, heat-proof bowl. Allow to cool for 30 minutes.
  3. Add the sugars, and whisk until incorporated.
  4. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla, and stir until just combined.
  5. Mix in the flour, baking powder, and salt.
  6. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, mix in the toffee and pretzels until evenly distributed.
  7. Drop by heaping, rounded 1 1/2 Tablespoons sized scoops of dough onto the prepared baking sheet, placing 2" apart. Place remaining dough between batches into the refrigerator.
  8. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the edges are slightly golden. The center may look underbaked, but trust me, take them out of the oven. Allow to cool on a cooling rack.