Caramel Apple Toffee Cookies

Second week of January. The cold has settled in properly and the apartment is drafty in the way of all old apartments and I have been burning through my apple butter jar this week on morning biscuits. The apple butter is from October and it has been waiting in the pantry and January is exactly the right time for it: something made in the fall to carry you through the winter. That is what preserving is, Gloria said once. You save summer to eat in winter. That is all it is.

Tyler and I have been having dinner at his house most weekday evenings now, informally, without announcing it as a pattern, just: we both need to eat and we are three blocks apart and we like each other's company. He cooks two nights a week now, which has been an interesting development. He makes the things he grew up eating: biscuits from Debbie's method, eggs scrambled in the cast iron, occasionally the chicken and dumplings that he has been practicing. He is not a natural cook in the way I am but he is attentive and careful and his food has the quality of someone who learned to cook from love rather than technique, which is its own kind of correct.

I made him his birthday dinner tonight: smoked brisket, because I have learned to smoke it now and the cast iron pot works inside in January. He said: you made the brisket. I said: it is your monthly birthday dinner. He said: you have been doing this since September. I said: yes. He said: why did you not tell me it was a monthly thing. I said: because I wanted you to notice when you noticed. He said: I noticed. I said: good.

The apple butter got me thinking about apples all week — the way that one jar on the pantry shelf can reframe an entire season. After the brisket came out of the cast iron and Tyler and I sat down to eat, I pulled these caramel apple toffee cookies out for dessert: the same fall-to-winter logic as the apple butter, sweet and a little sticky and exactly right for a January birthday dinner. They are the kind of thing you make when you want to extend the warmth of an evening just a little longer.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 12 min | Total Time: 32 min | Servings: 24 cookies

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup finely diced dried apple or peeled fresh apple (about 1 medium apple)
1 cup toffee bits (such as Heath baking bits)
1/2 cup soft caramel pieces, roughly chopped

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Heat your oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Whisk the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg until evenly combined.
Cream the butter and sugars. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter with the granulated sugar and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Add eggs and vanilla. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and mix to combine.
Combine wet and dry. Reduce the mixer to low and gradually add the flour mixture, mixing just until no dry streaks remain. Do not overmix.
Fold in the mix-ins. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the diced apple, toffee bits, and caramel pieces until evenly distributed throughout the dough.
Scoop and space. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart to allow for spreading.
Bake. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are just set and golden and the centers still look slightly underdone. They will firm up as they cool.
Cool on the pan. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. The caramel pieces need a few minutes to re-set so they don’t pull apart when you lift the cookies.

Nutrition (per serving)

Caramel Apple Toffee Cookies — The Apple Butter That Waited All Winter