Hazelnut Toffee Cookie Bark

A 35 minute, sweet and simple dessert filled with Hazelnuts goodness. And Yes!! its a fast and easy dessert recipe that’s perfect for your holiday baking.

The base is a toffee cookie - it tastes more like toffee candy than cookie.  It's marvellous. Melted dark chocolate is slathered on top, followed by a sprinkling of toasted hazelnuts and flaky sea salt. There's really nothing more to be said except that it is insanely addictive. 

Hazelnuts are a favourite in my home. I like to have them with almost anything. Especially, when it comes to hazelnuts in baked goods, I can out eat them like how most birds can eat twice their weight.

I’m also sure we can all find comfort in a sweet and simple dessert that is as easy to make as mix, melt and chill.

Happy Holiday Baking!! J

Hazelnut Toffee Cookie Bark

Duration 35 Mins

Preparation 20 Mins

Cooking 15 Mins

Yields 15 – 20

Ingredients

½ cup salted butter, softened

6 tbsp brown sugar, packed

6 tbsp granulated sugar

1 large egg yolk      

½ tsp hazelnut extract

175 g all purpose flour

150 g (10 oz) Ghirardelli chocolate, coarsely chopped

½ cup hazelnuts

¼ tsp sea salt, for sprinkling

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350ºF/ 180 ºC.  While oven is still preheating, spread hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast until golden brown - keep an eye to make sure they don't burn. Once they cool down, chop them.

Beat butter with sugars, egg yolk and vanilla. Stir in flour. Dump onto a large, parchment-lined baking sheet and use your palms to spread it out to a rough rectangle of 1/4" thickness (it doesn't have to be a perfect shape).  Lightly dampen your hands as needed if dough gets too sticky. Bake about 15 minutes, until deep golden brown (it'll smell like toffee!).  Let cool about 10 minutes on baking sheet. 

Meanwhile, place chocolate in a large microwave-safe measuring cup or bowl.  Microwave at 50% power for 2 minutes, then let stand for 2 minutes and stir to finish melting. (Alternatively, melt in a heat-proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.)  Spread chocolate evenly over cookie base, then top with almonds and sprinkle with salt. Let cool in pan until chocolate is completely set (up to 12 hours), then cut or break into pieces. 

Notes

1.      Use good chocolate - it doesn't have to be the most costly, but at least something you would enjoy in a bar.  I usually Ghirardelli buy bars in bulk. 

2.      When baking the base, keep in mind that it should be deeply golden (you know, like toffee).  Because the ingredients are similar to a chocolate chip cookie, you might be tempted to under-bake, but this is not the place for that.  

3.      Keep in mind that the chocolate can take a long time to set - mine took around 45 minutes to harden enough to cut.  Also if you temper the chocolate just right it will set quickly. So plan timing accordingly. (If need be, you could pop it in the fridge - not ideal to submit chocolate to large temperature changes, it can lose its sheen, but it will be hidden under a blanket of hazelnuts.)