Toffee Squares

One of my favorite things about New York City is that there is no shortage of amazing bakeries. After we moved here, I told myself that I would visit as many as possible. That’s a tall order. But, I do it in the name of all the baked goods in the city. How unselfish, right?

In the West Village, there’s an incredibly quaint little spot called Milk & Cookies Bakery. As you might guess, this place is known for its cookies. Quinn and I stopped by last weekend, and we both had a hard time choosing our treats. Ultimately, there were cookies. And maybe a couple of other things.

For those of you who can’t make it to Milk & Cookies, you can get a taste of it from your own kitchen with the Milk & Cookies cookbook. It’s full of recipes for cookies, bars, and other sweet treats.

These squares are a bit like a cookie and a candy bar rolled into one. The bars themselves are a tasty mix of brown sugar and nuts and chocolate chips. That’s the cookie-like part. Topping that off is all kinds of good stuff – butterscotch, chocolate, nuts, and coconut. The total package is a flavor-packed, over-the-top treat.

They’re easily customizable, too. So, if someone doesn’t like coconut (coughQuinncough), you can easily leave that out in favor of more of something else. Or, maybe add some toffee bits. I adore coconut, especially lovely toasted coconut, so I opted to top part of them with coconut and part without. Surely I win big compromise points for that.

Toffee Squares

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 & 1/4 cups chopped peanuts
• 1 & 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided
• 1/2 cup butterscotch chips
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup coconut flakes

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan. Line with parchment paper.
2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. Beat butter until light and fluffy. Add brown sugar and continue beating until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in vanilla.
4. Gradually add flour mixture, mixing until almost blended. Stir in peanuts and 1 cup chocolate chips.
5. Transfer dough to prepared pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle top with remaining chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, pecans, and coconut.
6. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until edges are golden and topping is bubbly and lightly browned. Cool completely in pan before cutting into squares.

Recipe adapted from Milk & Cookies.