2teaspoonsvanilla extractI LOVE Mexican vanilla in these cookies!
⅓teaspoonsalt
¾teaspoonbaking soda
2 ¼cups (300g)white flour
3Heath Bars(or use 1 cup (155g) Heath baking bits)
⅓cup (38g)finely chopped pecans,optional
2packages (4 ounces EACH)semi-sweet or milk chocolate baking bars (divided)OR use 1 (160g) cups milk chocolate chips
Optional: Maldon sea salt flakes
Instructions
BUTTER: In a large bowl, place the butter and partially melt. There will be chunks, but it should be about 80% melted. Let the butter come back to room temperature before adding in sugars. If the butter is still hot, it will melt the sugar and cause greasy cookies. If you fully melt the butter, it's fine, it just needs an extra few minutes to cool down.
SUGARS: Add in the brown sugar and white sugar. Whisk together until just combined and smooth.
REMAINING WET INGREDIENTS: Add in 1 large egg and 1 egg yolk. (Discard the whites or save for another recipe.) Add in the vanilla extract and mix.
DRYINGREDIENTS: Add in the salt, baking soda, and white flour (See Note 1). Mix until just combined, being careful to not over-mix.
ADD INS: Add in the coarsely chopped Heath bars or 1 cup Heath baking bits, 1 package of a coarsely chopped baking bar (save the other baking bar for step 9) or add 1 cup milk chocolate chips. Add in the finely chopped pecans if desired. Mix into the dough. Cover the bowl tightly and chill for 1 to 8 hours.
BAKE: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a pan with parchment paper or use a nonstick liner. Roll balls of dough into tall cylindrical balls (see picture above for shape and size). If the dough gets at too warm while rolling balls, place on a cookie sheet and then chill for 10-20 minutes in the fridge; we want the dough going into the oven to be cool-- not at all warm. Place 6-8 cookie balls on a sheet to give the cookies plenty of room to spread.
BAKE CONT.: Bake for 8-12 minutes, erring on the side of under-baking, which keeps them soft and chewy. The cookies will bake a little more out of the oven, so take them out as soon as the edges start to lightly brown.
FINISHINGTOUCHES: Remove from the oven and if desired, press a few additional chocolate or Heath bar pieces into the top (to make them look pretty and ensures chocolate in every bite). Allow to cool on the baking tray for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
OPTIONAL: Dip in chocolate: coarsely chop the last baking bar and place the chopped chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in bursts of 15 seconds stirring in between each burst for 15 seconds until melted. Drizzle melted chocolate over cookies or dip half of the cookie in the melted chocolate. Add a sprinkle of sea salt if desired. Let stand at room temperature to harden.
Notes
Note 1: Measuring flour: When measuring the flour, do not press the measuring cup into the bag of flour, as overfills the measuring cup. Spoon the flour into the cup and then level. The flour should completely fill up the cup without being packed in. Measuring the flour correctly is going to give you the most success with this recipe. If the cookies are spreading too much you likely didn't add enough flour; if the cookies are cakey and too thick, you have used too much flour.