Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

Brown the Butter

1. Add the butter slices to a medium sized saucepan and melt it over medium to low heat. Do not have the heat up too high, you want the butter to melt and bubble up slowly so that you don’t burn the butter. While the butter is melting make sure that you are whisking it continuously. Lower the heat if necessary and keep an eye that the butter is not starting to burn.
2. You will know the butter is properly browning when it becomes foamy and has a rich nutty scent and you will see amber colored bits of milk solids in the pan. At this point you will want to remove the butter from the heat and pour the browned butter into a large heat-safe mixing bowl. Make sure that you scrape all of the brown bits into the bowl with a rubber spatula.
3. Allow the butter to cool in the bowl for approximately 5-7 minutes.

Make the Cookie Dough

1. In a bowl, add the cooled browned butter to the light brown sugar and granulated sugar and whisk thoroughly. Whisk in the two eggs, one egg yolk and vanilla bean paste.
2. In a separate medium sized mixing bowl add the dry ingredients of the all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and whisk to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Using a rubber spatula, fold in 1 cup of the chocolate chips and 1 cup of the Heath Bar Bits into the cookie dough.
3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a small cookie scoop (I used a #40, two tablespoons sized scoop), scoop balls of the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Once you have scooped all the dough into balls, place the cookie sheet into the refrigerator and allow it to chill for a minimum of 2 hours (or overnight).

Bake the Cookies

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚ Fahrenheit.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the chilled cookie dough balls on there, spaced out approximately 2-3 inches apart. Place the remaining cookie dough balls back into the refrigerator to stay cold until you are ready to place them on a baking tray.
3. Bake your cookies for approximately 12-13 minutes just until the edges start to turn brown. Remove the cookies from the oven and while they are still warm, add the reserved Heath Bar Bits and/or chopped candy bar pieces to the top of each cookie and sprinkle them with the flaky sea salt.
4. Let the cookies cool on the baking tray for approximately 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.