These Butter Toffee Cookies are irresistibly soft, chewy and crispy all at the same time. They’re rich, buttery and loaded with crunchy toffee bits. Perfect for Christmas cookie trays but delicious anytime of year!
If you love toffee like we love toffee, try my Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies. Another winner!
I’m all about easy cookie recipes and this Butter Toffee Cookie recipe is just that.
So easy!
The dough mixes together in minutes in one bowl, it doesn’t require any chilling, and the cookies bake up beautifully every time.
The simple butter cookie base is accented with crunchy toffee bits that add amazing flavor and a little crunch. Before baking, the dough is rolled in sanding sugar to create a pretty, sparkling affect.
These Butter Toffee Cookies are perfect for a holiday cookie tray but I crave them all year long.
Table of contents
Ingredient Notes
- Granulated sugar – Don’t be tempted to increase the amount of sugar in the cookie base. Once the dough is coated in sanding sugar (see below), they have the perfect amount of sweetness.
- Butter – Softened at room temperature. To soften quicky in the microwave, cook on 50% power for 15 second increments, just until you can press your finger into the side and leave an impression.
- Egg
- Pure vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder and baking soda
- Salt
- English toffee bits – Like Heath Bits O Brickle English Toffee Bits. Heath also makes milk chocolate toffee bits that are amazing in my Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies but you want plain toffee bits for this recipe.
- White sanding sugar – Check the cake decorating section of your store for sanding sugar or sparkling sugar. This is coarse grain decorative sugar that retains it’s crunch and adds a sparkling affect to baked goods.
How to Make Butter Toffee Cookies
- Add the granulated sugar, butter, egg and vanilla to a large mixing bowl. Use an electric mixer to beat at medium speed, scraping the bowl often, until creamy.
- Add the flour, baking powder and baking soda and beat at low speed until well mixed.
- Use a spoon to stir in the toffee bits.
- Mix the dough until the toffee bits are incorporated throughout.
- Use a small cookie scoop to scoop the dough into 1-inch balls. Shape with your hands then roll in the sanding sugar.
- Place the sugared dough 2-inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Place a small square of parchment paper over each dough ball and use a small glass to lightly press down to flatten them to approximately 1 ½-inch circles.
Baking Tip
Placing a small piece of parchment paper over the cookie dough before flattening it helps prevent the dough from sticking to the glass.
- Flatten the remaining cookies and transfer to a preheated 350 degree F. oven. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until the edges are just barely lightly browned.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack.
Tips and Variations
- If you love the flavor of almond, try replacing the vanilla extract with almond extract.
- Want a big batch? An 8-ounce bag of Heath Bits O Brickle English Toffee Bits measures just barely shy of 1 ½ cups so you can double the recipe and use the whole bag.
- Sanding sugar is available in a variety of colors. Use red and green for Christmas cookies or pink or other pastels for Easter cookies.
- For perfect, even-sized cookies like you see in this post, be sure to use a cookie scoop. If you use a small scoop, you should get close to 40 cookies. If you use a larger scoop, you may need to increase the baking time a bit.
- When I’m feeling lazy, I love my parchment paper sheets. They’re pre-cut to perfectly fit a large baking sheet.
Storage Tips
Transfer the completely cooled cookies to an airtight container, separating the layers with a piece of parchment paper. Seal the container and store at room temperature. The cookies will stay fresh for 1 week or more. For longer storage, refrigerate the cookies or see below for freezing details.
Freezing Butter Toffee Cookies
These cookies are an excellent candidate to freeze before or after baking.
- Freezing Unbaked Cookies – Roll the dough into balls as directed without coating with sugar, then load them up on a baking sheet so they aren’t touching. Transfer the baking sheet to the freezer for a couple of hours or until the dough is frozen solid. Transfer the cookie dough balls to a freezer bag or other freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to bake, thaw overnight in the refrigerator before coating with sanding sugar, flattening, and baking as directed.
- Freezing Baked Cookies – Follow the same directions for flash freezing above, then place the frozen cookies between layers of parchment in a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. Allow to frozen baked cookies to thaw in the container on your kitchen counter.
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Butter Toffee Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup butter, softened
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup English toffee bits, like Heath Bits O Brickle Toffee Bits
- 3 tablespoons white sanding sugar, (also called sparkling sugar)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add the granulated sugar, butter, egg and vanilla to a large mixing bowl. Use an electric mixer to beat at MEDIUM speed, scraping the bowl often, until creamy. Add the flour, baking powder and baking soda and beat at LOW speed until well mixed. Use a spoon to stir in the toffee bits until incorporated throughout the cookie dough.
- Place the sanding sugar in a small bowl. Cut a 4- to 5-inch square of parchment paper. Set aside.
- Use a small cookie scoop to scoop the dough into 1-inch balls. Shape with your hands then roll in the sanding sugar and place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Place the small square of parchment paper over each dough ball and use a small glass to lightly press down to flatten them to 1 ½-inch circles.
- Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until the edges are just barely lightly browned. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
More Christmas Cookies
Adapted from Land O Lakes
This recipe was easy to follow and turned out absolutely delicious! These cookies are chewy and were a hit with the family! Thanks, they will definitely stay in rotation in our household!
I think I did something wrong? My batter is way tout creamy and I can’t role in balls? Used exact ingredients. Even added 4 tbsp of extra flour and still no luck🥹
Hi Nikki. Your dough should have looked similar in consistency to the dough pictured in the post. It is a bit soft, but I’ve not ever had any issues rolling it. But, coat your hands in a bit of flour should help in situations like this.
how about a little salt on top of cookie,? try it you may like it