Phew, that’s a mouthful…
a mouthful of Pistachio Toffee Dark Chocolate Chip Cookie goodness!!
Hello pals and happy Monday! After a fun-filled quarantine graduation weekend full of champagne, carrot cake, and all the trips down memory lane, it’s time to get back to business. And by business, I mean baking. It’s funny, my desire to cook/bake has definitely been on a bit of a rollercoaster throughout quarantine. When it first started 2 months or 10 years ago (not totally sure at this point), I was the gourmet cooking queen. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were elaborate, fanciful and new. I was getting my fill of baking in and had a stockpile in the freezer to show for it. Now, the desire has a bit more ebbs and flows. For example, one night last week I had a bowl of steamed broccoli, plain chicken & a slice of bread for dinner. And I enjoyed it in its stark simplicity. Life can be very funny that way. Sometimes it feels like you are crushing it and on a creative roll, and other times you eat plain chicken. “WhAt yOU GoNna dO?” – Rick, the Hormone Monster from Big Mouth. (If you don’t get this reference, I again apologize. If you do however get this reference, I love you.)
Now, let’s get back to the topic at hand, cookies. Last summer, my boyfriend and I took a road-trip from St. Louis, MO to Orlando, FL for a Physical Therapy Quiz Bowl. Yes, my boyfriend is in fact the cutest nerd alive. While on this road trip, we discovered some of the coolest little eateries, bakeries, coffee shops and markets while trekking across the U.S. of A. Surprisingly, there are indeed things to see in Orlando besides Disney and Universal. Our favorite find happened to be East End Market, a neighborhood market and food hall packed to the brim with some of the most unique vendors I have ever seen. We came for the coffee at Lineage and breakfast at Farm & Haus, and stayed for what are known as the best chocolate chip cookies in all of Florida from Gideon’s Bakehouse.
And by god, are they. The bakery opened at 10 AM, and there was already a line forming for pick-up well before that. The decor of the bakery was very modern Gothic, themed after the tale and time period of Gideon, a young baker from the 1890’s. The owners of the bakeshop just so happened upon a cookbook filled with his notes and doodles when searching for inspiration, and after reading through, decided to bring Gideon’s dream to fruition. This meant baking and selling some of the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever eaten. It was our last day in Orlando, so we of course panic bought a handful of the cookies for car snacking. Best decision ever.
While each one that we tried was incredible, our favorite flavor by far was the Pistachio Toffee Chocolate Chip. This cookie was the perfect mix of rich chocolate, crunchy toffee, and salted pistachio. Soft and crunchy. Sweet and salty. The absolute best of both worlds. These cookies are very much so meant for sharing, since they are about the size of 4 regular-sized cookies smashed together. Or, ya-know, don’t share! We don’t judge here.
Well, it has been about a year since we partook on this journey and I last ate one of these oh-so-special cookies. In honor of last summers adventures and the new ones to come, I decided to try my hand at baking some homemade Gideon’s Pistachio Toffee Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies. And well, I kind of nailed it. Like, they are pretty amazing and I am slightly over the moon about it. I really think you are going to enjoy them too.
So, without further ado, get to baking!
Pistachio Toffee Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup (1 stick) COLD unsalted butter (cut into cubed chunks)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg (cold)
- 1 and ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 cup dark chocolate chunks (or chips)
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips (or semi-sweet chocolate chips)
- ½ cup pistachios (salted & roasted)
- ½ cup toffee bits
Cookie Coating
- ⅓ cup chocolate chips
- ¼ cup toffee bits
- ¼ cup pistachios
Instructions
- In a large electric mixer bowl, add the cubed chunks of cold butter and sugar, beating until combined. Add in the vanilla and egg and beat again. Make sure to not over-mix.
- Add the flour, corn starch and baking soda into the bowl and beat on a low speed until a dough forms. Mix in the chocolate chunks, mini chips, pistachios and toffee bits.
- Refrigerate the dough for 15-30 minutes.
- While the dough cools, preheat your oven to 350° F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a separate small bowl, combine the cookie coating ingredients.
- Using a 1 tbsp cookie scoop, scoop out and roll together roughly 2 tbsp worth of dough per cookie. Place the dough ball into the small coating bowl and roll ½ the ball in the coating, leaving the underside uncoated. (You may have the press the toppings in with your hands so they stick, but don't overwork the dough too much. We don't want the butter to warm.)
- Place the coated cookie dough onto the prepared tray, leaving about 2 in. of space around each so it has room to spread. (I was able to fit 12 cookies onto one large tray.) Repeat the above rolling and coating process until you have ~16 coated cookie dough balls.
- Bake the cookies for 13-15 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Remove from oven, allow to cool, and finish with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt. Enjoy!
Notes
- STORAGE: Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Baked cookies can be frozen and then reheated for up to 3 months. Simply bring them to temperature in the fridge or microwave for 30 seconds from frozen.
- BAKING FROM FROZEN: The prepared and coated cookie dough balls can be frozen for later baking. When you are ready to bake, simply place the prepared balls on a baking sheet a few inches apart, and tack on a couple extra minutes to the bake time.
- IMPORTANCE OF MIX-INS: These cookies call for over 2 and 1/2 cups worth of mix-ins. The mix-ins are what keep the cookie thick and stop them from spreading out. It will seem like too much, but trust me, it is perfect. If you want to leave out any of the mix-ins, make sure to add in more of something else. If you don’t like or have pistachios, any other salted nut would be a good substitute. Feel free to throw in a mix of chocolate chips. Whatever your lil’ heart desires!
- ROASTING NUTS: I only had raw pistachios when I went to make these cookies, so I simply spread out about 1/2 cups worth of pistachios on a baking sheet and sprinkled them with a little sea salt and olive oil. I baked them for about 10 minutes at 350 F and they were roasted and good to-go.
- If you do not have cornstarch, add in another tbsp of flour!
I fully credit Gideon’s for this flavor and cookie inspiration. Our sweet road-trip was made even sweeter by these cookies, and I love the memory that a bite of these bring to the surface. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. These cookies are thicker than a snicker and ready for a party, so prepare yourself people!! PS: Don’t forget the finishing sprinkle of flaky sea salt. It is wonderful and of the highest necessity.
As always, tag me in all your baking adventures at @mads.eatz on Instagram. I am now also the proud owner of a TikTok , so feel free to follow me on that too. I barely know what I am doing, but it fun though!
Have an awesome week! Bake some cookies, soak in the sun, and find the little joy in each and everyday.
XOXO – Mads