A Delicious Substitute Becomes a Favorite
What do you do when the family is expecting chocolate chip cookies tonight but the chickens haven’t laid because they’ve decided it’s winter already and you have yet to install your chicken coop light to fool them? Whoa! And you don’t want to disappoint your grandchildren who have mistaken you for a gourmet cook! Chocolate & Walnut Toffee Bars!
On a twenty dollar weekly budget in the late 60’s, substitution became common place. I hate to think back to what I used for butter. I still have my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, thank you Margaret, from the same era. This cookie is inspired by the recipe on page 151, Toffee Bars. The ingredients are similar to those of a chocolate chip cookie recipe … Omit the egg, soda, and white sugar, and voila, you have Chocolate & Walnut Toffee Bars.
You can double the recipe. Our family is into hot from the oven. So, I generally opt for a smaller batch. This recipe makes 16 two inch bars if an 8″ by 8″ baking pan is used.
These Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies are crisp around the edges with just enough shortening to give them a little lift in the middle … making for a chewy center. The almonds add the crunch. Milk chocolate chips as well as raw almonds get lost in this cookie. So, I’ve added salted roasted almonds, and half semi-sweet and half milk chocolate chips instead. This cookie is my creation. I’ve been a lover of chocolate chip cookies and chocolate covered almonds for years. This is my attempt to bring the two together.
