I am zooming out the door, late as usual! Just wanted to share this sugary, easy chocolate confection. I am planning on adapting this for Christmas gifts (maybe a little peppermint oil?), but I don’t think you need a holiday as an excuse to make it.

Just a tip… When cutting into pieces, don’t cut with the knife, instead, simply stick the tip of the knife into the bark in the approximate place you want it to break and allow it to fracture by itself. Otherwise, the white chocolate will slide off the dark chocolate!

Don’t worry about having even pieces. There always seems to be someone who wants to small one and someone who wants to gigundous one. I don’t think you have to guess which one I have my eye on.

For the Recipe, click here:

Pretzel and Toffee Chocolate Bark

I guess I feel that when your pantry is fully stocked with the goodies to make chocolate cookies and there is a competition at work, even if you said you would take the day off, it’s just too easy to melt some chocolate and turn on the oven to duck out. Right?

Well, that’s exactly what happened. And since I will be missing the Anti-Valentine’s Day Party at the Eastern Standard in Boston for I believe the third year, I needed some chocolate to console myself. It’s not that I’m Anti Valentine’s, it’s just that I am Pro the Anti-Valentine’s Day Party at the Eastern Standard. It’s simply a decadent evening with bubbly rose and bubbly people.

So here is my final entry in the cookie competition. They are based very loosely on a recipe I found on Epicurious, but spun and twisted to my taste. Be warned, these are extremely rich, but if you like chocolate, they could become your new best friends.

Coffee Toffee Chocolate Cookies

1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar

4 eggs

3 tbsp strong coffee

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 1b bag semi-sweetened chocolate chips (preferably Ghirardelli or something similar)

1/4 cup unsalted butter

8 oz. toffee bits or crushed toffee bars

1/2 cup roughly chopped walnuts

Over a double boiler, combine butter and chocolate chips. Melt slowly, stirring often to prevent the chocolate from seizing. Once melted, cool slightly.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.

Combine sugar, eggs, coffee, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the wire whisk. Beat on medium for 5 minutes until thick and gooey. After 5 minutes, add melted chocolate and mix until fully combined. Add dry ingredients slowly. Stir in toffee and nuts. Cover and chill batter for 45 minutes to an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with wax paper and grease paper. Drop batter by 2 tbsp measurements onto sheets. Bake 12-14 minutes. Cookies should still look underdone. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet at least 2 minutes before removing them to a cooling rack.