After making toffee, I eventually had to think of something to do with it (besides eating it in the middle of the night or sprinkling it on ice cream). I needed something quick to bake for a friend’s going away party, so I decided to jazz up some chocolate chip cookies. The toffee melts during baking making a delicious, if a little ugly, cookie. You will need batch of vegan toffee for this. To crush into pieces, place some larger pieces of toffee in a plastic bag and just whack it against the counter or pound with a skillet until they are the size you want.

Chocolate Toffee Chip Cookies

3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup Earth Balance
egg replacer to equal 2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
2 cups chocoalate chips
1 cup toffee pieces

Preheate oven to 375°.
In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, cream together Earth Balance, sugars, egg replacer, and vanilla. Add flour, baking soda, and salt and mix just to incorporate. Add chocolate chips and toffee and mix just enough to mix through.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment or a Silpat, leaving about 2 inches between cookies. Bake 8-10 min, until cookies are lightly browned around edges. Allow to cool for a few min on sheet before transfer to a cooling rack.

My success with making vegan salt caramels inspired me to venture further into candy making. My next adventure: toffee. It turns out toffee is much simpler than soft caramels. Essentially it is equal parts of sugar and butter caramelized to the proper stage. I started with this recipe and simply substituted Earth Balance and omitted the salt (because of the salt content of the Earth Balance). It turned out well, although I may have taken this first batch a little too dark. I elected to make a naked toffee as I had plans to use it as a garnish or in other dishes (stay tuned!). If you want to serve it as a candy on it’s own, you could top the toffee with nuts or chocolate (or both).

Vegan Toffee

1 cup sugar

1 cup Earth Balance

2 tsp water

1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients except vanilla in a large sauce pan (larger than you think you need) with a candy thermometer. Stir over low heat until Earth Balance and sugar have melted.

Increase heat to medium-high, stirring constantly. The mixture will bubble up as the water is cooked off. The Volume will increase dramatically at this point. After the water has evaporated, the mixture will collapse. Cook until you reach 300° on your thermometer.

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Poor toffee onto a Silpat

or parchment lined baking sheet and spread into a thin layer (about 1/4 inch) with a silicone spatula. Cool in refrigerator until set. Break into pieces and store in a sealed container.