Sticky Toffee Cookies

Yield: About 10 Cookies

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

Cookies:

6 Large Medjool Dates (pitted)

¾ c. Water

1 c. All Purpose Flour

1 tsp. Baking Powder

¼ tsp. Baking Soda

2 oz. Salted Butter (room temp)

¾ c. Light Brown Sugar

1 Large Egg 

½ tsp. Vanilla Paste

Sticky Toffee Sauce:

1 ¼ c. Heavy Cream

2 oz. Salted Butter

½ c. Golden Syrup

½ c. Granulated Sugar

½ c. Light Brown Sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Prepare a large baking sheet with parchment paper. 
2. In a medium saucepan, place all sticky toffee sauce ingredients into the pot and set the stove top burner to medium-high. Occasionally stir the sauce. After about 30 - 40 minutes, a very thick caramel sauce will form. Turn the heat all the way down to low and allow the sticky toffee sauce to remain warm while you bake the cookies. This sauce will be used later. 
3. In a small saucepan, cover the (pitted) medjool dates in water and bring to a boil. Boil for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until all of the water has been soaked up. Place the boiled dates into a food processor. Pulse until a puree has formed. 
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, baking powder, & baking soda. Whisk until all ingredients are fully incorporated. 
5. Using a stand mixer, with the whisk attachment, whisk together the salted butter & light brown sugar. After about 1 minute, add the egg and vanilla paste. Whisk on medium high until the mixture turns a pale color, about 3 minutes. Turn off the stand mixer.
6. Remove the whisk attachment, and replace it with the paddle attachment. Add in the medjool date puree and set the stand mixer to a medium speed. Once the medjool date puree is fully incorporated, set the stand mixer to a medium-low speed. Then, gradually add the flour mixture until a fluffy sticky dough has formed. You can, of course, turn up the speed of the mixer; however, you do run the risk of powder escaping the mixing bowl. Also, occasionally pause the mixing to use a soft spatula to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl. 
7. Oil your palms for this next step! Using a small (1 Tbsp.) ice cream scooper, scoop out two lots of dough, and place onto the prepared baking sheet. Gently shape the dough into a cookie shape. I stacked one scoop on top of the next, and then used my flat palm to gently press down the cookie dough. Space the cookies about 2 inches apart. Place the baking sheet onto the middle rack (very important). Bake the cookies for 8 - 10 minutes. 
8. As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, use the back of a spoon to press down the tops. This will create a place for the sticky toffee sauce to pool. Spoon the sticky toffee sauce onto each cookie and paint the cookies, with the sauce, with the back of a spoon. Spoon backs are so important here! Place the cookies back into the oven (on the middle rack still), and allow them to bake for another 3 minutes. 
9. Once the cookies have had about 5 minutes to cool, very carefully transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely. We stored these cookies in the refrigerator, and they were incredible cold and dipped in creamy milk. 
10. Enjoy!!