Chocolate Toffee Macadamia Nut Cookies

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Oh dear…these cookies are good. They are perfectly chewy with crunchy macadamia nut pieces, toffee bits and chocolate. Mmmm! These cookie are a little too good to be honest. I ate a a few too many this past week. I brought some to my parents and they reported the same thing. It seems as these cookies have a magical power – they cause you to lose all ability for portion-control. *hehe* I made these cookies with the intention of freezing 2 dozen to have on hand during the week of Christmas to serve to guests, but they did not last long enough for any to be saved. This is a true sign that this recipe is a keeper and will likely become my standard chocolate chip cookie recipe. 

I hope you are all having a great week! Tomorrow is my Friday! Jesse and I both decided to take Friday off, so that we could go for brunch, do some Christmas shopping and get our Christmas tree. I think we’ll cap the day off with some hot chocolate and Baileys. Yum :)

ps. My apologies that my last few posts have been far from healthy. Tis the season! :) I’ll be back this weekend with a healthier recipe which frankly I need after polishing off a dozen cookies this week.
Ingredients
  • 1 cup of unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup of packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup of granulated white sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
  • 2 and 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon of baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon of salt
  • 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 3/4 cup of macadamia nuts, toasted and then coarsely chopped
  • 1/2 cup of toffee bits


Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 350’F. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat together the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Gently mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined. 

3. Stir in the chocolate chips, macadamia nuts and toffee bits.

4. Drop dough by rounded tablespoon onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Note: I baked 12 cookies per sheet. 

5. Bake in 350’F oven until the edges are slightly golden (about 12 minutes). Let the cookies cool on pan for 5 minutes then transfer cookies the a wire rack to cool completely.

Baked cookies can be stored in an air-tight container for up to 5 days. The dough can also be portioned out and frozen to thaw and bake another day.

Yield: 45 cookies

Source: Canadian Living Magazine December 2012

Chocolate Chai Shortbread Cookies

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Hello and Happy Holidays everyone! :) Can you believe it’s already December? It’s crazy how quickly time flies by – but I for one am extremely happy it’s the holiday season. For one, it means spending lots of time with loved ones and carrying on awesome holiday traditions such as watching Elf. (SANTA!!!) The holiday season also implies baking season – which I take as my licence to bake way too often and eat way too much of it! What can I say…I’ll jump onto the weight-loss resolution band wagon in January. *hehe* 

During the holiday season, I love baking cookies in particular. When Kristy at Keepin’ It Kind asked me to participate in a virtual holiday cookie exchange, I was thrilled! What a great way to celebrate the holidays and share recipes with some of my favourite bloggers. A cookie exchange was also an excuse to try out a new cookie recipe. Every year, I tend to make the same standard, tried + true recipes including shortbread, gingersnaps and jam walnut thumbprints. However, the past few years, I have made a new tradition of trying one new cookie recipe per year. This year, I opted to try my hand at making a vegan cookie to be enjoyed throughout the holidays. I wanted something spicy like gingersnaps, but with a healthy dose of chocolate. Alas, the Chocolate Chai Shortbread Cookie was born. And it is yummy! The shortbread is flaky, buttery and delicate. The spice is just right and chocolate adds a little something special. A different kind of shortbread to spice up your holiday baking routine! 

To find the recipe, please head on over to Keepin’ It Kind.

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season. May it be merry + bright!

ps. A huge thank you to Kristy for asking me to participate in the awesome holiday cookie exchange! 

David’s Tea Holiday Collection Giveaway

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I don’t think it’s any secret to anyone who reads The Fig Tree regularly that I love David’s Tea – a Canadian chain that has the best tea selection and sells lots of neat tea paraphernalia. And it sounds like a lot of you love David’s Tea too! In my last post, I mentioned how excited I am to use my David’s Tea advent calendar throughout the month of December. A new tea every day for 24 days – very fun! A lot of you contacted me to see where you could find your own tea advent calendar. After doing some research, I found the David’s Tea online is sold out of the calendars. And it appears a lot of the stores are too! 

But, in the spirit of the holidays, I thought you should not have to go without. So, I am doing a giveaway! The David’s Tea Holiday Tea Collection in fact! The holiday collection has three different festive teas: Santa’s Secret (a black tea with peppermint and mini candy canes), Sleigh Ride (an herbal tea with cinnamon, apple, pop corn, almond, raisins and coconut) and Merry Cranberry (a green tea with cranberry, apple, mistletoe leaves and blackberry leaves). I’ve tried all of these teas and they are wonderful. Sleigh Ride tastes like a delicious apple cider! Elf Help and Alpine Punch are my other two holiday favourites. A perfect blend of holiday teas to say thank you and happy holidays to my wonderful readers. xo

How can you enter to win? Please just leave a comment telling me about one of your favourite holiday traditions. One of my favourite holiday traditions is Christmas baking with my mom and my sister. We always pick a new cookie recipe to try and then make our standards – shortbread and gingerbread men. 

The winner will be announced on Friday, December 7, 2012 at 6PM CST. Two winners up will win a David’ Tea christmas ornament filled with festive tea.

Good luck and happy holidays! Wishing you all a wonderful December.