If someone asks me what my go-to recipe is, this is it. It's easy (ish) to make, impresses crowds, and uses whole ingredients that make it a cookie everyone can enjoy! I love these Dark Chocolate Toffee cookies made with olive oil. They truly are the perfect balance of nutty flavors from the toffee and olive oil, rich dark chocolate flavors, and sea salt that brings all these flavors out.
The toffee may seem intimidating, but it is easier than caramel to make. Rather than adding ingredients at specific times, all the toffee ingredients get heated on the stove together. Look for the toffee to smooth out, get shiny, develop a medium-dark golden brown color, and it should be ready to set up on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Watch my video tutorial if you are unsure, but you've got this! Just make sure to have all your tools set up before you make the toffee, as once the toffee starts cooking, things move rather quickly.
Special Ingredients: Notes and Tips
Olive Oil: You may use a light olive oil or baking olive oil. The higher the quality, the better the taste, but I use whatever I have on hand, and they turn out delicious.
Sea Salt: Use a high-quality, good-tasting salt for sprinkling on top of the cookies. It really pairs so well with the toffee, olive oil, and chocolate, so use sea salt, a flaky salt, or a Himalayan salt on top.
Dark Chocolate: I like dark chocolate chips, as they're easy to add, but a chopped chocolate bar would also pair great. If all you have is semi-sweet, feel free to use those instead. The toffee is sweet, so it really is great to go with a higher chocolate percentage, but it's ok to use the semi-sweet, too. All chocolate pairs great with toffee!
Maple Syrup: Some toffees use glucose or corn syrup for shine and structure. However, I've found a liquid sweetener, like maple syrup, honey, or brown rice syrup, can help the toffee get that shine and texture, too!
Vegan Olive Oil Dark Chocolate and Toffee Cookies
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Make the toffee. Have a sheet pan with a silicone mat or parchment paper prepped next to you, ready for you to pour the toffee. You will also want a spatula and some oven mitts nearby, as things will move quickly once the toffee is ready to pour out.
- In a medium pot or saucepan, combine all the ingredients and heat over medium-high until boiling. Stir constantly. Once bubbling, reduce the heat to medium and continue stirring constantly. The mixture may seize; just keep stirring and wait for the sugars to melt. Continue to cook for about 5 minutes, until the toffee turns a medium brown color and the mixture gets shiny. If you have a candy thermometer, you will want to take the toffee off the heat once it reaches about 285 degrees F.
- Once the toffee is cooked, immediately pour it onto your prepared baking mat. Use a spatula to scrape out the rest of the toffee. Leave to set for at least 10 minutes.
- Make the dough. In a large bowl, mix the olive oil, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. The mixture should be pale and combined.
- Add the plant milk and vanilla. Whisk again until light, pale, and fluffy. A few minutes of whisking should do the trick.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and baking soda. Just whisk enough to make sure all the clumps are gone.
- Put aside the dry and wet mix. By this point, the toffee should be cooled. With your hands or the back of a wooden spoon, break up the toffee into small bits. I held my toffee with my hands, then broke it apart by hitting it with a wooden spoon.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet. Using a spatula, begin to fold the ingredients together. About halfway through folding, add the toffee bits and chocolate chips. Fold until fully combined.
- Portion out the dough and chill overnight.* Using a cookie scoop, scoop out the dough onto a parchment-lined sheet. I was able to get 14 cookies out of this batch. Place in the fridge for about 24 hours to chill, develop flavor, and rest.
- When ready to bake, pull out the cookie dough while the oven preheats. I recommend pulling out the cookie dough 15-20 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fareinheit. Place the cookies 3 inches apart, so about 6 cookies per tray.Top with flaky salt if you'd like.
- Bake for 7 minutes, then rotate the tray. Bake for 5 more minutes, until the cookies have darkened around the edges.
- Allow to cool completely on the pan, then enjoy.
