Not Your Mother's Chocolate Chip Cookies: Candy Bar Cookie Recipes

A gooey, melty, fresh-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookie paired with a cold glass of milk is pretty close to perfection. The Toll House Cookie is a classic treat that has fueled many a mother-child bonding afternoon, an impromptu math lesson if you make a double batch, a sweet offering to cheer a sick friend.

Sometimes, there's no substitute for the original classic chocolate chip cookie recipe. Other times, there sure is. A favorite trick of mine is to sass up your basic chocolate chip cookie with candy bits. Ben and Jerry did it for ice cream, changing the freezer aisle along the way. You can apply that same impulse to cookies, with smashing success.

You'd be surprised how many kinds of candy you can mix into a basic cookie dough in lieu of chocolate chips. I have used Heath bars, Reese's peanut butter cups, malt balls, M&M's. At Christmas time, why not try adding candy cane bits to your Blondie? Combinations I've not tried, but bet would work, are Butterfingers or Kit Kats or Nestle Crunch bars. You even can break up a special dark or classic Hershey bar to have chunks rather than chips in your cookie.

If you want to riff on a classic, you've got to start with a classic. For cookies, that's the basic Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, minus the chocolate chips and nuts.

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 12 ounces of your choice of candy (If you are using a whole chocolate bar, break the candy bar into small pieces. If you are using malt balls or peanut butter cups, cut them into small bits with a knife. Reese's also now makes mini peanut butter cups that are just a little bit bigger than a chocolate chip. These and M&M's you can do as a straight replacement.)

Directions

• PREHEAT oven to 375 degrees F.
• COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Once mixed, add candy pieces. Place teaspoon-size drops of dough on a cookie sheet spaced about 2 inches apart.
  
• BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes until the cookies are a nice golden brown.
• Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.