Claire is my mother’s friend, a lovely woman in her 80s, recently widowed, who brought my mom these fabulous cookies for a book club gathering. I couldn’t figure out what was in them that made them taste so good. I recognized some chocolate and a few nuts, but what was the rest?

For the Best Toffee Cookies, Use Heath Bars

Praise be to mom who delivered Claire’s recipe a few days later. Heath Bars. The secret ingredient was Heath Bars. Well no wonder! If you like toffee as much as I do, you’ll love these cookies. They were originally made by L.S. Heath (hence the name) in 1914. A former school teacher, Mr. Heath bought a candy store for his sons, who expanded it to an ice cream parlor and a factory. In the 1980s, after years of family squabbling, the Heath Bar was sold to Leaf, Inc., a Finnish company. That company and the Heath Bar was later bought by The Hershey Company in 1996. Hershey, who made the Skor bar as competition to the Heath Bar, now owns both. The Heath Bar is perfect for this recipe, because it contains toffee and nuts, resulting in delicious toffee cookies. You can also find Heath Bar bits in the baking aisle of your grocery store.

Tips for Storing Leftover Cookies

You can store leftover Heath Bar toffee cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to week (if they last that long!). It’s best not to refrigerate the baked cookies since the toffee can absorb moisture and lose its crunch.

You can freeze the dough before baking. The best way to do so is to shape the cookie dough balls in advance and freeze them on a baking sheet. Then, transfer the frozen cookie balls into a freezer-safe, zip-top bag. They’ll keep for about a month or so, as long as they are kept airtight. You can place them directly from the freezer to your lined cookie sheets. You’ll need to bake them a couple of minutes longer. Alternately, you can defrost the dough the fridge the day before you plan on baking them. Then, bake as directed.

More Toffee Recipes to Try!

English Toffee Banoffee Cheesecake Coffee Heath Bar Ice Cream Carmelitas Homemade Almond Roca

Note these cookies are supposed to be small and rather flat. The plate in the photo is a teacup saucer, if that helps give a sense of perspective on what to expect. In a separate bowl, combine the Heath Bar pieces and chopped walnuts. Set aside. Place dough balls 3 inches away from each other on the cookie sheets. (Make sure there is plenty of room between the cookie balls, and that the cookie balls aren’t too big. These cookies spread!) Then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!