Kit Kat Cookies from Imperial Sugar

Kit Kat Cookies - made dough November 1, 2023 from Imperial Sugar

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup extra fine granulated sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups (8 ounces) Kit Kat bars, coarsely chopped, plus more for garnish

3/4 cup chopped chocolate or chocolate chips, melted and slightly cooled but still liquid (I used Nutella)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar on medium speed for 2 minutes.
3. Add egg, egg yolk, vanilla, baking soda and salt; mix for 1 minute until combined, scraping down the sides and bottom of bowl to keep mixture even textured.
4. Add flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition until just combined. Do not overmix. Fold in chopped Kit Kat bars, disbursing evenly.
5. Remove bowl from mixer and drizzle in melted chocolate. Using the back of a wooden spoon, swirl melted chocolate throughout cookie dough, leaving ribbons of chocolate. Alternatively, dollop Nutella on top of dough before scooping. 
6. Portion dough into golf-ball-size dough balls and evenly space on baking sheets. Bake for 9-10 minutes until edges are lightly golden.
7. If desired, immediately press extra chopped Kit Kat bars onto tops of warm cookies. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

I'll be incorporating candy bars into my baking for awhile. In fact, while I was waiting for trick or treaters to show up on Halloween night, I was already surfing Pinterest for recipes on how to use up the specific candy I had bought. 

I figured it would be easy enough to add Baby Ruths and Snickers to brownies but I wanted something different for Kit Kats. I like Kit Kats well enough but rarely eat them. Okay, I rarely eat "grocery store chocolate" in general but when I do, I prefer something with caramel like $100,000 bars.

But I have nothing against Kit Kats and was glad to try out this recipe. It turned out really well, like a really good milk chocolate chip cookie but with Kit Kats instead of chocolate chips.

The original recipe called for melting chocolate chips and swirling them into the cookie dough before scooping. I made it easy on myself and just dolloped Nutella on top of the cookie dough, scooped out dough balls, dolloped more Nutella on top of the remaining dough and scooped some more. That way I ended up with generous pockets of Nutella in each dough ball.

Chop the Kit Kats coarsely and fold in by hand after you've finished mixing the dough and before dolloping the Nutella on top. You don't want the Kit Kats to be crushed or crumbled too much. Reserve a handful of the chopped Kit Kats to press onto the newly baked cookies as soon as you take them out of the oven. 

This was delicious. Stayed thick, had crisp edges and the Kit Kats added both the sweetness of milk chocolate and a slight crunch from the wafers inside. And you can never go wrong with pockets of Nutella in the cookie.