Candy in Cookies

I rarely buy candy. But on Halloween, when Miguelito and I swung by the grocery store to pick up sweets to pass out to trick-or-treaters, I urged him to buy the mix of miniature Nestle Crunches, Butterfingers and Baby Ruths. Why? I had an ulterior motive to bake cookies with the leftover Halloween candy, using a recipe that I found on Goop. (The recipe is listed below.) I loved the way the caramel from the Baby Ruths and the Butterfingers' peanut flakes melted and then oozed out of the dough before hardening into crispy circles. Since only one kid rang our doorbell all night, I had enough chocolate bars to chop into two and a half cups of candy. The recipe is so good, that I'd use it on any of the other 364 days of the year.
Crystal’s TNTs
3 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter (8 tablespoons) at room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
2 to 3 cups candy, chopped (recommended: chocolate bars or chocolate covered anything, caramel anything, chips, pretzels, raisins; just so-so: lollipops, hard candies; not recommended: gum, gummies, pixi stix)
Preheat oven to 375° F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk flour with baking soda and salt and set aside. In another medium bowl, cream butter and sugars together with a whisk or wooden spoon until light and fluffy (this takes about 3 minutes). Add eggs one at a time, thoroughly incorporating each, and then add vanilla and milk and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mix until incorporated, then fold in chopped candy.
Drop by rounded tablespoons (a mini ice cream scooper is my favorite way to portion them) onto cookie sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie (room to grow). Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on a wire rack.
Yield: 4 dozen cookies.

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