Hi friends — happy first weekend of summer! I’m sharing a recipe for chewy chocolate chip cookies studded with soft milk chocolate and chewy toffee bits. They’re basically a Skor bar in cookie form. I’ve booked a babysitter for tomorrow so Adarsh and I can enjoy a full day together — maybe a bike ride and a movie. I can’t wait.
First, here’s a peek at our last weekend.
(5:46 a.m.) Everett, two years old: MORNING TIME! “Mama look, mama LOOK!” He cackles and announces, “mama me naken,” as he wriggles free of his diaper and climbs all over me. I rub my eyes, grunt, and shuffle downstairs to make Father’s Day brunch: a South Indian breakfast of sambhar (lentil and vegetable stew) and dosa (rice pancakes).
Everett dashes off: “Me want wallawellon.” He hangs on the fridge door until it opens, helps himself to watermelon and deshelves anything within reach before I reach the kitchen.
“Me want ganana.” He grabs a banana, eats one bite, then abandons it. Next he spies my bowl of crepe batter and insists, “Me want to stir that,” promptly sneezes twice into the batter and then demands Tylenol. He wanders away, then erupts in a banshee scream from the living room.
I drop the bowl and sprint to the sound.
Me: “What’s wrong???” (I scan for the source of blood or injury.)
Everett, yawning: “Me cold.” He’s still naked and relaxed in an oversized bean bag chair. “Put my clothes on.”
(Pause.)
Everett: “Uh oh.”
Me: “What?!” (Still braced for catastrophe.)
Everett: “Me peed.” Then he wanders off again, walking with legs wide apart.
I set aside the mess and sit down with my coffee to ride out the adrenaline surge while the sambhar simmers and fragrances the kitchen. I take a beat to survey the graveyard of watermelon rinds and banana peels. Everett climbs onto my lap. I sigh, kiss his curls, and forgive him — and receive a hard headbutt in the face for my trouble. My nose may now point slightly east.
Dada comes downstairs.
Me: “Happy Father’s Day, babe.” (Totally haggard.)
Everett: “Happy Halloween.” (Totally cheerful.)
That, friends, is an entirely average morning before 8 a.m. for me — which is exactly why I’ll be doing cartwheels out the door tomorrow.
Before my little date with freedom, I’m baking another batch of these toffee-and-chocolate cookies and heading over to a neighbor’s patio this evening for a drink. I’ve been so moved by the hospitality in my new neighborhood.
I met this neighbor for three minutes while out walking one day. Our kids are the same age, so we exchanged numbers and she invited me to a girls’ night on her patio. That kind of openness really touches me.
I wrote recently about the art of doing on my Instagram. I often catch myself spending hours “researching” — which is easy to disguise as productive work. Finding inspiration matters, but it’s easy to get trapped in endless scrolling and not actually create.
So this summer I’m choosing action over consumption. Step away from Pinterest and make the recipe you pinned. Put down the photography inspiration and pick up your camera — chase the gooey drips. Book the AirBnB. Close the Goodreads app and read a book. Hire a sitter and go for a bike ride. Text your neighbors and invite them for a glass of wine.
Motivation follows action. There’s never a perfect time for any of these things, so let’s make this a summer of doing. Are you in?
Toffee & Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, gently spooned into cup and levelled off + 2 tbsp
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup butter softened
- ¾ cup brown sugar packed
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups good-quality milk chocolate, chopped
- ¾ cup toffee bits divided use
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
Instructions
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Combine butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually incorporate the flour mixture, then fold in most of the toffee bits and the chopped chocolate.
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Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes (or up to 48 hours). Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375°F. Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls onto parchment-lined rimless baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Sprinkle cookies with the remaining toffee bits. Bake about 10 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through. Cookies are done when golden and still soft in the middle. Let cool on the sheet briefly, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Tried this recipe? Leave a comment!