I won’t post a recipe with an obscure ingredient just for the sake of novelty. I try not to ask you to special order something unless it truly adds to the recipe and significantly improves the dish.
So it was with some trepidation that I ordered a $15 bag of smoked brown sugar to experiment with. In my defence, I was curious. I had never seen smoked brown sugar before and I was intrigued. I’m not a huge fan of smoked fish, but I adore smoked almonds and smoked turkey. Plus, I love nothing more than kitchen experiments. My inquisitive brain wanted to see what would happen if I snuck some into a batch of cookie dough.
I was envisioning a cookie with a hint of that campfire smoke you associate with making s’mores. Sometimes there is a huge gap between what you wish for and what actually transpires. I ended up with a batch of cigarette flavoured cookies. Too smoky!! I tried them again with just a scant 1/4 cup of smoked brown sugar and while the smoke flavour was mild, they had an odd smell. reminiscent of sweaty gym socks. Not what you are looking for in a cookie.
But it was not a total failure. As my sister Jody is fond of saying, “mistakes are how we learn”. The texture of these cookies was stellar. They were slightly crispy at the edges with a pronounced chewiness in the center. I decided to make them with all regular brown sugar and I added a bag of chopped Skor/Heath bits to really enhance the toffee notes of brown sugar. I finished them off with a light sprinkling of flaked sea salt before baking.
As I munched my way through the new batch, I knew I had a winner on my hands. And I saved you $15. You’re welcome!
Thank you for saving me the trouble of experimenting on this one! 😉 Truth is, I hate smokey flavor completely. Saved from the horrors of smoked sugar, these cookies are moving to the top of my “bake soon” list. The textures and brown sugar-toffee combination sound fantastic!
Thanks Wendy. Yes, smoke is one of those polarizing flavours and I like a mild smoke on some things, but not in cookies as it turns out!!
Wow! These sound incredible! I cannot wait to make these! Sounds like these cookies are going to be my new favorite!!!! Thank you for the deliciousness😋
Will definitely make those next week !! Thanks for another great recipe !!!
Thanks Brigitte
They are my new favourite!!
Thanks Aunty Susie. They are fantastic and I ate way too many right from the freezer!!
A bartender in Vietnam once suggested I order their specialty ‘a smoked Negroni’ drink instead of my favourite regular Negroni. Big mistake, it taste like bbq in a drink! I’ll be baking these this week, thanks Cindy.
Linda, mistakes are how we learn!! Send me pictures after you bake them. Will the girls help?