I can guarantee you’ve never had a cookie like this! These chewy chocolate oat cookies are baked with bourbon soaked oats and topped with a smokey bourbon toffee. They’re rich with a deep woodsy flavor that’s perfect for any bourbon lover!
How to infuse bourbon into chocolate cookies
Alcohol and desserts can be tricky because it’s very easy to use way too much or way too little. With these chocolate cookies, they give off a hint of bourbon flavor without overwhelming the cookies. They especially don’t have that tangy alcohol flavor either.
The key to infusing the bourbon into these cookies is through the oats. Before prepping the dough, oats are lightly blitzed in a food processor just to break them up a bit. This also leaves them open to receiving the bourbon which is tossed with the oats. Just two tablespoons is enough to incorporate the bourbon flavor.
The oats soak in the bourbon for about 30 minutes. They are then ready to be mixed into the chocolate dough along with the rest of the dry ingredients.
How to make smokey bourbon toffee
The star of this recipe is the homemade smokey bourbon toffee. It’s rich and sweet with a deep mature flavor. The toffee gets this unique flavor from three ingredients:
- Bourbon – Not only is the bourbon in the cookie dough, but it’s also incorporated into the toffee. It’s added at the very beginning to ensure the toffee is able to harden once cooled. If the bourbon is added AFTER, the toffee has a more soft and buttery texture which isn’t ideal for this recipe.
- Liquid Smoke – This is an ingredient often used in vegan cookie as it mimics the smokiness you would get from smoked BBQ. It’s essentially exactly as it says – liquid that has a smokey flavor. This is also added to the toffee but in a very small amount. It’s super strong so a little bit goes a long way.
- Smokey Salt – To top it off, the toffee is sprinkled with smoked salt. This is made by combining flaky sea salt with a few drops of the liquid smoke. Some of the liquid smoke flavor is cooked out when the toffee is heated, so adding it back in with the salt insures these cookies have a delicious smokiness.
The toffee itself is also very easy to make. Just heat all of the ingredients together until it reaches 290F. Then just pour onto a baking sheet and chill until set.
Why is the toffee not baked into the cookies?
I knew that I wanted these cookies to be topped with a pile of the smokey toffee, but I also intended for the toffee to be baked into the cookies as well. Clearly that didn’t go as planned!
For starters, the toffee basically disappears when baked into the cookies. The sugars melt straight into the cookie and vanish. The toffee also caused the cookies to spread uneven. If some cookies had a bit more toffee than others, they would bake into blob shapes that just were not ideal.
So, in the end the toffee is left on top and I prefer it that way! The delicious crunch is much more prominent when sprinkled on top, and the flavor is also stronger. I do recommend that you chop up the toffee as fine as possible as this will give the best eating experience. If the toffee is too big, it very easily gets stuck in your teeth!
Can I use quick oats instead?
I can’t recommend this, as the quick oats will absorb the bourbon flavor much more readily than old fashioned oats. This could give you a much stronger alcohol flavor.
How to store bourbon chocolate cookies
Store the cookies in an air tight container in the refrigerator. If you plan on making these for an event, I recommend storing the bare cookies in the refrigerator and top them the day of the event. That way the toffee stays as crisp as possible.
How to store the toffee
If you have leftover toffee or choose to top the cookies the next day, cover the toffee once it’s chilled firm and continue to refrigerate. It will keep for up to 2 weeks.
For more cookie recipes, check out my:
- Brown Butter Oatmeal Cookies
- Gluten Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Brown Butter Maple Chewy Pumpkin Cookies
- Maple Snickerdoodles
- BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies
Make sure to tag me @butternutbakery on Instagram and leave a review below if you make these smokey bourbon toffee chocolate oat cookies. To pin this recipe and save it for later, you can use the button on the recipe card, the buttons above or below this post, or on any of the photos above. Happy baking!
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Smokey Bourbon Toffee Chocolate Oat Cookies
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 9 large cookies
Description
Chewy chocolate oat cookies baked with bourbon soaked oats and topped with homemade smokey bourbon toffee
Ingredients
Smokey Bourbon Toffee
- 1/2 cup (110g) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp bourbon
- 1/4 tsp liquid smoke
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
Smokey Salt
- 1/2 tbsp flaky sea salt
- 2–3 drops liquid smoke
Bourbon Chocolate Oat Cookies
- 10 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (70g) dark brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg, room temp
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup (35g) dutch processed cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup (65g) all purpose flour
- 1 1/4 cup (125g) old fashioned rolled oats
- 2 tbsp bourbon
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 2 oz dark chocolate, melted
Instructions
Smokey Bourbon Toffee
- Line a small baking tray with aluminum foil. Set aside.
- Add all of the ingredients to a saucepan over medium heat.
- Stir until the butter is completely melted and the ingredients are fully mixed together.
- Then stir occasionally until the mixture reaches 250F on a candy thermometer. Once there, stir continuously until it reaches 290F. It should be bubbling with a rich caramel color.
- Immediately pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet and rock the pan back and fourth to level out the toffee.
- Mix together the flaky sea salt and liquid smoke using your fingers and sprinkle on top of the toffee.
- Place the toffee in the refrigerator to set – about 1 hour.
Bourbon Chocolate Oat Cookies
- Add the oats to a food processor and pulse about 5 times just to break them up. Then mix in 2 tablespoons of the bourbon. Allow the bourbon to soak into the oats while the toffee chills – about 30-45 minutes.
- When ready, preheat the oven to 350F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Combine the oats, cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
- Using a hand or stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together the butter and sugars on medium high speed for about 2-3 minutes.
- Scrape down the bowl and mix in the egg and vanilla for another 2-3 minutes.
- Add in the dry ingredients and mix on medium-low speed, just until combined.
- Toss in the chocolate chips and use a rubber spatula to fold in by hand, also mixing in any dry bits that sit at the bottom of the bowl.
- Using a 2oz ice cream scoop, or 1/4 cup, scoop out the cookies onto the prepared baking sheet, spaced a few inches apart.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes. When they’re fresh from the oven, use a fork to nudge in the sides if you have any cookies that spread a bit uneven. Allow the cookies to rest on the baking pan for about 3 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack and continue to bake the rest of the cookies.
- Once baked, allow the cookies to cool completely. Then, remove the toffee from the refrigerator and chop into fine bits.
- Drizzle half of each cookie with the melted dark chocolate and sprinkle the toffee on top. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
I had to add 5-6 tablespoons of bourbon to be able to taste it. Nonetheless, these cookies are so decadent, chocolatey and delicious! The oats give them an awesome, soft texture. The chocolate drizzle and chips make them so rich and delectable! I couldn’t find liquid smoke but I plan on making the toffee next time. Great recipe!
Woah, 5-6?! Did you change anything else based off that? How’d you like the extra flavor? I was thinking of doing 3, bc I want more of a hit, but 5-6 makes me nervous! Haha
These are special! The toffee is fantastic. I followed the recipe as written and they turned out wonderful.
These cookies look amazing so had to make them! They came out a lot flatter than I would have liked, and the bourbon flavor doesn’t come through for me. I’m going to freeze half of the dough and see if that helps. Otherwise a good tasting chocolate oatmeal cookie.
If you want more bourbon flavor, add 3 tbsp to the oats instead of 2 🙂