Oh my oh my! December is flying by as fast as this year has flown by. Time for some more Christmas Treats! This time, the work of one of the millennials in my family. I mentioned in previous posts and at all my classes, that we did a family bake a few weekends back. Here is the 2018 Christmas Treat #2 – Whisky and Chocolate Chip Rye Cookies.

This recipe comes from Lisa, my eldest niece who from the start has always been adventurous with food.  She says baking isn’t her thing – I disagree.  

Her husband agrees with me!  She found a recipe that appealed to her taste buds and adapted slightly by substituting some of her favorite flavors.  That’s what makes a recipe yours.   Now I could go on to tell you of all her accomplishments, but she would never forgive me. So I think I will just stick with the cookie.

Give this adult cookie a try and I’m pretty sure you will hide it in the cookie exchange! As always – enjoy!

1 ¼ cups dark chocolate, chopped
¼ cup salted caramel chips
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup rye flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
¾ cup (1½ sticks) plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup dark brown sugar
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract or vanilla paste
1 teaspoon Crown Royal
1 teaspoon flaky sea salt – we used Maldon for sprinkling on top before baking

If you are using a bar style chocolate or chocolate chunks, you can either chop with a knife or break into smaller pieces and pulse in a processor – knife method works best, just be careful

Whisk the flour, rye flour, baking soda, and kosher salt in a medium bowl
In your stand (or hand) mixer, with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy scraping down sides of bowl as needed – about 3 – 4 minutes.
Add the egg and beat just to incorporate, add the vanilla, and Crown Royal and beat until fully incorporated, about 1 minute.
Reduce speed to low and slowly add dry ingredients, mixing just to blend.
Mix in chopped chocolate and salted caramel chips – you may want to use your hands to do this as the dough is quite stiff, I did – divide dough into 2 or 3 pieces.
Form each piece, one at a time, into a log and place on parchment paper, wrap – repeat until all the dough has been wrapped – refrigerate for at least 1 hour

After 1 hour, preheat the oven to 350f, line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper – set aside.
Unwrap the logs and slice into ¼” widths, roll into a ball and place on the parchment paper about 2” apart – they will spread a bit, repeat until all the logs are finished – note, the pics in this blog are from the first role where we just sliced and baked – no rolling into balls, they turned out nice and chunky.  The second role we formed the slices into balls then flattened out slightly to get a normal looking cookie – I liked the look of these for my table.
Remember, make them small unless you only plan on only having one thing on your sweet table – I won’t judge, well maybe a little 🙂

Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden brown around the edges, 13–18 minutes (the cookies will firm up as they cool).
Let cool slightly on baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks and let cool completely.
Enjoy a few before you store them away for Christmas