Today I am sharing with you a trifecta of melt-in-your-mouth buttery goodness. Cookie dough, butterscotch and toffee work together in this recipe to make one tasty treat. Allow me to take you back a few years, giving you a  glimpse into my childhood and the influence my paternal grandmother had on my love for all things food. Both my grandmother’s have taught me so much in the kitchen, I consider myself blessed to have grown up in a family of cooks; no wonder I love dabbling with food!

Every year around Christmas time my grandmother would spend days in the kitchen filling dozens of tins with all the family favorite cookies, most notably a Caramel Butterscotch Bar. Everyone in my immediate family knew that when the tin came home with us, those bars were to only be eaten by yours truly. They were the best, and I ate every. last. one.

Let’s fast forward a decade or so later. My hubby and I were living in Phoenix at the time and we would often eat at a local restaurant that made pizookies, or deep dish pizza cookies for those not familiar with the term. Somehow, I had never heard of a pizookie until then, so naturally, being a cookie lover, this quickly became my dessert of choice. After that night, I began baking all different types of pizookies, but none quite compared to this toffee-scotch deliciousness, which was inspired by my grandmothers famous caramel butterscotch bars all those years before.

There you have it, the history of this toffee-scotch pizookie in a nutshell. Certainly, you can slice this pizza cookie up and serve it a la carte, but I prefer to enjoy this delightfully rich dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, some left-over toffee sauce, and toasted pecans.

Step 1: Press two-thirds of the cookie dough into cask iron skillet and top with homemade toffee sauce.

Step 2: Top toffee sauce with the remaining cookie dough, leaving space between each dough clump.

Step 3: Bake in the oven at 350° for 40-45 minutes and allow to cool before slicing and serving.

toffee-scotch pizookie

Prep time: 25 minutes / Bake time: 40-45 minutes / Serves: 8

Ingredients

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup milk
1 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup pecan, chopped/toasted (optional)

TOFFEE SAUCE
1/4 cup butter
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt, course
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Using a standing mixer, on medium-high speed, cream together 3/4 cup butter and 1 cup brown sugar.
2. Lower mixer speed, add in the egg and vanilla extract.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium size mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt.
4. Alternate adding the flour mixture and milk to the creamed butter mixture until combined.
5. Remove bowl from standing mixer, using a rubber spatula stir in butterscotch chips and set aside.
6. Preheat oven to 350°. In a medium size sauce pan, over medium heat, melt 1/4 cup butter, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup heavy cream and salt together, stirring occasionally.
7. On medium heat, bring sauce to a boil, allowing it to thicken for about 5 minutes.
8. Remove sauce from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Reserve 1/3 cup of sauce to top before serving.
9. Divide cookie dough into thirds. Press two-thirds of the batter into the bottom of a round cast iron skillet.
10. Pour the remaining toffee sauce on top of the pressed dough and then top with the remaining one-third dough. Sprinkle top with chopped pecans if desired.
11. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until pizookie is set, golden, and bubbling.
12. Allow time to cool before serving. Dish this delicious treat up with your favorite vanilla ice cream.