Yesterday I wrote about an old recipe called “Halfway Cookies” and pointed out how recipes were similar, but had different amounts of butter in their crust. To see which version I liked best, I made two half batches. Yesterday I tried a recipe from Apartment Therapy’s “Kitchn”, then today I tried a recipe that was very similar in proportion but had twice the butter in the crust.
Today’s cookies have the same great contrast of textures – heavy cookie base, rich & chocolaty center & light and flaky brown sugar topping. The extra butter made the base slightly more dense and crumbly and it added a lot of butter flavor. If I did a blind taste test on someone, I’m fairly certain they’d pick the higher butter version, but both versions are really good.
Below is how I made the cookies today . This is a half batch 8 inch square pan version of Halfway Cookies. For a 13x9 inch version, just double everything, use a 13x9 inch metal pan and increase the cook-time to 30 minutes.
Recipe
Half Batch Halfway Cookies Version 2 (More Butter)
Ingredients
Base:
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ tablespoon of water
- 1 cup all-purpose flour 4.5 oz
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ scant teaspoon salt omit if using salted butter or margarine
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Topping:
- 1 large egg white
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- ¼ tsp vanilla optional, but I left it out today
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 inch pan metal pan with nonstick foil.
- Cream butter and both sugars with an electric mixer. Beat in the egg yolk, vanilla and water; mix well.
- Combine the next four ingredients (flour, soda, powder and salt); gradually add to creamed mixture. Spread in pan. If you’re having problems with this, wet your fingers with cold water. Sprinkle dought with chips and pat them lightly into the dough.
- Prepare topping: Beat egg white in a mixing bowl just until stiff peaks begin to form. Gradually add brown sugar, beating onuntil well mixed. Beat in vanilla if using. Spread evenly over chips. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Store in the refrigerator.
- Note: These are much easier to slice if you wait for them to cool completely.
Anna says
Thanks for bringing these cookies to my attention. I always forget about them!
Sonya says
This was fun to see! I didn't know the name "halfway cookies" but recognized the style from the photo. Cook's Country did a recipe for these called Butterscotch Meringue Cookies. They were good. It's a great type of bar cookie!!!
Emily says
Made this version yesterday. Definitely have a strong butter flavor. I'm thinking I'll try the less butter version next time. They were really tasty, though, so thanks for introducing them into my world. Here's how mine came out:
http://emilyinthedesert.blogspot.com/2010/08/halfway-cookie-madness.html
Tina from PA says
I gonna jump on the "I've never heard of these " band wagon. But boy do they sound good! I'm all for the more butter recipe !Going to try to fit in making them today. Thanks for sharing !!
Indie.tea says
I haven't heard of these before..they sound pretty amazing. And they look scrumptious.
Cookie Sleuth says
Thanks for testing out the two options. I would like this with ice cream!
Betty @ scrambled hen fruit says
All of your versions of these look good. More butter can't hurt a thing! I love the crunch of the meringue on top. 🙂
The Blue-Eyed Bakers says
Oh such a bad idea reading your delicious blog at night...now all we want to do is whip up these cookies so we can taste that sugary, crunchy crust...saving this recipe for sometime VERY soon!
Karen says
I'm dying to try these - how does the meringue hold up? Why do you need to keep them in the refrigerator? I would imagine the chocolate would get too hard and the meringue might soften. I have never had these so I can't really imagine what they are like and I am very curious because they look so good!
Pearl Lee says
they look delectable!