Awesome Butterfinger Cookies

Some cookies were invented to make Butterfinger candy bars taste even better, and these are exactly that. A buttery slice-and-bake icebox dough studded with chopped chunks of Butterfinger that melt into chewy, peanut-buttery, slightly toffee-like pockets as the cookies bake.

The icebox method (chilling the dough into logs, then slicing thin to bake) is the technique that makes these cookies special. Hand-rolled balls go uneven and round; thin sliced rounds bake into crispy, lacy disks with caramelized edges. The hours of chilling also let the flavors marry and the dough firm up enough to slice cleanly.

Chop the Butterfingers into small pieces, about ¼ inch. Big chunks burn through the cookie surface and leak; small pieces stay suspended throughout the dough and create those characteristic flecky pockets.

Don’t overbake. The cookies should be just barely brown at the edges, the centers will look slightly underdone but firm up as they cool. Overbaked cookies turn the candy pieces brittle and bitter.

Pro Tips

• Freeze the Butterfinger bars for 15 minutes before chopping. Cold candy chops cleanly without crumbling into dust.
• Slice the chilled logs no thicker than ¼ inch. Thicker cookies stay doughy in the center.
• Use shortening as the recipe calls for, butter alone makes the cookies spread too aggressively and lose their shape.
• Store in an airtight container with a slice of fresh bread to keep them soft for days.

Variations

• Roll the logs in coarse sugar before slicing for a sparkly edge on each cookie.
• Add 1 cup chopped pecans along with the candy for extra crunch.
• Drizzle cooled cookies with melted milk chocolate for an over-the-top finish.