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Posts Tagged ‘Chocolate chip cookies’


This soft, melt-in-your-mouth double chocolate chip cookie was one of the first things I learnt to make. I guess I was about nine and what I really like is the directions I wrote to myself as I made mistakes. My recipe reads, in wonky handwriting:

“Don’t overcook them or they’ll turn into rocks, they’re better soft”
“Make sure there (sic) completely cooled down before putting in tin”


Thanks nine-year old Aimee. Noted.

Waiting to be cooked

I actually remember the time that I made a double batch and put them into the tin before they’d cooled. I was so excited about the prospect of 48 double chocolate chip cookies I started piling them into a tin just so I could see the chocolatey goodness en masse.

Yeah. Don’t do that. Wait till they’re cooled. Even nine year olds know that.


These are soft and just a little crunchy on the outside. Highly recommended.

Ingredients
125 grams butter, softened
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 large egg
1 cup plain flour
4 tablespoons cocoa (or flour if you want to make them plain)
½ teaspoon baking powder
125 grams of dark and/or light chocolate chips, I like to do ½ and ½

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees and line two cookie trays with baking paper.
  2. Beat butter and both sugars together until consistent and creamy looking (note: as a child I know that I didn’t used to beat them together, I just melted the butter and mixed it all together. It worked fine. Not sure why as a, erm, grown up I am going for the more traditional method).
  3. Add egg and vanilla essence and beat together.
  4. Put flour, cocoa and baking powder in your bowl and mix together. Fold in chocolate.
  5. Take a teaspoon of mixture and roll into a bowl, then flatten slightly with a floured fork (again, as a child I just squished it with my hand, no harm done)
  6. Cook for 8-10 minutes, turning half way. 8 minutes is usually plenty, have the guts to pull them out when you think they might be underdone. It’s better that way.
  7. Transfer to wire rack to cool (I didn’t even know what a cooling rack was when I was a kid, so whatever).

Makes 24 fabulous cookies.

Healthy: 125 calories a cookie

Gluten free: Nooo.

Storage: Wait till cool, then in an airtight container. Lasts a week or so, if you can.

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Best chocolate chip cookies

I love making these as a gift for people. In lieu of the traditional bottle of wine or box of chocolates, filling up a tin with these is lovely. This weekend just gone I made them to thank some friends for having us in Gloucester. BUT, then they made flapjacks and had homemade marmalade for us to take home! The English countryside sure does food well.

But I digress, these cookies are great, here’s the recipe…

Ingredients
125 grams butter
1 cup soft brown sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon milk
1 3/4 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
250 grams (1 1/2 cups) dark chocolate chips

Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 180C, line a couple of baking trays with baking paper.
  2. Cream the butter and sugar with electric beaters in a large bowl. I’ve done it by hand with a whisk if you don’t have beaters.
  3. Mix in the vanilla essence and gradually add the egg, beating well. Stir in the milk.
  4. Add the flour and baking powder and fold in to the batter.
  5. Stir in the dark chocolate chips. You’re not really in danger of over mixing them, so make sure you get all those flour pockets out.
  6. Roll into balls, or drop level tablespoons of the cookie mixture onto the baking tray, leaving about 4cm between each cookie. Then lightly press each one with a floured fork. Makes ’em look all professional like.
  7. Bake for 15 minutes, turning the tray around half way through. They’re done when the bottom of them is just turning brown. They’re nice soft, so don’t overcook.
  8. Cool on a wire rack. Makes 30.

Best chocolate chip cookies

Healthy? I often switch out the butter for olive oil margarine for those watching cholesterol. About 100 calories per cookie if you make 30.

Gluten free? No, they’ll crumble if you try and adapt them. There will be GF cookies to come though.

Storage: In an airtight container. I doubt they’ll last longer than they keep.

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