Getting hold of flour and other baking essentials has proven to be a task and a half during this lockdown. Flour? Out of stock. Bread flour? Out of stock. Yeast? Out of stock. Thankfully everything’s calmed down, panic buying no longer ensues. The BBC good food website is my absolute go-to, but I like to tweak their recipes to give it my own spin. I’ve taken some inspiration from this recipe. In my recipe below, you'll see that I’ve changed a few ingredients and added some extra touches. I’ve also tried to cater for different dietary requirements by including a list of gluten-free and vegan ingredients for a different take on the cookies. I’ve written this as a step-by-step guide so it’s quick and easy to follow. You don’t need to be a baking connoisseur. I hope you’ll enjoy making these as much as I do!
What you’ll need
• all-purpose kitchen weighing scales
• heatproof bowl
• large mixing bowl
• wooden spoon
• electric whisk
• medium-to-large baking tray
• greaseproof paper
• teaspoon
• tablespoon
• grater
• palette knife
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Ingredients
• 225g self-raising flour
• 170g lightly salted butter
• 100g caster sugar
• 200g Demerara cane sugar
• 2 tablespoons of vanilla paste
• 2 free range eggs
• 1 nutmeg
• 100g milk chocolate chips
• 50g toasted chopped hazelnuts
• milk chocolate, grated to garnish (optional)
• white chocolate, grated to garnish (optional)
• melted milk chocolate to garnish (optional)
• melted white chocolate to garnish (optional)
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Gluten free alternative
• 225g gluten free self raising flour
• 170g lightly salted butter
• 100g caster sugar
• 200g Demerara cane sugar
• 2 tablespoons of vanilla paste
• 2 free range eggs
• 1 nutmeg
• 100g free from chocolate chips
• 50g toasted chopped hazelnuts
• free from chocolate, grated to garnish (optional)
• free from white chocolate, grated to garnish (optional)
• free from chocolate, melted to garnish (optional)
• free from white chocolate, melted to garnish (optional)
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Vegan alternative
• 225g self-raising flour
• 170g lightly salted vegan alternative butter
• 100g caster sugar
• 200g Demerara cane sugar
• 2 tablespoons of vanilla paste
• 125ml soya milk
• 1 nutmeg
• 100g free from chocolate chips
• 50g toasted chopped hazelnuts
• Vego chocolate bar, grated to garnish (optional)
• free from white chocolate, grated to garnish (optional)
• Vego chocolate bar, melted to garnish (optional)
• free from white chocolate, melted to garnish (optional)
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Prep time: 15 minutes | Difficulty: Easy | Cooking time: 10-15 minutes | Serves: 10
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Method
1: Use antibacterial spray and a cloth to clean your work surfaces before gathering your utensils and ingredients. When cooking, clean surfaces are key.
2: Preheat your oven to 170C/Gas Mark 3/350F and line a medium to large-sized baking tray with greaseproof paper and put to one side.
3: Melt the butter over a bain marie (heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water). As the butter is melting, weigh 225g of self-raising flour and put in a mixing bowl. Also grate 1 nutmeg for 2-3 minutes into the flour and use an electric whisk on a medium setting to blend the mixture together.
4: Once the butter’s melted, turn off the pan and add 100g of caster sugar and 200g of Demerara cane sugar into the heatproof bowl. Whisk until it’s thicker and resembles a caramel consistency.
5: Add 2 eggs and 2 tablespoons of vanilla paste into the butter and sugar mixture and whisk. Then pour into the flour and nutmeg mix and whisk together.
6: Sprinkle in 50g hazelnuts and 100g of chocolate chips. Use a wooden spoon to stir and evenly distribute the hazelnuts and chocolate chips.
7: To form the cookies, use a tablespoon to scoop out medium-sized dollops of the cookie batter and place on the baking tray you prepared earlier. Use two scoops per cookie. Leave a few inches between each cookie as they’ll expand and stick together, which you don't want.
8: Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until golden. Check after 10 minutes as they may be ready depending on your oven type. They should be crunchy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside.
9: Leave the cookies for a few minutes to cool. If some of the cookies are stuck together, carefully prise them apart using a palette knife. You can also trim the edges with the knife to get a more circular shape.
10: (optional step whilst waiting for the cookies to cool) Melt milk or white chocolate over a bain marie or alternatively, grate milk chocolate, white chocolate or both.
11: Once the cookies have cooled, plate and sprinkle the grated chocolate over the top to garnish. If you’ve decided to melt some chocolate, dip a teaspoon into the melted chocolate and drizzle over each cookie in a zig-zag formation. Leave to cool before placing on a plate or serving dish.
12: If you've decided to skip steps 10 & 11, simply arrange the cookies on a plate or dish and serve.
Et voila! There you have it. Chocolate chip cookies that are so good, you won’t be able to keep your hands out the cookie jar.
Until next time,
C x
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