I don’t often make cookies as I much prefer eating cake and bread. Every cookie I have made is a variation of the chocolate chip cookie: large, round, bits on the inside and hopefully with a centre still slightly chewy after baking.
Here is a roundup of the cookies on my blog:
Boston Chocolate Chip Cookies Part One (background) and Part Two (recipe)
Green Tea and Ruby Chocolate Cookies
Mr Sunshine Cookies
Granola and Chocolate Chip Cookies
Coconut Cookies
Oat, Pecan and Cranberry Cookies
Arriving back in London earlier this week after a long-delayed flight, I was looking around for snacks to fill the gap before dinner. I found packets of unopened dark chocolate chips and dried cranberries, so I added a Chocolate Chip and Cranberry Cookie recipe to the repertoire.
For the Cookies:
( * you can go as low as 60 g each of caster sugar and soft sugar, as the chocolate chips and cranberries are also sweet)
195 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
75 g golden caster sugar *
75 g light or dark brown soft sugar *
90 g egg (weight without shell)
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
270 g plain flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 large pinch fine sea salt
200 g dark chocolate chips (72% cocoa solids)
100 g dried cranberries
You will also need 2 large baking sheets, lined with baking paper.
How to Make:
Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a large mixing bowl. Leave aside.
Place the butter in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer (I used a KitchenAid) fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat at medium-high speed until pale and creamy.
Add the sugars, egg and vanilla and continue beating on a medium speed until it is incorporated. The mixture may look slightly curdled but this is completely fine.
Stop the motor and add in the flour mix, chocolate chips and cranberries. Mix at low speed until everything is just combined. The cookie dough is quite stiff.
If the weather is very warm, remove the mixing bowl from its stand, place a cover on and chill for 30 minutes. It is mostly cold in London so I mostly proceed to forming and baking the cookies straightaway.
When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 160°C fan/ 180°C.
Using a regular-sized ice cream scoop, (mine holds a volume of 40 ml), divide the dough onto the baking trays. You will get around 18 balls of cookie dough.
Bake for 15 minutes. The edges of the cookies would have turned slightly brown, with the centre slightly puffed up and still slightly soft.
Leave the cookies on the baking sheets until sufficiently cool enough to be transferred onto wire racks to finish cooling.
What to do with any leftover dough after you have formed whole balls of cookies? I spread it thinly onto a sheet of baking paper and baked it in the oven for 10 minutes, until the entire surface area was brown and crisp. Broken into large pieces afterwards, this ‘brittle’ makes for a crunchy snack.
