Cookie Chronicles

The search for the perfect cookie recipe

I was in Paris a couple of weeks ago and after a very nice sunny lunch on the terrace of Ralph, I went in their little coffee shop and ate my favourite cookie yet. I obviously forgot to take a picture... It won’t happen again, still learning the ropes so bare with me :)

Who hasn’t baked a flat and dry cookie?

At that point, my last attempt at cookies wasn’t very successful and I had abandoned the whole idea. But tasting that cookie made me want to try again and I went online hunting for the best cookie recipe.

If you like a novice baker like me, my cookies were good in taste but flat and dry. I never managed to get the right consistency: crunchy on the outside and gooey on the inside.

Turns out it's everything you do around the dough that makes a huge difference.

Below are very easy tips to follow for amazing cookies:

1. When you make the cookies, keep them in a golf ball shape, don’t flatten them out. That way, the heat will make them go down in size but they will keep some thickness.

2. Freeze the dough (in that golf ball shape) for at least 1h.

3. Bake on aluminium paper.

4. Make sure your oven and the tray you are using to bake your cookies are both hot beforehand.

Now that you know, it’s time for the recipe.

Ingredients

200g muscovado sugar (or brown sugar)
100g caster sugar
225g butter, soft (make sure your butter is soft and easy to handle)
2 eggs
360g self-raising flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
A pinch of salt
200g chocolate, chopped
100g hazelnuts, chopped

NB You can use any type of chocolate you want, same goes for the nuts. The important thing is that both are chopped small but not too small :)

Instructions

1.     Put the 2 sugars and the soft butter in a large bow and mix for 5-10 min, until fluffy and pale in colour. This will beat air into the mix and help with the cookies’ thickness.

2.     Beat in the eggs, 1 by 1 and until fully combined.

3.     Sieve he dry ingredients (flour, salt, bicarbonate) and add to the cookie mixture. Mix until combined but don’t over beat, this could make the cookies tough.

4.     Finally add the chocolate and the hazelnut but combine with a wooden spoon and try not to over-mix.

5.     Make the cookies balls and freeze them for a least 1h.

6.     Pre-heat the oven 180 fan oven, 190 traditional oven.

7.     Place the balls apart, they need space.

8.     Bake for 12 min and leave to rest for at least 15 min.

Keep it cosy until next time!

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