American Style: Chunky Double Chocolate Cookies (Wheat Free)

After all of the early 2017 breads and savoury meals, it's nice to go back to what I'm known for: sweets! And here is my first biscuity concoction of the year: American style double chocolate chip cookies!

I know what you're thinking, and yes I already have a chocolate chip cookie recipe. But, sometimes when you've been using one recipe for while, you begin to see its flaws. My original recipe was quite dry, and doesn't have the fudginess that I like in bakery style chocolate chip cookies. I wanted to tweak with it until I found that ideal level of chewiness to crispiness.

I found that the key factor is the amount of sugar to flour, and how long you cook them for (I think I said as much in my previous post on the topic), but my previous recipe didn't have as much sugar as needed. However, when they are made as plain cookies, they are woefully sweet, and don't hold their shape very well. But when I added more flour, they became more cakey, which isn't what I wanted either.

The breakthrough came when I tried to made some double chocolate chip cookies, and they worked a treat. It seems this recipe works best with the addition of cocoa powder, which is dry enough to suck up the excess wetness from the sugar (yes: sugar technically speaking is a wet ingredient, not a dry ingredient, in the world of baking).

Apologies for the photographs: I use natural lighting, and there was no light yesterday.

INGREDIMENTS
For 12 cookies, depending on size

• 1½ ounces (40 grammes) caster sugar
• 4½ ounces (135 grammes) brown sugar
• 4 ounces (115 grammes) butter, at room temperature
• 1 medium egg
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla essence
• 10 to 12 ounces (280 to 340 grammes) candy coated chocolate drops, to taste
• 5 ounces (140 grammes) white spelt flour
• 1½ ounces (40 grammes) cocoa powder,
• ½ teaspoon (3 millilitres) baking soda

HOW-TO

• Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.4), and lightly grease one or two flat baking trays.
• In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar, until light and fluffy.
• Beat in the egg and vanilla essence, then stir in the candy coated chocolate drops thoroughly.
• Sieve in the flour, cocoa, and baking soda, and mix only until combined: if you overmix the flour, the cookies will be tough.
• Flour your hands, and roll the mixture into small balls, about an ounce (30 grammes), and lie out on the tray about two inches (5 centimetres) apart to allow for spreading.
• Cook for 10 to 14 minutes, depending on the level of chewiness you want. Allow to cool on the tray for about 5 minutes to set a little before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

These are delicious warm, and keep well for up to a week in an airtight container. They also go very well with ice-cream right out of the oven...

No blogs on this day in previous years