Done with shopping? Me too. The last of my gifts are coming from the peace and solitude of the kitchen, sans parking lots, harried faces and never-ending landfill.
These cookies epitomise pure cooking escapism – easy to prepare, high yielding and incredibly toothsome (love that word, it sounds like a descriptor that would horrify a dentist). Depending on how reasonably stocked your pantry is, you may not even need to leave the house to get your batches underway.
And just to give you that little extra bang for your baking buck, the mix can be rolled into half-size balls, for twice the output. Put a couple of choc chips on top as soon as they are lifted from the oven and you will end up with at least 30 of these:
Start with the almond topped ones, or build on this mix and design your own.
125g softened butter
½ cup brown sugar
⅓ cup caster sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1½ cups self-raising flour
½ cup cocoa
¾ cup dark chocolate chips
almonds to decorate
- Preheat oven to 160°C.
- Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat in egg and vanilla.
- Stir in flour and cocoa, then fold through chocolate chips. (The mix will be quite stiff)
- Roll tablespoonfuls into balls and place on greased baking trays. Flatten slightly with fingers.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until cooked. Cool on a wire rack. (makes about 20)
Postscript: If you have some bags and left over tags, you’ve got something to hand to your colleagues or neighbours over the next few days.
Plain and Simple 