Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies. Everyone has their favourite. I’ve tried and enjoyed many chocolate chip cookies but I think these have to be my favourite.

This is a classic recipe for a chunky chocolate chip cookie which has a crispy edge yet a chewy middle. Yum yumm…

Ingredients

150g soft unsalted butter

125g soft light brown sugar

100g caster sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 egg from fridge

1 egg yolk from fridge

300g flour

½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

326g packet milk chocolate chips

Preheat the over to 170°C and line a baking sheet with baking parchment and grease it.

Melt the butter and let it cool a bit. Put the brown and white sugar into a bowl, pour the cooled melted butter over and beat together. Beat in the vanilla, the cold egg and cold egg yolk until the mixture becomes light and creamy.

Then slowly mix in the flour and bicarbonate of soda until just blended. Finally fold the chocolate chip in.

Using an American quarter-cup or a 60ml ice-cream scoop measure the cookie dough and drop onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving each cookie 8cm apart. If you are going to do two batches keep the bowl of cookie dough in the fridge in the meantime.

Bake for 15-17 minutes in the oven until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on the baking tray for five minutes until transferring to wire rack.

Treacle Slice

Treacle tart is a traditional English dessert which is made using short crust pastry, with a filling made with golden syrup (also know as light treacle), a little lemon and breadcrumbs.  This recipe is simple and straight forward and will produce impressive results, especially with a scoop of clotted cream placed on top.

Ingredients for the base:

200g plain flour

50g soft unsalted butter

50g vegetable shorting

15ml lemon juice

2 tablespoons of iced water

Preheat the oven to 180˚ C and line a baking tin with foil and grease it. Put the flour, butter and vegetable shorting into a food processor and blitz until you have a crumbly texture. Pour the lemon juice and iced water down the funnel while the food processor engine is still running until the mixture clumps together, making a pale, damp dough. Press the dough into the bottom of the baking tin, using the back of a metal spoon until you have created an even smooth surface. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

Ingredients for the topping:

454g golden syrup

25g soft unsalted butter

150g breadcrumbs

 Zest from one lemon

1 beaten egg

While the short crust base is in the oven melt the golden syrup and the 25g of butter in a heavy-based saucepan on a low heat. Then stir in the breadcrumbs, don’t worry if the mixture becomes thick, sawdusty and sticky. Take the pan off the heat and allow to cool a little. Then add the lemon zest and beat in the egg. Pour the mixture over the cooked pastry base and put back into the oven for another 20minutes.

When ready the filling should have risen slightly and look as if its just about set, browned at the edges and sticky in the centre. Take out the oven and allow to cool for about 2 minutes. Slice and serve while still slightly warm with a scoop of clotted cream on top.