Aztec Cookies - Random Recipes Big 3-0

Aztec Cookies

I actually made these cookies right at the beginning of the month as soon as Dom announced the Random Recipes challenge, but it's taken me this long to get my act together and write them up. (See previous posts re: loss of mojo and subsequently getting it back) The challenge this month was to celebrate the 30th month of Random Recipes by selecting the 30th recipe from the 30th book on the shelf. 

My 30th book was The Great British Bake Off - How to Turn Everyday Bakes into Showstoppers. The 30th recipe was Aztec Cookies. I tend to have a fail-safe go-to cookie recipe, so this recipe was one that had so far passed me by, and probably would have continued to do so. On closer inspection however, I realised that these cookies contained all the things that are good in the world... chocolate, coffee, white chocolate and glitter! Win!

I made a couple of tweaks to the recipe, changing the flour to wholemeal as it's healthier, and using instant coffee and vanilla bean paste rather than extract as that's what I had to hand. These cookies are soft rather than chewy, and the wholemeal flour gave a really nice texture. I do prefer my cookies of the chewy variety, but I can't fault the flavour combination in these, and I'm a sucker for a sparkly baked treat! 

Ingredients

140 grams dark chocolate

2 tablespoons instant coffee granules 

65 grams salted butter

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

130 grams golden caster sugar

185 grams wholegrain plain flour

100 grams white chocolate

edible gold dust or glitter to finish

Method

Melt the dark chocolate and salted butter together over a bain-marie. Add the instant coffee and stir until completely dissolved. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla and sugar. Add the melted chocolate mixture and stir thoroughly. 

Sift in the flour, and fold into the mixture until fully combined. Roughly chop the white chocolate, and add to the mixture. 

Grease a baking tray, and heat the oven to 160 degrees.  Place spoonfuls of the mixture on the tray, leaving space for the cookies to spread. You should be able to fit roughly 6 cookies at a time on the sheet. 

Bake for 10 - 15 minutes, until they are just firm to touch, and the surface is cracked in appearance. Remove the tray, and using a pallet knife, slide the cookies onto a cooling rack. Repeat until you have used all of the mixture. 

Finally, sprinkle a little of the glitter over the still warm cookies for that extra special sparkle. 

Random Recipes is hosted by Dom at Belleau Kitchen

Super-Posh Chewy Cookies

Lovely people, let me tell you now, there are a lot of recipes out there that jostle for the title of 'World's Best Cookie'. And a lot of them are probably very worthy winners. This recipe however, for me, stands firmly above the rest, holding the belt high - the undefeated champion of champions, for oh so many reasons...

Super-Posh Chewy Cookies

Just look at them, they have everything don't they!? Cherries, almonds, two types of chocolate, vanilla, and that naughty little splash (Ok, glug) of cherry brandy. The recipe is originally from The Hairy Bikers, I found it many years ago on my quest for a great chewy cookie recipe. There were a couple of steps that didn't quite work for me, so I have adapted it slightly here in both the ingredients and method. That said, thank you to Dave and Simon for bringing these incredible cookies into my life!

Warning: There is a high risk that a large amount of the cookie dough will be consumed before you get around to baking it...

Ingredients (makes approx 20 medium sized cookies)

100g golden caster sugar

100g unsalted butter

2 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil

100g soft brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 large free range egg

200g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

100g glace cherries

2 tbsp cherry brandy

100g white chocolate chips

100g dark chocolate chips

75g chopped almonds or hazelnuts

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees, and lightly grease a large baking sheet.

In a large bowl, cream together the golden caster sugar and butter. Beat well until pale, light and fluffy.

Add the sunflower oil and brown sugar, and beat well again until well combined.

Add the vanilla extract and the egg, and mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, add the baking powder and salt and mix together. Add the dry ingredients to the mixture, and fold in, mixing to form a dough.

Chop the glace cherries into quarters, and add to the mixture, along with the cherry brandy. Stir well, so that the brandy is evenly distributed through the dough. The dough should now be quite loose and sticky, but holding its shape. 

Add the chocolate and the nuts, and stir through again so they are evenly distributed. 

Take a large spoonful of the mixture, form it into a ball, and place it on the baking sheet. Press down with the back of a spoon to flatten the ball. Repeat until the tray is full, leaving 1-2 inches between each cookie, as they will spread. 

Bake in the oven for 8-12 minutes. The cookies should be a golden brown colour, and a little darker around the edges when you take them out, but, and this is important, they should still be soft to the touch. The heat in the cookies will continue to cook them when they are out of the oven, so if they are hard when they come out, they will only harden further and lose their chewiness. 

Leave the cookies to cool on the tray for 5-10 minutes, until they are hard to touch. Lift them off then using a pallet knife, and place them on a tray to cool completely. 

You may need to bake these in batches, I only have one large baking sheet, so it normally takes me three batches to use all of the cookie dough. Inevitably, at least one of the cookies from batch one has disappeared before batch three make it off the baking sheet... 

What is the best cookie recipe you have ever found? Would love it if you would share the link in the comments box below..

V x

Saved by the Cookie Dough

I am quite particular about my cookies. For me, as a bare minimum, they have to be chewy, those crunchy choc chip cookies that you buy in packets (mentioning no brand names!) just don't cut it for me. I spent years trying to find the perfect cookie recipe, and the best by far I ever came across was for Super-posh Chewy Cookies, from the Hairy Bikers - link here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/superposhchewycookie_89623

I adore this recipe, it has white and dark chocolate, cherries, hazelnuts and almonds, and a splash of cherry brandy and in my opinion it cannot be beaten.

My story today however comes from a couple of weeks ago, when I found myself in a (albeit brief) spell of austerity. I started a new job at the beginning of the month, and had to travel away for a few days for my induction. Having misjudged somewhat the dates of my last paycheck from my previous employers, and my first from the new, and then finding that I had pay my travel costs upfront, suddenly my purse was a little light.

I made some sandwiches to take on the train, and looked around the kitchen to see what else I could take with me to save myself from paying the inflated train station prices for snacks, but couldn't find anything. Then I spied a bag of chocolate chips in the corner of the cupboard. I grabbed a recipe book, had a flick through, and found a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe.

In short, these cookies were soft and chewy, exactly how I like them, and the recipe was straightforward, simple, and versatile. I replaced 15g of the flour with cocoa powder (I always use Green and Blacks Cocoa Powder as I find it has a deeper flavour) but you could also replace the chocolate chips with nuts or fruit if you wished.

I packed a bag full of cookies, and I'm not exaggerating when I say at 10pm at night on a train after having made two changes already, these little treats saved the last shred of my sanity!

The Recipe

225g butter
100g caster sugar
220g dark brown soft sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
310g plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon salt
335g plain chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 190 C / Gas 5.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the vanilla and eggs one at a time. Combine the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Finally, mix in the chocolate chips. Drop heaped tablespoons onto ungreased baking trays.

Cookie Dough

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven or until edges are golden. Remove from baking tray to cool on wire racks.

Double Choc Chip Cookies