Ginger and White Chocolate Chip Cookies

I think I've just started a new love affair with crystalllised ginger.  I've only recently discovered it and I go to bed every night thinking of recipes to use it in.  Fair enough, Crystallised Ginger Brown Bread or Crystallised Ginger Curd may not make the grade (yeah, some things are best kept in my head!), but just now I'm lovin' the chocolate & ginger and the chocolate & lemon combination.

Crystallised ginger is one of those Marmite type ingredients, you either love it or hate it, there's no in-between.  But if ginger is your thing, you've gotta try these cookies.  Ina Garten even goes so far as to say they're the ultimate ginger cookies. I'd definitely agree.  These. Cookies. Are. Amazing.  They're extremely gingery, they're chewy, they're sweet and they most definitely scratch my crystallised ginger itch.



Ginger and White Chocolate Chip Cookies adapted from Barefoot Contessa at Home by Ina Garten

Makes 16 cookies

Ingredients

270g (2 1/4 cups) plain (AP) flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
170g (1 cup) dark brown sugar, lightly packed
60ml (1/4 cup) vegetable oil
80ml (1/3 cup) black treacle
1 large egg, at room temperature
130g (1 cup) chopped crystallized ginger
150g (1 cup) white chocolate chips
Granulated sugar, for rolling the cookies

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the brown sugar, oil, and molasses on medium speed for 5 minutes. Turn the mixer to low speed, add the egg, and beat until well incorporated. With the mixer still on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add the crystallized ginger and chocolate chips and mix until combined.

Scoop the dough with 2 tablespoons or a small ice cream scoop. With your hands, roll each cookie into a 1 3/4-inch ball and then flatten them lightly with your fingers. Press both sides of each cookie in granulated sugar and place them on the sheet pans. Bake for exactly 13 minutes. The cookies will be crackled on the top and soft inside. Let the cookies cool on the sheets for 1 to 2 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Oaty Coconut Nutella Secrets

I've always been a little smug that very little TV is watched by little people in our house.  Sometimes I'd give my right arm to sit them in front of Peppa Pig or Fireman Sam for an hour while I sit down and have a triple espresso and a can of Red Bull to kick start fading energy levels.  But in a vain attempt to be a martyr, instead I'll get them to help me bake a batch of biscuits.  What could be better for them than helping me mix all the ingredients, roll the dough into little balls, lick the bowl, then eat a biscuit as soon as they're cool from the oven - right?  I deserve a pat on the back or even a medal - hopefully the National Parents Council, or the like, will see this post!! 

It recently got me thinking that maybe I shouldn't be so smug.  Maybe sitting down to watch a little bit of TV might be better for their health (and weight) than tucking into a batch of sugary, buttery biscuits that we've just made. I think I should revisit my TV rule - I'm not giving my medal back though. In the meantime we'll just have to eat our way through these little beauties.

They are oaty, nutty biscuits that are crunchy on the outside and just a little bit chewy in the middle.  They have a dollop of Nutella on top and a spoonful of Nutella in the middle that's hidden away until you bite into them. I ran out of Nutella halfway through the process so had to use G&B's Chocolate Hazlenut Spread - delicious.  I made them first using a shortbread biscuit dough but I think they work better with the texture of the coconut and oats.

Makes about 15 cookies

Ingredients
140g (5oz) plain (AP) flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
100g (4oz) rolled oats
50g (2oz) dessicated coconut
125g (4.5oz) butter, softened
175g (6oz) soft brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
50g (2 oz) hazlenut, roughly chopped (plus additional for decoration)
15 tsp hazelnut chocolate spread (plus additional for decoration)

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C (350F).  Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
Measure out the flour, baking powder, oats and coconut and set aside.  Beat the sugar and butter together until creamy, then slowly beat in the egg and vanilla.  Beat in the flour, baking powder, coconut and oats, then fold in the hazelnuts.  Put the bowl in the fridge for about 15 mins to harden slightly.
After 15 mins, take the bowl out of the fridge and roll a tablespoon of dough into a ball and place on the parchment paper.  Use your thumb to mould out a hole in the cookie until you have what looks almost like an empty birds nest (don't make the hole all the way through the cookie).  Fill the hole with a teaspoon of hazlenut chocolate spread, then use a small piece of dough to put a lid on the cookie.  Ensure the filling is covered with the lid and use your fingers to attach the lid to the base of the cookie. 
Bake for 12-15 minutes or until just beginning to turn golden at the edges.
Cool on a wire rack.  When cool, smear 1/2 teaspoon of hazlenut chocolate spread on the top of each cookie and top this with a little chopped hazlenuts.

Chocolate Digestive Biscuits

I never intended to post these biscuits.  They are  one of the plainest biscuits you can buy so why would you bother posting the recipe?  When you're in the supermarket and want to pick up an indulgent treat, you don't automatically think "I'd murder a packet of digestive biscuits".  Or when you're planning a dinner party, dessert is never a toss up between Chocolate Pudding and Digestive Biscuits.

But it was a wet Tuesday afternoon.  I was under pressure to keep some little people occupied, having gotten all we could possibly get out of painting, playdo, lego and hanging up wet clothes on a clothes horse (you can make an activity out of almost anything, just depends on how you pitch it to them!).  Anyway, I decided that a batch of semi healthy biscuits from a quick and simple recipe was needed.  I've made a few recipes from The Little Loaf website before and decided to go with this recipe that she posted some time ago.

Was so happy with these biscuits.  They taste exactly as you would expect Digestive Biscuits to taste but with a little bit more texture from the wholemeal flour.  I made this batch a little bit thicker than shop bought biscuits but they were still as crunchy as they should be.  They taste so good and are so simple to make that I thought it would be a shame not to let everyone know.  For something less indulgent than you're used to making, these are the biscuits to make.  Well done Little Loaf for coming up with this one.


Digestive Biscuits taken from The Little Loaf blog

Ingredients:
100g oats
100g wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking powder
50g light soft brown sugar
Pinch salt
100g salted butter, softened & cubed
1-2 tbsp milk
50g milk chocolate (optional)
Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Blitz the oats to a fine powder in a blender then mix in a large bowl with the wholemeal flour, baking powder, brown sugar and salt.
Add the butter and mix until crumbly. Add the milk and mix to form a smooth dough. Wrap in cling film and pop in fridge to firm up for about 15 minutes.
Remove your dough from the fridge and roll out to around 3mm thickness. It will be very crumbly so you’ll need to be very careful when rolling. Cut out circles of about 6mm diameter – I used a water glass to stamp out the shapes. Decorate with a pattern of your choice then bake in the middle of your oven for about 15 minutes.
When lightly golden but not too brown, remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water.  Smooth over the biscuits when cool.
Store in an airtight container.  They will stay crunchy for up to a week.

Butterscotch and Toffee Cookies

If we want something badly enough we can justify to ourselves why we should have it.  For instance, a pair of jeans might give you a muffin top but because they make your legs look really long, you convince yourself that you'll remember to suck your tummy in the WHOLE time you're wearing them (Sound familiar?  Thought so!). 

And so it was with a box of  toffees that have survived in our house since Christmas.  If I listened closely to it, it seems to be saying peculiar things to me like "don't worry, 10 toffees rammed into your mouth all at once in a frantic manner have zero calories" or "eat half the box and just balance it up by eating only cabbage soup tomorrow".  Sometimes I trust these voices and put my greedy hand in the box and demolish a few sneaky toffees.  But during the week I was at the stage where I decided it was time to either throw the box of toffees (and the voices) in the bin or use them up by baking something with them.  I happily chose the latter option!

Butterscotch and Toffee Cookies, adapted from a Simply Recipes recipe.  The original recipe makes about 4 dozen so I've halved the quantities.  I got 26 cookies out of the dough (more than enough!).

Ingredients

85g butter

175g dark brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

150g plain flour

1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

1/8 tsp baking powder

100g soft toffees, finely chopped

Sugar dredging mixture

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp granulated sugar

Sea salt / Kosher salt for sprinkling

Method

Preheat oven to 190°C / 375°F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder and set aside. Mix together the sugar dredging mixture in another bowl and set aside.
Place about 75g of the butter into a saucepan over medium heat. The butter will foam a bit before subsiding. Once the butter takes on a tan colour and begins to smell nutty, take it off of the heat. Have a look at the photos for Brown Butter Toasted Coconut and Rolo cookies to see the colour you need your butter to be.  Add the remaining butter and mix it in until it melts. 
Pour the brown butter into a mixing bowl. Add the brown sugar and mix. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix together, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl at least once. Add the flour mixture in three increments being sure to scrape down the sides and bottom once or twice. Mix just until the flour is incorporated. Finally, stir in pieces of toffee.  The dough will be very thick.
Take 1/2 to full tablespoon-sized pieces of dough and gently roll them into ball shapes. Dredge them in the sugar dredging mixture until well-coated. Place on the baking sheet and sprinkle with a little bit of the sprinkling salt (be reserved with the salt as very little goes a long way).
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges have browned a bit. Be careful not to over-bake. Allow to cool on the sheet for one minute before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cranberry, Rum and White Chocolate Cookies

1. Christmas Presents - Check

2. Enough bottles of wine to last us 'til Easter - Check

3. Turkey and Ham for the Big Day - Check

4. Chestnuts roasting on an open fire - Check

5. Jack Frost nipping at my nose - Check

5. Christmas Baking - ...............................

All you bloggers have been busy little elves over the past few weeks putting the rest of us to shame with your Gingerbread Houses, Christmas Fruit Cakes, Christmas Pudding, Yule Logs.  I've looked at them all and if the truth be told, I may have salivated over some of them.  But I haven't baked anything with a Christmas theme - Christmas baking doesn't go down so well in our house so I would be the one scoffing the lot.   Granted, I would do it gladly but my rotund middle wouldn't thank me for it!

To keep everyone happy, Christmas baking this year will be a Baileys Cheesecake, Tiramisu (can that even be classed as baking?), Nigella's Puddini (Christmas pudding and melted chocolate rolled into truffle sized balls) and these Choc Chip cookies.  After that, I feel no guilt in saying that I'm putting my feet up and digging into the tin of Roses.

To make these cookies a little bit special, I've soaked the fruit in a few tablespoons of rum but I've drained most of it out so don't worry about getting an alcohol kick - the taste is extremely subtle as I drain off most of the alcohol.  If you'd prefer, just leave out the rum altogether and I guarantee you these cookies will still taste amazing.

Adapted from Nigella Lawsons "Feast"

Makes 30 cookies

Ingredients
2 tablespoons dark rum
75g dried cranberries
140g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
75g rolled oats
125g butter, softened
175g soft brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
50g pecans, roughly chopped
140g white chocolate chips

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C. Place the cranberries in a small bowl and add the rum.  Set aside for at least an hour, stirring every now and again so that a little bit of rum hits each cranberry.
Combine the flour, baking powder and oats and set aside.
Beat the butter and sugar until creamy and fluffy.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat again.  Beat in the flour mixture then fold in the chocolate chips and the pecans.
Drain the rum from the cranberries and fold them into the mixture.
With the dough in the mixing bowl, leave it in the fridge to set for 10-15 mins.
Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into balls with your hands and place them on a lined baking sheet.  Then squish the dough balls down with a fork.
Bake for 15 mins after which they should be golden at the edges.  Allow to cool slightly on the baking tray for 5 mins before they cool fully on a wire rack.

Brown Butter, Toasted Coconut and Rolo Cookies

I have never baked anything using brown butter before as I'm always afraid that I'll burn it - that's why I yet have to attempt to make caramel.  I get turned off by the idea of thermometres, waiting for the soft ball stage or dumping the saucepan into ice cold water while stirring frantically.  Why didn't somebody tell me that browning butter is nothing like that.  It's so so easy to do - but I guess you all know that anyway!

I'm not getting very much sleep these nights.  Apart from making me grumpy as hell and giving me dark circles under my eyes, the tiredness is giving me a craving for sweet things, with my body crying out for a pick me up of some sort!  Yesterday all I wanted was a really indulgent biscuit (or 4) before I was able to face the day.  I guess it's better than craving a bottle of vodka before being able to start the day but it plays havoc with my attempts to lose the jelly belly!  I found a recipe for chocolate chip cookies using brown butter on Joy The Baker blog recently.  As I had quite a few packets of Rolo that needed to be used up (crazy fixation with stashing chocolate bars explained here), I decided to use chopped up Rolos instead of the chocolate chips.

These cookies are amazing, they really are.  The brown butter give a nutty, almost caramel flavour that goes perfectly with the soft caramel in the Rolo pieces, while the toasted coconut adds texture.  They are delicious and I'll definitely be making them again and possibly giving them as gifts at Christmas.  My family are now throwing their eyes up to heaven as their hopes of getting make-up / clothes as presents from me at Christmas have now officially been dashed! 

I measured out the ingredients for the full recipe which makes about 48-50 cookies but I rolled half of it into a log, wrapped it in clingfilm and chucked it in the freezer.

The butter is almost melted

This is the colour you're looking for

Brown Butter Toasted Coconut and Rolo Cookies

Ingredients

225g salted butter

190g brown sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

375g plain flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 large egg

50g toasted coconut

3 packets of Rolo chocolates, chopped
2 tablespoons of milk (if needed, to bind everything)

Method

Preheat to 190C degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. On one baking sheet, spread out coconut. Toast coconut for about 6 minutes, until browned and fragrant. Remove from the oven, place in a small bowl and let cool.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. The butter will begin to foam and crackle.  Once the crackling subsides, keep an eye on the butter. The butter solids will begin to brown. You’ll smell the butter as it browns. Once well browned, immediately remove the butter from the flame and place in a small bowl. Removing the butter from the pan will ensure that it doesn’t continue to cook and burn in the hot pan. Allow the butter to cool for a few moments.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, measure the sugar. Add the brown butter and beat together, on medium speed, for about 2 minutes. 

Add the egg and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. The mixture should become silky smooth. Add vanilla extract and beat.

With mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients. Beat until just incorporated. Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a spatula to fold in the toasted coconut and Rolo pieces. Dough will be thick so add a little milk, if needed.

Spoon balls by the tablespoonful onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown but still slightly soft in the center. Remove from the oven. Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 5 minutes, before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store cookies in an airtight container.