This whole lock-down experience has paradoxically left me feeling bored and wanting to do something creative, while at the same time a bit too overwhelmed to be working on anything too serious or vulnerable.
Combine this with binge-watching last year’s season of The Great British Bake Off and you have me turning to butter, sugar, flour and eggs for my creative release.
I’ve used the extra down-time to try making long-process baked goods like eclairs (which I filled with an orange and cardamom creme patissiere that I could have literally just eaten from the bowl with a spoon, it was so good), a Parisian Opera Cake which had me layering various sponges and buttercreams for hours to get that perfect store-front look, and everyone’s quarantine favourite- sourdough bread, which I think I’m finally starting to get consistently good results from. It’s been a lot of fun and a great way to pass the time, while still feeling like I’m growing (not just my waist-band!)
But while these have all been following other peoples’ recipes, last week I also pulled out one that I can happily call my own- my recipe for chocolate chip cookies. This is a recipe that started with something I found online years ago, but that I have tweaked and perfected over the last decade or so, to the point where a batch of these cookies never lasts longer than a couple of days (and it makes a LOT of cookies!)
So here you go. If you’re interested in baking, or just eating, what I can happily endorse as the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever eaten, the recipe is below. They’re all kinds of extra, and you need to let the dough rest for 24hrs before you bake them (trust me) so a bit of planning is required.
Please let me know if you bake these- leave a comment, or reach out on my instagram, where you can see a step by step breakdown of these cookies in my story highlights.
On your marks, get set, BAKE!
Alistair’s Best Choc Chip Cookies
Ingredients
380g plain flour
225g butter
225g dark brown sugar
150g white sugar
1 t baking powder
1 t bicarb
1/1/2 t sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
1/2 t freshly grated nutmeg
1 T vanilla extract
1/4 t almond extract
1 whole egg + 1 yolk
250g dark chocolate*
250g milk chocolate*
*Don’t use chocolate chips! Rather, buy solid blocks of chocolate and chop them up yourself- it will give you a much more interesting texture and you’ll get those big “OMG” pockets of chocolate when you bite into them.
Method
Make browned butter, by cooking it in a saucepan, stirring occasionally, until it browns and smells nutty. Watch carefully so it doesn’t burn. Remove from heat and add a couple of ice cubes to stop it from cooking and add back some of the moisture that was lost during cooking.
In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, salt, baking powder, bicarb and nutmeg
Pour in the melted butter and mix until well combined
Whisk eggs, vanilla and almond extracts, then add to the main mixture. Beat the mixture until glossy and smooth.
Add flour and fold it through until combined
Roughly chop the blocks of chocolate and fold through the mixture
Divide the dough in two and roll each half into a log wrapped in baking parchment
Refrigerate for 24hrs (Don’t skip this step! If you have to, bake a few now, but save some of the dough for tomorrow and you won’t regret it!) The dough will keep well in the fridge for about a week, but it also freezes great. I usually chuck one log in the freezer for later, and one in the fridge for the next day
Once the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 170ºC.
Unwrap the dough and slice the log up into even circles. You can use a scale for this if you want to get OCD and ensure even baking
Roll these into balls and set out on a baking sheet. Gently squash them down with your hand. Sprinkle with a little sea salt.
Bake for about 12-15 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown, but the centres are still a little pale
They will be super soft once you take them out of the oven, but will set as they cool, so try to hold yourself back for a few minutes!
