The best Chocolate Chip cookies

This month there seems to be a bit of a theme with my blogs - chocolate and cookies.
Chocolate -  since the Chocolate Festival I have slowly worked my way through all the lovely samples (and yes, unfortunately I had to share), i.e. bar one called Christmas, made by Shoc Chocolates. I'm saving that one for Christmas because.... well it is called Christmas. The small sample taste at their stall tasted like Plum pudding and Christmas cake so I'm really looking forward to devouring it at the appropriate time.
Cookies - actually we call them biscuits in New Zealand but in the United States (their) biscuits are more like our scones. Most people I know call a biscuit a biscuit and a scone a scone, but have I noted a cafe trend  of labeling biscuits cookies, perhaps it is for American visitors (so they don't think it is a scone???)
This week I've been having fun baking cookies, ok biscuits. This recipe is by far the best chocolate chip biscuit I have made and it comes from the iconic New Zealand 'Edmonds Cookery Book', the 1999 edition.
In a past blog I posted a Flat Biscuit recipe (which contained chocolate chips) but this recipe is by far superior and does not include eggs, handy if you have no eggs in the fridge at the time of baking or if there is an egg allergy that needs to be taken into consideration.
Yes, it involves creaming the butter, sugar and condensed milk but that's easy done with all the fancy appliances we have in our kitchen now. When I use to help my mother in the kitchen - my job was to use the hand held electric beater and stand while it mixed for about ten minutes! Great for young hands, not so great when you get older. Make sure you grease the tray otherwise you may have to chip them off (excuse the pun!).

Ready for the oven

Watch your oven temperature, I needed to turn my fan oven down a bit and the cooking time was more like 15 minutes. After all your hard work you don't want them to burn.
They keep nice and crisp in an airtight tin, great for school lunches and supper with a cup of tea!
They also freeze well. I doubled the recipe (made two full trays) and they were still perfect.

Cooling before moving to a rack

Chocolate Chip Biscuits (from Edmonds Cookery Book, 1999 Edition)

125 grams butter

¼ cup sugar

3 tbsp sweetened condensed milk

Few drops of vanilla essence

1 ½ cups standard plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ cup chocolate chips

Cream butter, sugar, condensed milk and vanilla until light and fluffy.

Sift flour and baking powder together.

Mix sifted dry ingredients and chocolate chips into creamed mixture.

Roll teaspoons of mixture into balls.

Place on a greased oven tray and flatten with a floured fork.

Bake at 180°C for 20 minutes.

Makes about 25

Oops! couldn't resist a taste!

 

Craft, Cheese, Cookies and Chocolate

This post is a varied one as the title suggests. It has been a very busy couple of weeks! The weather has been very mixed in Wellington, so it has been the perfect time to get some crafty tasks done. I've almost finished my third (for this year) peggy square crochet rug and a cardigan for my newest grandchild. I have also managed to get through a 'brick of a book' for my book group, 'The Luminaries' by Eleanor Catton -  hours of reading by the fire doesn't hurt anyone me thinks!
The weather wasn't great on our little holiday in Hawkes Bay either. But we had a fine time catching up with our dear friends in Taradale - having lots of fun with the usual relaxing, drinking and eating. One of the highlights over the weekend was the Royal NZ Ballet, Swan Lake (having missed out on decent seats in Welly we decided to travel to Napier to see it). It was absolutely wonderful - magic - loved it!
Speaking of magic. The lady of the Taradale house is extremely talented - a wonderful 'stitcher' and general all round clever 'crafter'- another great reason to stay with them. I watched in amazement with how she transformed a plain cake into a work of art (for the Young Friends of the Ballet event), using what she had (stored) around the house - a piece of mirror (skillfully cut from her hubby's horde in the garage), a crystal swan (from her dressing table), a few cake decorating tubes and a lovely silk green ribbon,and viola, a masterpiece! Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of the final result (said lady went rushing out of the house running late) but it was a huge hit.
On our last day I accompanied her to a stitching group, which involved a lot of chatting about current affairs and other important things while stitching. The session also included a fabulous morning tea of delicious (hot, straight out of the oven) southern inspired Cheese Rolls - simple, but a big favourite of mine. Definitely my kind of fun - so much so I am thinking of starting a monthly stitching group myself, any takers??
On Sunday we went to the Hastings Market, it is a great market. I loved wandering around talking to the locals about their work and sampling offerings. One stall that caught my eye was a group of young women from Havelock North High School. They are participating in a Young Enterprise project and have created a business called 'Cookie in a Jar'. All the dry ingredients are in the jar that you place into a bowl and add the wet ingredients as per instructions on the label. They have created five flavours. I loved the concept and brought the Anzac flavour to try. It always makes me smile to see young people so excited about creating a business. I wish them well in their new enterprise. They sell for $12 each and can be contacted at cookieinajar7@gmail.com

Ok, now the chocolate part. Today I am off to the New Zealand Chocolate Festival 
http://chocolatefestival.co.nz/2013/
 As a venerable food blogger I have been invited to the opening and will take the opportunity to spend hour or so wandering around the exhibits - sampling, tasting...... and watching the talented demonstrations. A tough job but as a chocolate lover I am definitely up to it. I went last year and loved it!
I will be posting photos and my feedback in due course.....Give me a few days to get over any chocolate overdose!!

Flat Biscuits

This recipe was on a very yellowed newspaper cutting dated 5th September 1994 and filed away in a folder for future use. In that year my children were aged 18 and 20, gosh! Now they are married and parents to two children each! I never got around to making them for them -  so I thought I would give them a trial run before my B and her little T come to stay in September. It does use a lot of chocolate chips but most passionate bakers have those in the cupboard don't they.....!

For most cookies, or as we in NZ call them - biscuits - you start by creaming the butter and sugar then add an egg or two. This recipe is a little different and ideal if you have run out of eggs and need to whip something up real quick. Their finished texture is a little less crumbly than the traditional cookie and a bit chewy but delicious just the same!

While in Minneapolis I bought myself a very flash Martha Stewart cookie scoop. It works like  an ice-cream scoop and gives you perfect matching sized portions on your baking tray. 

A wee bit over the top you  might say but I am a little attached to it already!

Flat biscuits

185g soft butter

185g white sugar

2tbsp golden syrup

250g flour (or if self-raising – leave out the BP)

2tsp baking powder

2tbsp milk

2tsp vinegar

Half a packet of chocolate chips - the more the merrier!

precooked cookies flattened with your palm

Cream butter, sugar and golden syrup together.  Add milk and vinegar and beat for a minute. Add flour, BP and chocolate chips. Beat for a further minute.

Roll small spoonfuls of the mixture with the palm of your hand and place on cold oven tray, I use baking paper as it makes cleaning up easier and stops them sticking to the tray - flatten with hand (or use a back of a fork).

Bake 15 minutes at 180°Celsius (if fan oven lower to 170), take out when golden brown, leave on a tray to cool then move to a wire rack.

stacked and ready to go

Flat Biscuits

This recipe was on a very yellowed newspaper cutting dated 5th September 1994 and filed away in a folder for future use. In that year my children were aged 18 and 20, gosh! Now they are married and parents to two children each! I never got around to making them for them -  so I thought I would give them a trial run before my B and her little T come to stay in September. It does use a lot of chocolate chips but most passionate bakers have those in the cupboard don't they.....!

For most cookies, or as we in NZ call them - biscuits - you start by creaming the butter and sugar then add an egg or two. This recipe is a little different and ideal if you have run out of eggs and need to whip something up real quick. Their finished texture is a little less crumbly than the traditional cookie and a bit chewy but delicious just the same!

While in Minneapolis I bought myself a very flash Martha Stewart cookie scoop. It works like  an ice-cream scoop and gives you perfect matching sized portions on your baking tray. 

A wee bit over the top you  might say but I am a little attached to it already!

Flat biscuits

185g soft butter

185g white sugar

2tbsp golden syrup

250g flour (or if self-raising – leave out the BP)

2tsp baking powder

2tbsp milk

2tsp vinegar

Half a packet of chocolate chips - the more the merrier!

precooked cookies flattened with your palm

Cream butter, sugar and golden syrup together.  Add milk and vinegar and beat for a minute. Add flour, BP and chocolate chips. Beat for a further minute.

Roll small spoonfuls of the mixture with the palm of your hand and place on cold oven tray, I use baking paper as it makes cleaning up easier and stops them sticking to the tray - flatten with hand (or use a back of a fork).

Bake 15 minutes at 180°Celsius (if fan oven lower to 170), take out when golden brown, leave on a tray to cool then move to a wire rack.

stacked and ready to go

Anzac biscuits

Anzac biscuits

(Recipe from Sunday Times magazine – Olivia Tully)

This is the most successful recipe I have used for Anzac biscuits.

1 cup flour

1 cup castor sugar

1 cup coconut

2 cups rolled oats

125g butter

2 tbsp golden syrup

1tsp baking soda

3 tbsp boiling water

Mix flour, sugar, coconut, and oats to make a well in the centre.

Melt butter and golden syrup together. Dissolve baking soda in water.

Combine all, roll into balls and press onto greased baking trays.

Bake 180 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes.

Space them out as they spread a bit – reduce the temperature to 170 degrees in a fan oven – they may cook a little quicker than 15 minutes too – so you need to watch they don’t burn.

(To vary the recipe you can take ½ cup of rolled oats out, add ½ cup sultanas and an extra ½ of flour).

Anzac biscuits

Anzac biscuits

(Recipe from Sunday Times magazine – Olivia Tully)

This is the most successful recipe I have used for Anzac biscuits.

1 cup flour

1 cup castor sugar

1 cup coconut

2 cups rolled oats

125g butter

2 tbsp golden syrup

1tsp baking soda

3 tbsp boiling water

Mix flour, sugar, coconut, and oats to make a well in the centre.

Melt butter and golden syrup together. Dissolve baking soda in water.

Combine all, roll into balls and press onto greased baking trays.

Bake 180 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes.

Space them out as they spread a bit – reduce the temperature to 170 degrees in a fan oven – they may cook a little quicker than 15 minutes too – so you need to watch they don’t burn.

(To vary the recipe you can take ½ cup of rolled oats out, add ½ cup sultanas and an extra ½ of flour).