Gourmet Chocolate Cookies

With what's currently happening in South Africa and around the world, many are practising self-isolation or social distancing (and good on you!). I thought this would be a good time to share my favourite and to-go recipe for cookies, which I originally found on Tanya Burr's blog. I baked these cookies for any school function I had, any get-together, all desserts and just because! The mixture will make anywhere between 8 and 12 cookies, depending on how large you make them. But, if you want to double the recipe, I would recommend doing two separate mixtures (rather than just doubling the ingredients). So if you're bored while at home, maybe try out this recipe for the best chocolate cookies. Don't forget to wash your hands before, during and after you bake.

INGREDIENTS:

- 200g butter

- 300g castor sugar

- 1 large egg

- 275g self-raising flour

- 75g cocoa powder

- dash of milk

- slab of white chocolate

- slab of milk chocolate

METHOD:

1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees.

2. Melt the butter in a microwave, and then add to a large mixing bowl.

3. Measure out your castor sugar. Start beating the butter and add the castor sugar slowly, tablespoon by tablespoon to the butter while you beat it. Once all of the castor sugar is added, make sure it's all mixed thoroughly, but don't worry too much if the mixture is grainy. It should be yellow in colour.

4. Crack in the egg.

5. Add all of the dry ingredients, except the chocolate slabs.

6. Add a dash of milk.

7. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. You will most probably have to add another dash of milk, because it is usually too dry.

8. Continue to fold until it's fairly mixed and clumpy. Now, this is the fun part! Wash your hands and get them into the mixture, making sure you mix it fully, until it's a dough consistency.

9. Break both chocolate slabs into their individual blocks. Mix the blocks into the dough, making sure they're evenly spread throughout the mixture.

10. Put waxed paper on an oven tray and divide the mixture into balls. Place them far apart on the tray and make sure there are no chocolate blocks right at the bottom of the cookies. They will feel quite oily, this is good! Also, make sure there isn't too many chocolate pieces in one cookie, as it won't stick together properly.

11. Put the cookies in the oven for 11 minutes (specific, but effective!). They will look undercooked when you take them out, but they will harden as you have to let them cool off for 30 minutes.

12. After 30 minutes, I usually cut the cookies into quarters as they very large and rich, and they feed more people this way!

Happy baking at home! Love always.