Sunday, September 12, 2010

Crunchy Choc Chip, Pecan and Almond Cookies




Freshly baked choc chip cookies cooling on the rack
 
Z had a craving for chocolate chip cookies yesterday, so I told him that I would make some for him today. My cousin R was kind enough to share her recipe with me. The only variation that I made to it was the addition of vanilla extract. I also used chopped pecans and almond slivers. The cookies came out great with an amazing texture that was light and crunchy. Initially, I had planned to make a separate batch with only choc chips without nuts in them, but H had mixed the chips and nuts together in the bowl before I could stop her. So, when Z saw that there were nuts in the cookies, he totally lost interest in them! H however was not as fussy and ate a couple. Well, so much for baking cookies for the kids...next time, I should probably keep the kids out of the kitchen when I'm baking!

(I only used up half of the cookie dough as that already yielded about 80 bite-sized cookies, and I can't imagine how we are ever going to finish them! I rolled up the remainder dough in clingwrap and stored it in the freezer so that they are ready to be cut and baked the next time anyone in the house has a craving!)

Crunchy Choc Chip, Pecan and Almond Cookies
 
Ingredients:

250g butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 egg
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 1/2 cups of self raising flour
1 cup choc chips
1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped
1 1/4 cup almond nibs, roughly chopped

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees celsius.
2. Beat butter, brown sugar, caster sugar and egg till well blended. Add cocoa, flour and bicarbonate of soda and beat on low speed till combined.
3. Add choc chips and nuts and mix well.
4. Spoon onto baking tray lined with baking paper. Compress it so that it holds its shape. If dough is too soft, refrigerate until it firms up slightly before shaping the cookies. I used about 1 tablespoon to make small-sized cookies.
5. Bake for about 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack.