Chocolate Chip Cookies

Teachers around Great Britain are rejoicing – why? It’s the holidays! That makes me happy as it means more time for baking! One of my bestest friends Rachael has just had a gorgeous baby boy so I thought the family may be in need of some sugary, chocolaty goodness to keep them all going so I decided chocolate chip cookies were most definitely needed!

This is a Hummingbird Bakery recipe from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. It’s the same book that the oat and raisin cookies that I’ve previously featured come from. This recipe makes 24 cookies.

Ingredients:

225g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
350g soft light brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
400g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
225g dark chocolate (roughly chopped)

Method:
1) Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3 and line 4 baking sheets with greaseproof paper.
2) Put the butter and sugars in a large bowl and mix (using an electric handwhisk – alternatively use a freestanding electric mixer) until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well and scraping any unmixed ingredients from the side with a rubber spatula. Add the vanilla extract and mix on the lowest speed until combined.

3) Add the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda and mix well until a smooth dough is formed.

4) Roughly chop the chocolate and stir into the dough mixture until it is evenly dispersed.

5) Arrange six equal amounts of cookie dough onto each prepared baking tray. Make sure that there is enough space for the cookies to spread while baking.

6) Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes until the cookies are golden brown around the edges (the recipe states 10 minutes but I actually found mine needed 15). Leave the cookies to cool slightly on the trays before transferring the cookies on the greaseproof paper to a wire cooling rack to cool completely (A word of warning – do not try removing the cookies from the paper until they have completely cooled as otherwise melted chocolate chunks and large amounts of cookies will come away with the paper too!)
7) Enjoy your soft and chewy cookie with the drink of your choice (as I am doing now whilst writing this!)

Happy baking!