dillymug
Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat…so it must be time for some Christmas inspired recipes! This time last year I became a bit obsessed with cranberry based cookie recipes. As December is now here I felt it was time to revisit some of these recipes. These cookies are from ‘The Hummingbird Bakery’ Cake Days book. I’ve made these once before and liked the flavour combination. We enjoyed these today when we made a Starbucks pit-stop with friends on the way to a christening in Tunbridge Wells. I plan to post a few more cranberry based recipes over the next weeks so keep your eyes peeled!
I had intended to try out this recipe for macadamia and cranberry American cookies from the BBC Good Food website however when I saw the price of macadamia nuts in Tesco yesterday (£4.20 for a 250 gram bag!) I decided to think again. This is an easy recipe that you can make in one bowl – just be careful to not over bake them. I am still getting to know my oven and found they quickly went a little too brown and lost their chewiness. They would make a lovely festive gift for someone wrapped in cellophane or in a box and decorated with some festive ribbon. This recipe will make 10-12 cookies.
Ingredients:
135g unsalted butter
80g caster sugar
80g light brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
190g plain flour
>1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
100g dried cranberries
60g white chocolate chips (I used chopped white chocolate)
Method:
1) Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3 and line two baking sheets with baking parchment.
2) Using a hand-held whisk or freestanding electric mixer cream together the butter and both types of sugar. Then break in the egg, mix in the vanilla essence and mix well together.
3) Sift together the flour, salt, cinnamon and bicarbonate of soda, then add to the creamed mixture in two batches (I forgot to do this and added it all in – oops!) mixing thoroughly in the mixer or by hand until a dough forms.
4) Stir in the cranberries and chocolate chips.
5) Break off pieces of the dough, roll them into balls and place onto your prepared baking sheets. Allow 5-6 cookies per tray (although this will depend on the size of your baking trays), making sure they have space to spread during cooking.
6) Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the cookies are a light golden brown on top. Leave on the sheets for about 10 minutes to cool and set before transferring to a wire rack.
7) Enjoy with your favourite festive drink! Happy baking!
