Recipe: Treat Your Valentine To These Best-Ever Cookies
Cooking and serving someone food is, for me, a declaration of love.
I once read a book called The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, in which a young girl was able to taste the emotions of her mother through the food the mother cooked for her.
As well as being a lovely concept for a fictional novel I have often wondered if there is something more in the idea that food cooked with love is really better than that cooked without it.
How often have you been disappointed by a final dish that you weren't really in the mood for making? Or been quietly thrilled at the results of a recipe you had never tried before, but put time and effort into making for someone you liked rather a lot?
So this Valentine's day get on with it and share the love with these, the greatest, gooiest chocolate chip cookies ever...
Ingredients
125g butter {softened, otherwise you'll make a right old mess}
100g light brown soft sugar
125g caster sugar {white or golden, doesn't matter}
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract, or for a real treat one fresh vanilla pod
225g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp salt
200g milk chocolate chips {or you can use dark for a less sweet result}
Method
Preheat your oven to 180 C
Cream butter and both sugars in a large bowl using an electric whisk
Once creamed combine the egg and vanilla {if using a vanilla pod, split open using a sharp knife and use the back of it, or a teaspoon to scrape out the gorgeous black pulp}
Sift in the flour and salt, then add the chocolate chips and stir to combine
For a more homemade look roll the dough into walnut sized balls
Alternatively, roll the dough into two thick sausage shapes, and slice to make neat cookies.
Place on ungreased baking paper and bake for just 7 minutes for the perfect, soft centred cookie, or for 10 minutes if you prefer a slightly more solid version, which travels better if gifting!
Remove from the oven and leave to harden for a minute before placing on a wire cooling rack
These cookies are best fresh from the oven, so I recommend rolling up the dough and keeping in the fridge so you can cut a few slices for freshly baked treats until they're all eaten {they'll keep for 3-4 days like this}.
Happy St Valentine's x
