white chocolate & cranberry cookies

I discovered this recipe in an advert in my delicious food magazine last Christmas. The advert was for Carnation Condensed Milk. In my view, Condensed Milk is the  secret ingredient required for my idea of the perfect cookie. Chewy & soft with a slightly crisp edge. Yum.
So, when I saw the advert, I knew I needed to go & buy some condensed milk at the soonest possible moment. Perfectly Christmassy with their cranberries, I thought, but having tasted them, I have become a little hooked and so this is no longer a recipe to be reserved for Christmas. This is one that should be baked as frequently as you like. For breakfast, lunch & dinner and a treat to go with your afternoon coffee if you fancy. 


Thankfully, these cookies got me out of my marble rut with great ease. Well, almost. More about that in my next post. I had dried cranberries in the cupboard & I knew where they needed to go. Into a big old mixing bowl with some condensed milk, plenty of butter & a few other bits & bobs. So, off they went...


White Chocolate & Cranberry Cookies makes 50

ingredients

225g / 8oz unsalted butter, softened
225g / 8oz caster sugar
350g / 12oz self raising flour
150g /5.5oz white chocolate, chopped into chunks
397g tin condensed milk*
as many dried cranberries as you see fit!


* I didn't realise until baking a second batch of these cookies at home with my Mum last weekend that I have always used double the amount of condensed milk than the original recipe states. I tried using half the amount in my second batch & the cookies were still delicious but didn't spread as much, so were smaller, and they had less of a chewy-buttery feel to them. So I'm sticking with using too much. If you want to be slightly healthier, use a 170g tube of condensed milk  instead!

1) Pre-heat the oven to 180C /Gas Mark 4 / 350F. Grease 3 baking trays. You'll need to cook these in batches unless you happen to have an industrial sized double oven with lots of shelves, so I tend to use 3 trays at once. When the first batch has come out of the oven, I remove the cookies then regrease my original trays & use then again.

2) Beat together the butter & sugar. They don't need to be beaten for too long, just long enough to get them combined & a little bit fluffy.

3) Stir in the condensed milk.

4) Stir in the flour (no need to sieve) followed by the white chocolate & cranberries.

5) Using a teaspoon, place little balls of the cookie dough onto your baking trays, with plenty of space to spread. These guys love to take up as much space as possible when they go to hang out in their favourite place - the oven. 

6) Bake in the pre-heated oven for 12 minutes until going slightly golden around the edges. Remove from the oven & allow to cool on the baking tray for a couple of minutes. This will allow them time to harden slightly. If you try and remove them from the tray immediately, they'll be so soft that they'll break.

 
After a few minutes of resting time outside of the oven, remove from the baking trays and allow to cool on a wire rack, or just eat a few straight away while they're still warm. 
Because the quantities yield such a huge batch, you have more than enough to wrap a few up & give them away as presents, or to give to children as an after-school snack.

Cake Count :: 900