an unexpected favourite

Well this week has turned out to be another little boost towards my 2010 goal.

It all started on Monday evening. At the job I have that involves me cooking for some lovely people, I had been more productive than usual, so had less cooking to do on Tuesday. I asked the lady who I cook for if there was anything she'd like me to do instead of cooking as I'd have extra time on Tuesday, she said, 'you could bake some cakes for the kids?'

Aaaaah. Music to my ears.

At this, one of the children piped up, 'ooh can we have one of those tall square cakes?'

Interpretation provided by Mum: Battenburg.

I have to say, I do not like this cake, but I understand the beauty of it. So, I suggested a compromise:

Chocolate Chequerboard Cake.

But that is for another blog post.

{You're getting a glimpse into my rambly mind here. You see, I'd uploaded the photos for this blog post with the intention of telling you about my favourite cookie, but I have digressed. Back to the original.}

So anyway, after the mention of Chocolate Chequerboard Cake, one of the other children mentioned that on Thursday her school was having a non-uniform day in aid of Haiti, and she'd quite like to make something to sell at a stall at lunchtime.

{Interpretation: She'd like me to make something to sell at the stall. Fine by me.}

And that's where these cookies come in.

Up until 2007, I had not managed to bake a good cookie. The mixture would always look great, but would then spread and go all crispy in the baking process.

I have since then, discovered a secret ingredient: Condensed milk. What a beautiful ingredient. My cookie companion.

During a cookie conversation with a friend, I mention my lack of a good recipe, and she said, 'My mum has a great recipe for cookies. l've never tried it, but it's supposed to be really good. I'll get it for you.'

Now, I don't know about you, but often when people say they'll pass on a recipe, it doesn't happen. Not for lack of good intention, but because, with a recipe like this, as is so often the case, you need to go and find it / ask someone to pass it on, etc, and so the buck gets passed and dropped.

Thankfully, this friend is the most organised person I have ever met. She does not forget. So, a few days after our conversation, I had the recipe in my hand for what was to become my favourite cookie recipe to date.

So, dear friends, here is the recipe, being passed on, just as it should be. I love that my growing recipe collection isn't made up simply of beautiful books stuffed full of recipes written by somebody else, but consists of recipes from here, there and everywhere. From family and friends, and family of friends, and websites lovingly created by people who love to bake. Even as I write this, I am getting excited about the prospect of all the recipes that are to be found.

Enough of my jibber-jabbing, and onto the recipe...

Double Chocolate Cookies :: Makes about 22 {depending on how big /small you make them}

Ingredients
200g / 7oz dark chocolate
60g / 2oz unsalted butter
60g / 2oz white chocolate chips
225g / 8oz self raising flour
397g / 14oz tin condensed milk

1 :: Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 / 180C / 350F

2 :: Break up the dark chocolate and melt, along with the butter, in a glass bowl over a pan of simmering water.

3 :: Once melted, remove from the heat and stir in the entire can of condensed milk. Set aside for 10-15 mins to cool slightly.

4 :: Stir in the flour gradually (no need to sieve).

5 :: Stir in the white chocolate chips. On this occasion I cut up a bar of white chocolate as it was cheaper to buy it in this form than in ready-made chips, but roll with whatever you feel like. Personally, I think that little chips look better than cut up chocolate, but there we go.

6 :: Leave the dough to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
This was the first recipe that made me see that cookie dough really is, and should be, dough-like, just as the term suggests. It feels brilliantly springy to touch - not that you would ever catch me doing such a thing...

8 :: Spoon heaped teaspoons of the mixture onto a greased baking tray, leaving plenty of space in between to allow for spreading. If you want the cookies to have a smooth-ish appearance, it might be worth rolling the ball of dough in your hands before placing on the tray, but I quite like the rough-rocky-like apppearance they have from just scooping and pushing onto the tray.

9 :: Bake in the preheated oven for 10 - 12 minutes.
The cookies are ready when they're just starting to go crisp on top but are still very soft.
Remember that cookies always harden as they cool, so you do not want to bake them until they're hard, unless you want to bite into a brown rock!

Cake Count :: 501