Nut Butter Choc Chip Cookies

Since Sous Chef J was a very young lad, we've been making nut butter cookies and have blogged a recipe before.  This is how to make what we think is the best version of our much-tweaked (and tested) recipe.

The ingredients are, basically, store cupboard items and no mixer is needed to make them.

170g Smooth Nut Butter (we like to use Meridian Foods almond)
65g Crunchy Nut Butter (we use peanut - again from Meridian Foods)
165g caster sugar
35g dark chocolate chips
1 Large egg, (lightly beaten with a fork)
1/2 heaped teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (make sure it's gluten free - Dr Oetker & Dove's Farm are)
pinch of salt

We set the oven to heat up to 165ºC (fan) and rapidly prepare the cookie mix.

For ease, we now buy 170g jars of Meridian smooth almond butter but it also comes in 1kg tubs (which we used to buy till we realised it was no cheaper!), we scrape it out carefully using a thin silicone spatula and put in a medium sized mixing bowl.

Next we add the crunchy nut butter and sugar and mix to combine (we use a silicone spatula for this as the nut butter doesn't stick too much).

Then the beaten egg is added and, again, mixed through before adding the chocolate chips and salt and then they are folded in.

Finally the bicarbonate of soda is added (we do this last to ensure the raising agent isn't activating too far in advance of baking) and the mix is thoroughly combined.

We have found that 33g balls of the mix (yes, we are that precise) work best for us... and they are weighed out speedily, then carefully placed on non-stick baking sheets (if you don't have these or the non-stick's a bit old, then use greased sheet covered with baking paper/parchment/silicone sheet).  The mix is rolled lightly, placed on the baking sheet and pressed down slightly.

The cookies will spread during cooking so be careful about overloading the baking sheet.  The picture shows how we lay out the cookies on our baking sheets.

We set the timer to check the cookies after 10 minutes and then remove them once they're turning golden brown - this is usually after 12-15 minutes.

Once cooked, we leave the cookies to cool on the trays for about 5 minutes before transferring them to wire racks to cool completely.

We get 14 same sized cookies and one 'odd' based on this recipe (we find it depends how big the egg is as to the size of the 15th cookie)

This really is a simple, naturally gluten free, flourless cookie recipe.  It is also dairy free if suitable dark choc chips are used.  The cookies keep well in an airtight tin for up to a week (but they don't last that long here as Sous Chef J likes them too much).  We think they look and taste fab and hope you do too!

Party Ring Biscuits

 

Our take on party rings started out as a bit of trial and error but we were pleased with the end result and will be making more.

We had some biscuit dough in the freezer (the dough recipe from here) and allowed it to defrost before cutting 0.5cm discs from it.  These were flattened slightly using a rolling pin and, using a long-ago-purchased (from Tchibo), biscuit cutter we cut circular biscuits whose centres were also cut out and ejected.

The cookies were placed on a non-stick baking tray and cooked until golden (8-10 mins in 170ºC oven - depends on thickness).  Once fully cooled, the icing was prepared - we made a small batch of yellow and another of pink.

Starting with the yellow icing, it was spread on the rings using a thin silicone spatula before being dipped in yellow and orange citrus flavour strands.

Next, the remaining ring biscuits were iced in pink.  After this a circle of white icing was piped onto the pink biscuits and, using a cocktail stick, it was dragged through the white icing to leave a trail behind.

The pink party rings were most like the 'traditional' shop-bought biscuit and were eaten quickly.  Placing the orange and yellow party rings in an airtight box, they were stored for eating later.  The 'innards' of the party rings were also cooked and made a great 'with a cuppa' treat.

Choc chip cookies

Sous Chef J is very partial to the Honeybuns bakery Triple Chocolate Tinker cookies and this is our attempt to re-create them.  We do have the Honeybun's cookbook but, being the details chap J is, he noted the recipe in the book does not contain the same ingredients as the bought cookies (the recipe contains oat flour and oats whereas the bought cookies contain ground almonds).  It is the bought ones, with ground almonds, Sous Chef J likes for elevenses so that's the type of cookie we're aiming for.

Tweaking a chocolate brownie recipe, the ingredients we used were -

100g Dark chocolate pieces
100g Unsalted butter
150g dark soft brown sugar
150g caster sugar
2 beaten eggs (we used medium ones)
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
150g ground almonds
50g chocolate chunks

We started by melting the chocolate and butter over a pan of simmering water, they were mixed thoroughly together and then the sugars were added.  

At this point, the beaten eggs were added one at a time and combined well.

Next, the vanilla extract was added and stirred in.

Adding the ground almonds it's important to make sure they're completely mixed through. 

Finally, the chocolate chunks were added.



Placing dessertspoonfuls of the mix on a non-stick baking tray, the cookies were baked for about 6 minutes in a 170ºC fan oven.

Be careful to ensure the blobs of mix are well spaced... this will spread!

We watched the cookies quite closely as it depended on the amount in each as to how quickly they cooked.  Once cooked at the edges, the cookies were removed, and allowed to cool on the baking tray.

As soon as they were cool enough to lift off the baking sheet without bending, the cookies were put on a cooling rack to completely cool.

We made 6 cookies (about 10cm diameter) and a small tray of brownies using the ingredients above.

The brownies were cooked until a knife inserted in the centre of the aluminium tray came out almost clean.


This recipe results in cookies with a crisp outer and squidgy inner.  The brownies are fudge-like in the centre.

It is not a recipe for those counting calories!  Bagged up individually, the cookies freeze well and we cut up the brownies into small squares and freeze them for later...

Ginger Pecan Cookies

Whilst searching the web for Gluten Free baking ideas, we found this recipe on the Channel 4 food  website.  As it met our criteria of being gluten free, containing ingredients we had available and sounding tasty, we decided to give it a try.

Sous Chef J gathered the ingredients

• 1 tsp gluten-free baking powder
• 1½ tsp ground ginger
• 200g ground almonds
• 30g pecans, chopped
• 50g olive oil or rapeseed oil
• 160g natural syrup 

Which make 8-10 cookies according to the recipe... but we halved the amounts and managed to make 6 cookies.

Next, we set about making the cookies.  The pecans were chopped.

Ground almonds, ground ginger and baking powder were added to a bowl.  Then the oil and agave syrup were added and bound together to make a dough like mix.

Small balls of the mix were added to a baking tray and flattened slightly.  These were then baked in a pre heated oven (180ºC - fan) for about 10 minutes.  We allowed them to cool for a few minutes on the baking tray then transferred them to a cooling rack to completely cool.

 

Finally, the cookies were ready for 'testing'.  They were firm but soft and looked very appetising.

We stored them uneaten cookies in an airtight jar and were delighted to find they tasted even better the next day.

They are simple to make, great with a cuppa and look good.  Well worth having a go if you're stuck for baking ideas.  

Strawberry and Clotted Cream Cookie Tasting

To say sous chef J was delighted to receive a parcel containing 'goodies' for him to try is an understatement. He was thrilled and desperate to begin testing the contents... so much so that he rushed through his photograph taking in an attempt to get eating as soon as possible.

This is the parcel from Beyond the Bean that caused so much excitement...Inside it, we found 2 large Strawberry and Clotted Cream Cookies from Byron Bay's Gluten Free range. We'd spotted a tweet on twitter from @ByronBayCookies about their newly launched flavour and had been lucky enough to get a sample sent out to try for ourselves.Having opened the cookies (which were a little less than perfect after their journey through the post) sous chef J declared the flavour to be "amazing" - he particularly liked the little pieces of strawberry within the cookie.

Being a kind chap, this is what he left at the end of his taste test...... but, even from that small sample, it was agreed the Strawberry and Clotted Cream Cookies would make a great accompaniment to a cup of tea!

We'll certainly be keeping a look out for these when we're out and about over the summer.