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...

Pastryless Cheese and Onion Quiche

OK, so this is a bit of a "make it up as we go along" recipe. When there are eggs that need using up, this is the recipe of choice for us. The principle is the same each time we make this but amounts and timings have to be adjusted depending on number and size of eggs being used, runniness of yoghurt and amount of cheese... It's definitely worth cooking but you need to keep an eye on what's going on in the oven.

The ingredients used this time were two onions, which had been sliced, two large eggs, beaten, about 400ml natural yoghurt and lots of grated mature cheddar cheese. Plus seasoning to taste and sunflower oil for cooking and oiling the dish. As mentioned above, this is a dish that is cooked when the eggs we have are about to go out of date... so we may use three medium eggs, two large eggs or more... depending on the supply situation!

First of all, the sliced onions were cooked in sunflower oil over a medium heat until they are starting to cook through (we usually use red onions).








Whilst the onions were cooking, we mixed together the eggs and yoghurt then added in the grated cheese - sous chef J seasoned well with freshly ground black pepper (using his own 'special' pepper mill). His next task was to oil the pyrex dish we cook the quiche in. Sunflower oil is used for this and he spreads it over the base and up the sides using a silcone 'brush' like utensil from Ikea.








After oiling the dish, a thin layer of the egg, cheese and yogurt mix was added... and spread out evenly. This was then covered with the onions.

Finally, the onions were covered with the remainder of the egg, cheese and yoghurt mix and the dish was placed in the preheated oven.
After cooking in the oven at 180ºC (for about 25 minutes with this amount) we ended up with this...

After allowing it a little time cooling in the dish, we carefully served (we use a fish slice). We enjoy our quiche with any/all of salad, potato wedges, steamed vegs... or you can try whatever takes your fancy!
The quiche can be cooled fully, stored in the fridge and sliced for picnics. It freezes well for a short time too.