Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is a re-re-re-share but every now and then I like to re-blog it because it's just the ultimate cookie recipe. I barely did any of my planned Christmas baking over the festive season, I even have 2 boxed baking sets I bought for the kids that are still unopened. Time just totally got away from me. I part I think that's because the week before Christmas I was poorly (monstrous cough that kept me from sleeping and drove everyone else nuts) and i didn't start to feel better until Christmas Eve so y'know.. TIME!! I've already started making a bucket list for next Christmas because I always put things off, not wanting to do them too early on in December but I really feel like I totally missed it altogether this year. Moving on, between Christmas and New Year I've decided to up my game on the home front, we've done the films we missed and baked up a storm so I thought I'd share (again) this foolproof recipe that take 5 mins to knock together and my family demolishes in about the same time.

125g butter, softened (I use salted)

100g light brown soft sugar

125g caster sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

225g self-raising flour

200g (or a big bag) of chocolate buttons

I've edited the recipe this time purely because as the years have passed I've tweaked a few things and made it even simpler so if you've seen this before or even tried it don't be alarmed.. it still gives you the same result with a few fewer steps. I mix together the sugar, butter and egg (I know it says lightly beaten but I do it all in one bowl.. who can be bothered?) before adding a little vanilla essence if I have it. This is not essential but I keep it in the recipe because it definitely does make a difference so use it if you have it on hand. Then in goes the flour.. it can take a while to bind it all but don't be tempted to use your hands!! It's not that kind of biscuit mixture and you'll end up messy. A metal spoon makes lighter work.

Lastly I add chocolate buttons as opposed to chips for 2 reasons, 1. they're already small (although I tend to crunch up giant buttons in my hands because you can buy big bags of those and one grab bag is the perfect amount for this recipe) and 2. I am very picky with milk chocolate and it's Cadbury's or nothing for me so the alternative is chopping up a bar of Dairy Milk... aint nobody got time for that! I use a table-spoon to measure out my cookies on a greased baking tray, you should get a minimum of 12 large cookies but bear in mind that they SPREAD so leave plenty of space between them before they go in the oven. I baked my last 2 batches at 180C for just under 2 minutes but they were large.. I'd put the timer on for 12 minutes and keep an eye on them after that. They will come out looking a little raw and cakey but that's good.. they will settle fast when you get them out and that's what gives them that gooey American cookie texture that Millie's has us all hooked on. I leave mine to JUST brown on top before I take them out but my husband prefers them a little earlier so it's all trial and error and personal preference.

Excellent with a glass of milk but just as good with my last cup of tea in my Santa mug til next Christmas (she lies, that mug will be used year round) these are my favourite cookies. I can knock a batch together with no notice and since I made my little tweaks to the ingredients I'm even more likely to have in what I need to make them. The original called for 100g of caster sugar and 125g of soft brown sugar but that's tough to find and quite expensive in my experience. You do get a slightly more caremelised texture but unless I was making them for a special occasion (unlikely as I don't think they'd last until the guests arrived) then I wouldn't bother.

This years addition to the process was the sleeping puppy (who's not such a puppy anymore) who was so irritated by me being in HIS kitchen he retreated to stairs to sleep on my dirty clothes. He did NOT taste the cookies and might still be a bit peeved with me about the whole thing.

Enjoy!

Miss BB