Tag: cookies

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Foodie Friday: Darren Purchese’s chocolate chip cookies

Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio. Photo © Ari Hatzis

Callebaut Chocolate Hero Darren Purchese shares his chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio. Photo © Ari Hatzis

Recipe makes 20 cookies

Ingredients

220g Unsalted butter
200g Soft light brown sugar
180g Caster sugar
15g Salt
5g Bicarbonate soda, sieved
1 Vanilla pod, seeds scraped
2 Eggs, whole
400g Plain flour, sieved
30g Cocoa nibs
150g Callebaut Arriba 39% milk chocolate (plus extra for finishing)
250g Callebaut Madagascar 67% dark chocolate (plus extra for finishing)

Method

Preheat oven to 180C.

Cream the butter, brown sugar, caster sugar, salt, bicarbonate soda & vanilla together with beater.

Mix for two minutes on a medium speed and then scrape down the sides.

Mix for three minutes on a medium to high speed and then scrape down sides.

Add the egg gradually while continuing to beat on a low to medium speed.

Add all egg in and mix well before scraping down the sides.

Add the flour, nibs & chocolates and beat slowly until it is all incorporated.

Weigh the mix into 75g balls and chill.

Bake for 18 – 20 minutes, remove from the oven and press gently with a weight.

Add Arriba & Madagascar buttons to the top of the warm cookies and allow them to melt on.

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Foodie Friday: The perfect chocolate chip cookies

These classic, perfect chocolate chip cookies have a tinge of caramel flavour and are studded with chocolate goodness.

Tip: Use a small ice-cream scoop to form balls of dough and they’ll bake into gorgeous, perfectly round cookies every time.

Ingredients

  • 200 g plain flour
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 125 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 100g light brown sugar
  • 90 g granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 470 g chocolate chips

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line two baking sheets with baking paper.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and mix on low speed until blended. Slowly add the flour mixture and mix just until incorporated. Switch to a wooden spoon and stir in the chocolate chips.

Using a small ice cream scoop or heaping tablespoon, drop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the dough mounds 5 cm apart.

Bake the cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until the bottoms and edges are lightly browned and the tops feel firm when lightly touched, 10-13 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely. Makes 30 cookies.

–From the Williams Sonoma Test Kitchen.

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Foodie Friday: Bircher in a Biscuit!

Today’s recipe comes from Stacey Clare — A Healthy Mum. Jen’s been making some of her recipes for Seb recently and asked her to share some with our readers. Enjoy!

These babies are soul satisfying, nourishing morsels of goodness with just the right amount of spice. Egg-free, nut-free, gluten-free and freezer safe!

Makes: 20 | Prep: 10 mins | Cooking: 25 mins

Ingredients

  • • ¼ cup coconut oil
  • • 1 tbsp ground chia seeds
  • • 3 tbsp water
  • • ¼ cup maple syrup (plus extra for drizzling)
  • • ½ tsp bicarbonate soda 
  • • 1 tsp ground cinnamon (plus extra for sprinkling)
  • • ½ tsp fresh grated ginger
  • • 3 large Granny Smith apples
  • • ½ cup buckwheat flour 
  • • 1 ½ cups whole oats
  • • 3 tbsp milk (optional)

Method

STEP 1

Preheat your oven to 180°C and line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Combine the ground chia seeds with the water and place in the fridge to set. Meanwhile, whisk the coconut oil, maple syrup, bicarbonate soda, ginger, spices and milk if you are using it, together in a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.

STEP 2

In a separate bowl, grate 2 apples and combine with the flour and oats. Add this to the coconut oil mixture along with the chia seed mix and stir until a sticky dough is formed.

STEP 3

Roll heaped tablespoons of the mixture into balls and place evenly on the baking tray. Gently flatten each. Slice the remaining apple thinly and top each cookie with a slice. Brush with a little extra maple syrup and sprinkle with extra cinnamon. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until crispy. Allow to cool completely before removing from the tray.

STORAGE

Fridge for 5 days & freezer for 1 month. 

STACEY CLARE’S NUTRITIONAL TIP: When choosing apples, look out for the Granny Smith variety. They contain less fructose than the red varieties and are just as sweet when cooked.

–Stace is A Healthy Mum to two young boys and an accredited health coach to the masses. She spends her days running after her busy babes who always seem to be getting into something. Her nights are spent cooking for her website or helping other mummas on their own family’s health journey in her health coaching services. Her food philosophy is all about simple, easy-to-cook food the whole family wants to eat. You can view some of Stace’s recipes here, connect with her on Facebook and Instagram or grab a copy of her lunchbox eBook at staceyclare.com

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Foodie Friday: Valentine’s Day sugar cookies

Instead of spending a small fortune on flowers or store-bought chocolates this Valentine’s Day – or skipping the occasion completely – why not bestow the gift of homemade treats on your loved ones? Williams-Sonoma has the most wonderful collection of Valentine’s themed baking tools and accessories, which you’ll use year after year, and not only in February.

These sweetly styled cookies needn’t be reserved for romantic love, either. Share them with the kids, your friends, neighbours and colleagues. Everyone will love the sentiment, and nothing tastes better than home-baked biscuits!

How’s that for the Valentine’s gift that keeps giving? 

Ingredients

  • 2/3 cup (155 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup (125 g) caster sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 3/4 cup (280 g) plain flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • Royal icing for decorating (recipe below), optional

Method 

Preheat the oven to 200C. Have ready 2 ungreased baking trays. 

In a food processor or electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar and pulse until creamy. Add the egg and pulse until fluffy and blended. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add one-third of the flour mixture to the food processor and process until blended, about 45 seconds. Add the remaining flour in two batches, processing after each addition until the dough is smooth.

Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface, shape into a ball, and then roll out to about 5mm thick. (A good tip here is to cover your work bench with baking paper or parchment before flouring to help lift the rolled cookies onto trays. It will also make clean-up easier.)

Using your chosen cookie cutters, cut the dough into desired shapes. Then, using a spatula, transfer the cookies to the baking trays. Gather up the dough scraps, form into a ball, roll out and cut more shapes, and add to the baking trays.

Bake until lightly browned on the bottom and pale golden on top, 6-8 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and let cool on the baking trays for 5 minutes, and then transfer to the racks to cool completely.

Decorate the cooled cookies with royal icing. Makes about 36 cookies.

Royal Icing

Ingredients

  • 2 large egg whites
  • 500 g icing sugar, or more if needed
  • 1 tsp water or lemon juice, if needed
  • Food colouring (optional)

Method 

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together the eggwhites and 500g icing sugar until stiff enough to spread, about 10 minutes. If the icing is too stiff, beat in 1 teaspoon water or lemon juice. If it is too thin, continue beating for 2-3 minutes longer, or beat in another 1/4 cup (30 g) icing sugar. Use immediately before the icing starts to thicken. Royal icing will dry hard on cookies. Makes 1 cup.

To make different coloured icings, divide the icing among several bowls and add food colouring as desired. (Start with just a drop of food colouring, mix it in, check the colour and add more, drop by drop, until you reach your desired shade. A single drop can go a long way.) Using a knife or spatula, spread the icing on cookies. Alternatively, use a piping bag to highlight the details of stamped cookies. You could also decorate with sprinkles and sanding sugar before the icing dries.

–Love to bake? See Williams-Sonoma’s exclusive collection of bakeware and tools at williams-sonoma.com.au 

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Interiors Addict

Foodie Friday: Gingerbread Cookies 

foodie friday logo

You know Christmas can’t be far away when you suddenly find yourself drawn to baking buttery biscuits laden with spice and covered in beautiful decorations. Especially if you’re not a super-keen baker throughout the rest of the year! Christmas is the perfect time to exercise those unused baking muscles and whip up something homemade that you can give your loved ones. Or just have in the pantry for those extra holiday visitors.

These classic gingerbread cookies make the perfect end-of-year gifts for school friends and teachers, or Christmas gifts for neighbours and workmates, and are a great way to get the kids involved in Christmas preparations.

williams-sonoma-ornament-cookie-cutter-with-cutouts-and-im-c

Plan ahead, though – this recipe (like most good gingerbread biscuits) require you to rest the dough for at least a couple of hours or overnight. Longer resting means the flavours and colour will have more time to develop – in the case of gingerbread, this can only be a good thing!

STYLING TIP This recipe will work wonderfully with any of Williams-Sonoma’s festive cookie cutters. Of course, decorating is only limited by your imagination – store-bought icing pens and icing keep things simple, but feel free to break out your favourite royal icing recipe if you prefer! For gifting presentation, why not enclose each cookie in a small cellophane bag sealed with a decorative sticker, or layer them on a pretty Christmas plate or a shiny new baking tray that also doubles as part of the gift?

Still not too sure about baking your gifts? Why not leave it to the experts? Check out the in-store pop-ups happening in Williams-Sonoma this weekend featuring Nectar & Stone (in Chadstone), Grumpy Donuts (in Bondi Junction) and MakMak Macarons (in Chatswood).

Ingredients (Serves 12)

  • 225 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup caster sugar
  • 1 cup molasses
  • 1 egg
  • 5 cups plain flour
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 tbsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • Icing pens, coloured sugars and other decorations as desired

Method

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter on high speed until fluffy and pale yellow. Add the brown sugar and caster sugar and beat until the mixture is no longer gritty when rubbed between your finger and thumb. Reduce the speed to low and gradually beat in the molasses. Add the egg and beat until the mixture is blended.

Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt together onto a sheet of greaseproof paper. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating on low speed or stirring with a wooden spoon until well blended.

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and, with floured hands, form into a large, smooth mound. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions, shape into discs and wrap each disk in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.

Preheat an oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced). Lightly grease 2 baking trays or line them with baking paper.

Working with 1 disc at a time, roll out the dough between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper to a thickness of about 5 mm. Using gingerbread cookie cutters about 7-10 cm tall, cut out figures. Using an offset spatula, transfer the cookies to a prepared baking tray. Repeat with the remaining dough portions, then gather up the scraps and reroll them. If the scraps of dough have become sticky, refrigerate them for 10 minutes before rerolling. For best results, do not roll the same piece of dough more than twice.

Bake the gingerbread figures until lightly browned on the bottom, about 6 minutes. Let cool on the sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies to wire racks and let cool completely. Dress up the cooled gingerbread figures with the icing, sugars and other decorations. Makes 2 to 5 dozen cookies, depending on size.

—Head to Williams-Sonoma for lots more inspiration, or book a cooking class in their Sydney Cooking School – it makes the perfect Christmas gift for your favourite foodie.