crunchy chewy choc chip cookies

Having made Lorraine Pascale’s lime and blueberry cake recently I was intrigued by her chewy american-style cookies. David adores cookies like this but I’m not a fan, and I was wondering if a homemade version would be better than the commercial ones I’ve tried.

David loved these – the cookies are crunchy around the edges and chewy in the middle. Sadly they still didn’t do it for me – I think it’s the addition of baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. These give the cookies their texture but also have an impact on flavour – I think the cookies taste slightly sour and fake, which is exactly what I dislike about the bought version of these cookies.

So, if you love cookies like this, and want to make your own, then this is probably a perfect recipe. but if you want something that tastes more natural then you’ll need to keep looking for a homemade version.

lorraine pascale’s big yummy choc chip cookies (makes 8 large american style cookies*)

110g butter softened

200g light soft brown sugar

1 egg

seed of 1 vanilla pod or 2 drops vanilla extract

165g plain flour

pinch salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

30g cocoa powder

100g milk chocolate chips**

100g dark chocolate chips**

preheat oven to 190c and line 2 large baking sheets with greaseproof paper.

put the butter and sugar in a large bowl and cream together until combined. it does not need to be light and fluffy - i do this with my mixer but a hand whisk will do the job too. stir in the egg and vanilla and mix well. it may look curdled at this stage but don’t worry, give it a good whisk and it will come good.

add the flour, salt, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and cocoa powder and mix until the dough looks uniform. the dough will be very stiff. add chocolate chips and mash with a spoon.

divide mixture into 8 balls* and space about 10cm apart on the prepared baking trays. bake in oven for 10-12 minutes - the cookies will have a cracked top and be very soft. remove cookies from the oven and leave to cool on the baking trays, they will quickly harden as they cool. serve with a glass of ice cold milk

* I made ten cookies and they ended up 12-15cm in diameter. If the cookies are touching when you take them out of the oven you can use a blunt knife to cut the dough and reshape the cookies.

** I used normal chocolate (a mix of dark, white and milk), roughly chopped.