Gooey, fruity & nutty chocolate chip cookies!

It’s a miserable day outside so I decided to get baking. What better way to deal with the cold than to make cookies and have them with tea (or coffee) sitting in front of the fire – and this is the result – Enjoy!

Preparation: 10 minutes                    

Cooking: 15-20 minutes

Oven: 190 C (fan 170 C)                 

Equipment: 2 x greased & lined trays

Makes 12 large cookies

Ingredients

75g chopped hazelnuts

75g sultanas

100g white chocolate chips

180g plain flour

110g dark brown sugar

120g butter (soft)

1 level teaspoon baking powder

1 level teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

Method

• Put all the ingredients - apart from the nuts, sultanas & chocolate chips - in a bowl and mix with a hand mixer or a wooden spoon (I used my hands – great fun if you want to get children into baking).
• Once mixed add the rest of the ingredients and mix to combine all the items. Don’t over mix or the dough will become too wet.
• Divide the mixture into 12 balls and place on the 2 trays with ample space in between for the cookies to spread. I put 6 cookies on each tray.
• Put in the oven and after 10 minutes turn the trays around to get an even bake - check after 15 minutes and if they look golden and crisp the cookies are done. It is important to keep an eye after 15 minutes or the cookies may burn at the edges.
• Once cooked, leave to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before removing carefully using a spatula. Let the cookies cool down completely before putting them in a sealed container where it will keep for 3 days unless devoured by cookie monsters!

Notes

1. You can use any combination of nuts, fruits and chocolate chips so feel free to add or remove as you like.
2. Make smaller sized cookies by making teaspoon sized balls but make sure you check the cookies after 10 minutes as cooking times will reduce. You should be able to get up to 30 small cookies.

Carrot cake with cream cheese icing

Here, after a couple of busy days, is the recipe to go with the pictures below! I used a mix of white and wholemeal flour to give it some texture and lots of carrots to make the cake moist. The cake will keep for up to three days but in our house it does not even last a day!

Preparation:  20 minutes             

Cooking: 1 hour

Tin size: 23 cm round or 20 cm square greased and lined with baking paper

Oven: 180C (fan 160C)

Ingredients

3 cups thickly grated carrots

1 plain flour

¾ cup whole meal flour

1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ginger

½ teaspoon mixed spice

¾ cup roughly chopped walnuts

¾ cup sultanas

3 large eggs

1 ½ cups dark brown sugar

¾ cup vegetable oil

Method

• Whisk oil and sugar together until combined.
• Add eggs one at a time beating well into the mixture.
• Sift flours, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda & spices over the wet mix and stir with a metal spoon until almost combined.
• Then add the grated carrots, sultanas and walnuts – mix well with the spoon.
• Pour into the prepared tin & bake for 60 minutes or until a skewer (inserted in the middle) comes out with clean/with little crumbs. Check the cake after 40 minutes and cover with baking paper if browning too much.
• Cool in tin, then tip out on a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, spread with icing of your choice.

Cream cheese icing

Take 250g full fat cheese and mix with a wooden spoon till smooth. Add 1 ½ cups sifted icing sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons of finely grated lemon rind and 1 ½ teaspoons of lemon juice and mix until well combined. Spread over the cake and chill in fridge for one hour before serving.

Notes

• If you don’t like icing then just give a dusting of icing sugar or simply eat plain – the cake is yummy eaten warm or cold.
• If you don’t like nuts, substitute with half a cup extra of sultanas.
• To make the cake more decorative, place whole walnuts on top of the cake mix before baking.