basesixty

Tag: cookies

  • Oat Hazelnut Cookies

    Makes 9 cookies

    You will need:

    50g butter, plus a little for greasing
    2 tbsp maple syrup
    1 dessert apple, unpeeled and coarsely grated (you need 85g)
    1 tsp cinnamon
    50g raisins
    50g porridge oats
    50g spelt flour
    40g unblanched hazelnuts, cut into chunky slices
    1 egg

    Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and lightly grease a non-stick baking tray (or line a normal baking tray with baking parchment). Tip the butter and syrup into a small non-stick pan and melt together, then add the apple and cook, stirring, over a medium heat until it softens, about 6-7 mins. Stir in the cinnamon and raisins.

    Mix the oats, spelt flour, and hazelnuts in a bowl, pour in the apple mixture, then add the egg and beat everything together really well.

    Spoon onto the baking tray, well spaced apart to make 9 mounds, then gently press into discs. Bake for 18-20 mins until golden, then cool on a wire rack. Will keep for 3 days in an airtight container or 6 weeks in the freezer.

    TIP: As this isn’t classic baking, the ingredients do not need to be exact. Just note that if the grated apple is over 85g, then you may need a little flour to make sure that the mixture isn’t too wet to set.

    TIP: Be careful to not overcook these, the dried fruit can burn very quickly.

    Original recipe: BBC Good Food

  • Red Velvet Cookies

    Makes 16 – 18 cookies

    You will need:

    • 175g soft salted butter
    • 200g light brown soft sugar
    • 100g caster sugar
    • 1 large egg
    • 2 tsp vanilla extract
    • ½-1 tbsp red food colouring gel, depending on strength
    • 225g plain flour
    • 25g cocoa powder
    • ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
    • 150g white chocolate chips or chunks
      For the drizzle:
    • 2 tbsp soft cheese
    • 6 tbsp icing sugar

    Beat the butter and sugars together with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and food colouring until you have a bright red batter. Sieve over the flour, cocoa and bicarb. Fold everything together to make a stiff evenly-coloured dough, then fold in the chocolate chips.

    Put the dough on a sheet of baking parchment, fold the parchment over the dough and mould into a sausage shape about 6cm wide. Chill until ready to bake. Will keep for a week in the fridge or one month in the freezer.

    Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Cut the cookie dough into 1cm thick slices using a sharp knife and arrange on two large baking sheets lined with baking parchment well-spaced apart so they have room to spread in the oven. Bake in batches, keeping the unbaked cookies on the sheet in the fridge while the rest are baking.

    Bake in the middle of the oven for 13-15 mins until the cookies are crisp at the edges, but still soft in the centre. Leave to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Beat the soft cheese in a small bowl to a loose consistency, then stir in the icing sugar. Use a piping bag or spoon to drizzle the icing over the cookies. Un-iced cookies keep for five days in an airtight container, or two days iced.

    TIP: Be careful not to overcook these. If the edges feel crispy in the oven, you have cooked them too much. You should take them out then the edges look bubbly and the middle is still soft. The cookies firm up a lot once they cool (like flapjack!).

    Original recipe: Anna Glover – BBC Good Food