Chocolate cookies

[poppyg]

Ingredients

• 240g butter, softened
  
• 300g sugar
• 2 medium eggs
  
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
  
• 360g plain flour
  
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  
• pinch of salt
• splash of milk, (optional)
• filling of choice

Method

1. Preheat  oven to 180 C/160 C fan, and line some baking trays with parchment paper.

2. Soften butter - microwave until soft, but not runny. Beat in large mixing bowl until smooth, and then add the sugar/s. (mixture of dark brown, light brown, and golden caster sugars) Beat the butter and sugar mixture until lighter in colour and fluffier. The mixture shouldn't feel grainy. 

3. In a mug or small bowl, beat together the eggs and vanilla. In another bowl, sieve together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Add the eggs to the butter mixture little by little, alternating with a spoon of the flour in order to prevent curdling.

4. Once all the wet and dry ingredients are combined, add the filling. This could be dried fruit, chocolate, chopped nuts, sweets etc. If the mixture appears very dry, a splash of milk can help loosen the dough.

5. Spoon small heaps of dough onto the prepared baking trays, taking care to leave some space between to allow for spreading in the oven (about 3 cm should do, depending on the size of your cookies)

6. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until firm around the edges. When they first come out of the oven they won't be fully solid, but after cooling for 15 minutes or so they will harden to the perfect texture. Best enjoyed with a drink, although they are perfectly delicious alone.


Alterations

• If a chocolate cookie is desired, simply replace 60g of the flour with cocoa powder
  
• Suggested fillings: chocolate chips/chunks, fudge pieces, sweets such as smarties, m&ms or rolos, dried fruit, raisins/sultanas, chopped or whole nuts
  
• This recipe halfs/doubles/triples etc very well
• For a cookie cake/extra large cookie, spread all dough onto one round baking tray, or in the bottom of a large round cake tin. Once cool it can be decorated as desired, and is best served by cutting like a pizza with a sharp knife or pizza cutter