Chirstmas is coming! In less than two weeks the days of fighting shoppers for the last gift will be over. As will waking up to another chocolate on the advent calendar (I don't care that I'm 18, mine is Star Wars themed!!) and all the preparation for five relatives to stay for a few days will be over too. I'm not going to lie - the lead up to Christmas is my favourite pat of the season which is why I get carried away in the atmosphere and forget to actually buy presents....
So I like to make people cookies!
And what's better is that people throw their diets out the window at Christmas BUT with these cookies you could try and pull them off as 'healthy'. They are egg free and use apple instead. This creation came about because my tree has given us 100+ apples and they have to be used up somehow.
The best thing about the cookies being egg free is that you can give them to someone you don't know very well, as long as you know they will like cookies. This is because they are friendly for vegetarians and anyone who is allergic to egg (I happen to have 2 friends who are both allergic).
You simply cannot go wrong with these especially because the recipe is super simple to follow, you can easily double/half the recipe to make the right amount, they are incredible scrumptious AND you don't miss out because you get to lick the bowl because there is no egg!!!!
The Recipe:
For 6 cookiesButter - 50g
Brown Sugar - 25g
Granulated Sugar - 50g (Or 75g instead of the 25g of brown sugar)
Apple - 1
Water - 1 tbsp
Bicarbonate of Soda - 1/4 tsp
Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp
Cinnamon - 1 tsp
Mixed Spice - 1sp (to make the cookies even more Christmassy but it can be missed out)
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Flour - 125g
Chocolate chips - 100g
The Method:
1. Heat oven to 180°C (fan oven). Peel the apple then chop it into roughly 1cm cubes, without the core of course. Place in a bowl with the water then put in the microwave for 2 minutes 30 seconds.2. Cream together the butter and sugar using a spoon until it is lighter and fluffier.
3. Add the apple, vanilla extract, cinnamon, mixed spice, bicarbonate of soda and salt and mix together until it is all well combined.
4. Pour in the flour and fold it into the mixture until it is just combined. If you are doubling this recipe, it might be a good idea to add it a bit at a time, mix it, then add a bit more.
5. Add your chocolate chips, fold them in until they are evenly distributed throughout the mixture.
6. I like to use 2 tablespoons to form a squashed ball shape before putting my cookies on a parchment-lined baking tray. Alternatively, you can oil/butter some foil and use teaspoons for smaller cookies, an ice cream scoop or your own hands to roll the batter into evenly sized balls.
7. Bake lager cookies for 15-22 minutes, the earlier you bring them out, the chewier they'll be and the longer you leave them in, the firmer/crunchier they'll be. Smaller cookies will only need 10 minutes to be chewy.
8. A good tip is to use the back of a tablespoon or glass to flatten the cookies 2 or 3 minutes before you take them out of the oven - otherwise you'll have scone-looking cookies, which is fine if that's what you want but you would have probably found this recipe because you want cookies.
9. Though it is tempting - LEAVE THE COOKIES TO COOL! Firstly, leave them on the hot baking tray for a few minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack. You could always eat them when they are still warm but I think their best texture is when they have cooled.
Enjoy and have a very merry Christmas!!
- Zin
