Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cookies ARE good for the soul.......

One of our all time favourites at home are these little round bites of chocolate heaven. They are a doddle to make and easy for little hands to help with - both baking and eating.

Miss B and I made a batch this morning to make up for the fact that her Dance Festival has been cancelled, again. The teachers promise it will go ahead as soon as a fine day is forecast - not this month then!!

You will need :

125g soft unsalted butter

125g caster sugar

2 tbsp condensed milk

125g self-raising flour, sifted

50g cocoa, sifted

100g plain and/or white chocolate, cut into chunks

1. Pre heat the oven to 150c, fan 130c, gas 2. Using an electric hand whisk or mixer (we can dream of owning a KitchenAid, right?), cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy.

2. Beat in the condensed milk, then add the flour, cocoa and a pinch of salt, and mix

3. Stir in the chocolate chunks. Try not to nibble these if you can.

4. Roll into walnut-sized balls and space at least 5cm apart on lined baking trays. I usually manage around 20 cookies from one mix. You can make these larger which will make less cookies but bigger cookies to chomp on! Bake for around 12 minutes, until just firm at the edges but still soft in the centre.

If there is one bit of advice I can give you, it's that baking biscuits takes practice. Everyone's oven varies in terms of cooking times, hot spots, etc. and only experimenting will allow you to get to know your own oven and how to adjust your cooking times accordingly. Biscuits are tricky little blighters at the best of times and the only way to ensure they do not end up like something you would use in the discus event at the Olympics, is to watch them cooking.

This is where a light in the oven is very beneficial. Sadly, my oven seems to really dislike a light and promptly melts the connector on every new bulb I put in. The times I have seen me sitting with a torch trying to see how my baking is doing - Oh, the joys of having such a naff oven.

5. Allow to cool for a few minutes before lifting onto a wire rack to cool.

6. Sit back and scoff.

These biscuits never last long at home. This particular batch were half gone before they got to the tin. You can just see Miss. B's hand in the corner of this shot, waiting to go in for the kill.

I love my Charlie & Lola tin. A gem of a find whilst on holiday in Buxton recently. I just had to buy it.

I have a few things I plan to experiment on next in the kitchen, but in the mean time children's birthday parties are the main attraction this weekend. Whatever you have planned, enjoy your day.

B x