Recipe > Baking
White Chocolate Chip Cookies
White choc chip cookies. Damn... can it really get any better than this?


Looking for a change? Remove a third of the chocolate weight and replace it with hazelnuts, strawberries or raspberries. Hmmm....yummy

Makes 24 to 36 cookies

Ingredients
225g / 8oz butter / margarine
200g / 7oz light brown sugar
85g / 3oz caster sugar
2 eggs
2 Tsp vanilla essence
350g / 11oz plain flour
1 Tsp bicarbonate of soda
Pinch of salt
425g / 15oz white chocolate chips

Mise-en-Place:
Preheat the oven to 160°C / 310°F
Line a baking sheet with non-stick baking parchment
Weigh the ingredients
Cut the butter into a medium dice
Beat the eggs with the vanilla essence
Mix the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda together (dry ingredients)

Method:
With an electric whisk or in a mixer:
Beat the sugar and butter together until light and 'fluffy'
Add 1 tablespoon of the dry ingredients to the butter
Slowly beat in the eggs and vanilla
Add the flour and beat until incorporated
Beat in the white chocolate chips (and nuts if using)
Put the mix into the fridge to chill for 30 minutes (its easier to handle when chilled)
Remove from fridge and roll the mix into balls (you want big cookies-big balls! Smaller cookies....smaller balls, okay? ...don't snigger)
Place the cookies on the baking sheet, leaving room for them to spread / bloom as they bake
Bake in the oven for 12 minutes for a soft cookie or 15 -17 minutes for a crunchy cookie
Remove and allow to cool for 20 minutes before moving
Serve

Where you went wrong:
Tough / dry cookies: Wrong measurements / overcooked
Soft, doughy cookies: Wrong measurements / not enough cooking time
Cookie breaks when handled: You moved the cookie before allowing enough cooling time
Cookie spread too far: Not enough flour / too much butter or egg
Cookies merged: You didn't allow each cookie sufficient space to spread

Presentation:
I sometimes serve this with a fruit compote and maple syrup yoghurt (Take some yoghurt and season it with vanilla essence and maple syrup)
Place the cookie off-centre on the plate and partly on the rim.
Layer over ribbons of the fruit compote and yoghurt with a tablespoon in the pattern of your choice.
Serve

Chef's Tip:
To stop these cookies from drying out due to prolonged exposure keep them sealed in an airtight container

Cowboy Trick:
If you find some of your cookies have merged into one another gently part them whilst they are still warm with a gentle knife cut, this will ensure that even after they have cooled they will separate
or
If you just have one huge mess of merged cookie use a circular cutter or mould to cut individual cookies. Allow the mix to cool, then carefully lift the seperate cookies free


White choc chip cookies with a fruit compote and maple syrup yoghurt

No chocolate chips? Simply dice whole chocolate into small chunks
No baking parchment?
No baking parchment? Grease the baking sheet with butter then sprinkle over a layer of flour and a layer of sugar
Cream the butters and sugar until light and 'fluffy'
Add one tablespoon of the dry ingredients
Add one tablespoon of the dry ingredients before mixing in the eggs (this helps to prevent 'splitting' where the fats fall out of emulsion)
Beat in the egg
fold in the flour and white chocolate
Then fold in the flour and white chocolate. Chill the mix before rolling into balls
Allow each cookie space to spread upon the sheet
Bake in the oven
Bake in the oven. 12 minutes = soft cookie. 17 minutes = crunchy cookie
Allow to cool
Allow to cool for 20 minutes before moving
Ready to eat
Ready to eat
Or served with a fruit compote and maple yoghurt
Or served with a fruit compote and maple syrup yoghurt