Miss Scarlett

Dear readers,
I don't know about you, but for the longest time I have been on a quest- to find the perfect cookie recipe.
For an age the journey was long and fruitless- I found "biscuits" from the UK bland and far too crunchy. I longed for the sweet, crumbly chewy, chocolaty cookies that I loved so much when I travelled in America.

Finally, my quest is over, the source of my desired recipe was much closer than I thought. After chucking recipe books on the floor in frustration my Grandma, who was staying with me for the weekend walked into the room, and I explained the reason for my temper tantrum. My Gran observed me in calm amusement as she always does during my various calamities, got a piece of paper and wrote down these ingredients:

270 g plain flour,
10 g baking powder,
250 g chocolate chips, (Dark, milk or white depending on your preference)
125 g butter (salted) softened,
187 g white sugar,
10 ml vanilla extract,
3 eggs,
and 187 g dark muscovado sugar.
Makes approx 26.

(Obviously she couldn't remember the exact measurements, these are just the ones I use. You can also change them to suit you're cookie tastes, but I'll go into that later.)

1. Sift all the dry ingredients into a bowl.
2. Cream together the butter and both sugars until the colour has gone a little lighter. (If you use purely white caster sugar, it will go fluffy as well, but these do not make very tasty cookies) and relatively all the sugar granules have combined.
3. Add the eggs and the vanilla extract, mixing slowly.
4. Add the dry ingredients, still mixing slowly. (DO NOT OVER MIX!)
5. Spoon the mixture into balls onto a baking sheet and cook for approx 10 mins at 170 Degrees C.
6. Remove from the oven, eat and burn your tongue, or leave to cool on a wire rack.


I'm not lying: They're the best cookies. I could bake a whole batch and eat them in one go. My Gran said she got this recipe through word of mouth when she was pregnant with my uncle, and wanted to learn to make cookies for her kids. Even our own recipes our different- she prefers her cookies a little sweeter and adds some more vanilla essence, and feel free to do the same with yours.
As some general guidelines:

For extra crunch, alter the sugars to you have a larger quantity of cater sugar, and less muscovado. Extra Chewiness: Vice versa.

If you like your cookies a little bitter, use dark chocolate and omit the vanilla.

For softer cookies, cook for only 8 minutes.

They make great presents, especially when you're strapped for cash. Line a box with tissue, cover in wrapping paper, tie with a bow, add a cute vintage-style card on the top, and you're ready to go!


So that's it. I hope you enjoy, and happy baking!
Miss Scarlett x

Picture from Jupiter Images

Labels: Chocolate, Cookies, Cooking, Recipe, Vintage