Cookies any style

When my classmates discovered my blog, they immediately thought it was about time they saw some of the good stuff too, so I decided to take some cookies to the exam (the class in question is my evening class Polish, I quite like languages). I didn’t want to do the same old tried and tested recipes all over again, so I decided to have some fun with it and come up with my own combinations. I made a basic cookie recipe, divided the dough in 3 part and went for 3 different combinations: M&Ms cookies, white chocolate and peanut butter cookies and bresilienne cookies (with nuts and caramel) and they all turned out great, so there were not a lot of cookies left for my colleagues the next day!

Preheat the oven to 140 C and line two baking sheets with greaseproof paper. Mix 250 g softened butter (you can use margarine as well) with 350 g soft brown sugar until fluffy and soft. Add 1 egg and beat well until incorporated. In two batches, add 375 g self-raising flour (or use regular flour and add 1 tsp baking powder as well), a pinch of vanilla powder (I used a small bag of vanilla sugar, you could use 1/2 tsp vanilla extract of the seeds of half a vanilla pod as well) and a pinch of salt and mix well. Now add 380 g of whatever you like, or split the dough in 3 parts and add 125 g m&m’s to one part (I used the one with peanuts in them and left them whole for a fun effect and maybe also because I’m a bit lazy). For the second part, I opted for 125 g white chocolate (chopped) and 2 tsp peanut butter and for the final part I added 125 g bresilienne mix or praline (I still had enough left from making the caramel and nuts for my almond praline cake – it keeps well in an airtight jar). Enjoy while listening to Mahna-mahnam from the muppet show.

More foolproof and delicious cookies:

> Rum raisin cookies
>  Ginger and white chocolate cookies
>  Cacao and white chocolate cookies
>  Green tea cookies
>  Caramel cookies
> Apple and oatmeal cookies
> Smarties cookies
> Chocolate chip cookies
> White chocolate and cranberry cookies

Tired of brownies? Try blondies!

Blondies

I really love blondies. It’s like brownies, but instead of regular chocolate, it’s with white chocolate and peanut butter. Don’t worry, these will go down a treat! I don’t even like peanut butter on it’s own, but I can’t resist blondies myself! I got this recipe from Rachel Allen‘s Bake, which is one of those books where everything just looks delicious and you want to try all of it. But if you really have to make a choice, the blondies recipe is a great start!

Preheat the oven to 170 C. Line a 20 cm square cake tin with greaseproof paper (if you don’t have a square tin, just use a round one. A 20 cm square tin has the same volume as a 22 cm round tin, but obviously any size will do, your brownies will just be a little flatter or thicker and no one will ever know).

In a large bowl, cream 100 g softened butter and 150 g peanut butter together until very soft. Add 175 g soft light brown sugar, 1 egg and 1 tsp vanilla extract and beat until combined. Add 125 g plain flour, 1 tsp baking powder (or just use self-raising flour instead if you prefer) and 75 g chopped white chocolate and mix to form a dough.

Place the dough in the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 25-30 min or until golden brown and almost firm in the centre. Allow to cool in the tin before removing and cutting into squares. Amongst other things, I took blondies to work for my birthday and it was the first to be eaten by my colleagues (who all came back for more). Enjoy!