For most desserts, there’s a way to eat it. Let’s say a cheesecake or a pudding, typically eaten after a meal. You’d slice a piece, put it on a plate, pick up a fork and eat, neatly polishing it off until the entire slice is gone and you’ve drifted into dessert heaven. Now you’re done and it’s likely that you’ll put back your plate, and get on with your day.
But cookies are different. Cookies don’t demand the sophistication of putting them on a plate or the civility of cleaning up after. Eat them directly from the jar or box, nibble at them while you watch a movie, scarf them down while you work on a stressful project, or read a thrilling book. Cookies are fuss-free, anytime snackage food which makes them one of the most comforting foods ever because it is completely acceptable to eat them anytime your sweet tooth demands..
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I ate my friend Neimat’s most delicious milk chocolate chip and gems cookies at 3am on a random friday night and i am not exaggerating when i say that they were the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever had. Maybe it was the 3am sugar itch or maybe just the fact that chocolate chip cookies are always a good idea anyway, but they were seriously ridiculously good. I might add that Neimat is a trained chef but her chocolate chip cookies reek of that delicious, homely comforting flavour that chocolate chip cookies are meant to have.
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I know most recipes ask for bittersweet chocolate and I’m a huge fan of 70 per cent but in defence of milk chocolate, nothing can replicate childlike flavours like the combination of unapologetically sweet milk chocolate chips in a salty-sweet cookie dough. PLUS GEMS! 90s kids will know. These cookies are soft with chewy edges, bursting with gooey milk chocolate and the crunch of gems. Basically quite a perfect bunch of textures.
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This recipe is an easy drop and bake recipe and doesn’t require rolling out cookie dough. I suggest using a cookie scoop or small ice cream scoop to get even sized cookies. Also, seriously seriously invest in good quality milk chocolate chips. I use
but if you don’t find those,
also makes really nice ones! Here is the recipe:
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2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 eggs
200 g butter (soft, not melted)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 cup gems
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Preheat your oven to 180 ˚ C and line a baking tray with an un-greased cookie sheet/ silpat or butter paper.
In a bowl, mix the flour and baking soda and sea salt
Beat the butter and both sugars in a large bowl
One at a time, add the eggs and then the vanilla
Now add the flour mixture one spoonful at a time and mix until a cookie batter is formed
When done, add the 2 cups of milk chocolate chips and the gems and mix it into the batter with a spatula
Use a cookie scoop to spoon out round cookie batter onto the cookie sheet.
Bake for about 8 - 10 minutes.
Let them cool and then eat!
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Notes:
The batter should be
sticky
- not runny, but not doughy either. If it is too liquid/runny, add more flour.
The cookies will be very soft when done and that's fine. They are meant to be soft and will harden a little as they cool.
Make sure the butter is soft/ room temperature, but not melted. Melted butter could cause the cookies to spread too much in the oven.