Friday, May 17, 2013

cranberry and white chocolate cookies

I guess one of the banes of not having a sweet tooth is that I am not mad about cookies. Once in a blue moon, I would eat some, but I seriously cannot recall EVER having a craving for cookies. 



Not having a penchant to munch on cookies, however, does not mean that I do not like to make them. In fact, it is one of my favourite things to do! I remember years ago, before kids and all, I would make batches of cookies every Christmas and box them as gifts for friends. 

I am linking up with DinoMama for Foodie Friday this week, and I am sharing my recipe on Cranberry and White Chocolate Cookies.

I think cranberries and white chocolate make a fantastic combination. Not only do they make a really pretty picture, they also taste great together.
  


As with all cookie dough, I started with creaming the butter and the sugar. The butter needs to be soft - at room temperature. I always use my mixer to soften the butter before I add the sugar.



Here, I have used two types of sugar - caster sugar and brown sugar. Both will impart sweetness, but the caster sugar has the added role of giving the cookie the crunch, while the brown sugar imparts flavour. Do not be tempted to leave out any one of the sugars.



The butter and sugar are creamed until the batter turned light and fluffy.



At this stage, one egg and the vanilla extract were added.



And beaten. Then I added the sifted flour and bicarbonate of soda, a spoonful at a time, waiting until most of the flour had been incorporated before adding the next spoonful.




Once all the flour had been incorporated, the batter was essentially ready. Do not over mix. You can add anything you like at this stage - dried fruit, nuts, chocolate...



I scrapped the bottom of my mixing bow with a spatula and added the cranberries and white chocolate.



Then, using the pulse function, I incorporated the cranberries and white chocolate. It should take about 5-6 pulses. 



I transferred the batter into a smaller bowl and placed it in the fridge to chill for an hour. Chilling permits the gluten strands in the flour to relax, avoiding a "rubbery" consistency in the final product. The elapsed time may also permit the flour to absorb more of the moisture in the dough, so the cookies do not spread out so much when baking.



I always use an ice cream scoop to dish out portions of the cookie dough. You can use a spoon to drop the batter onto the baking sheets as well, but I like using an ice cream scoop as it allows my cookies to be more or less uniform in shape and size.  (Yes, I am quite anal about things like that.)



The cookie dough was placed on Silpat sheets. You can also use a lightly greased baking sheet on a baking tray. I left about 4 cm between the cookies so they have room to expand while baking. Once they have turned golden-brown, they are ready.



Once baked, allow the cookies to rest and cool on the baking tray for about 10 minutes before placing them on a cooling rack.



Cookies can be kept in an air-tight container for a week. 



You may want to hide them. :)



*I dedicated this post to Regina Moo, without whom I would not have been able to post today!


RECIPE
Cranberry & White Chocolate Cookies (Makes 30)
Adapted from The Australian Women's Weekly

Ingredients:
250g unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 brown sugar
3/4 cup caster sugar
2 1/4 cup plain flour, sifted with
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g dried cranberry
200g white chocolate

Method:

1. Cream butter and sugar until batter is light and fluffy.
2. Add egg and vanilla extract. Beat.
3. Add flour and bicarbonate of soda, a spoonful at a time. Beat.
4. Add cranberries and white chocolate. Incorporate using pulse function.
5. Chill for at least an hour.
6. Bake at 180C for about 12 minutes, or until cookies turn golden brown.
7. Cool on tray for 10 minutes, transfer to cooling rack.
8. Store in air-tight container lined with kitchen towel for up to a week.






We are the DinoFamily

15 comments:

  1. I'm SO going to ask for an oven for my birthday, you know?!

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    Replies
    1. Yeah! Then we shall see you bake lotsa things!

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    2. hehe, what better present can there be? and bday coming soon too!

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  2. I dun bake cookies, ok wait I dun bake but if u count the less then 5 times baking I did as baking then ok I bake hahhaa~

    Anyway cookie is at the bottom of my to-bake-list coz DinoBoy's body is on the "heaty" side so any biscuits or cookies, even chocolates will sends his body system in protest and then cough will follow :( With your continuations temptations, maybe I'll take the risk????

    The ice cream scoope tip is great! I'll bear that in mind when I bake small round things the *dunno when* next time.

    Thanks for linking up with my Foodie Friday! Link up MORE often pls! hahaa~

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    Replies
    1. hehe, bake ONCE IN A BLUE MOON so kiddos can eat!!! It was my pleasure - definitely will link every Friday. hehe

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  3. I LOVE YOU, DIANA!!! I AM SO GONNA BAKE THESE!!! SOON-ish. hahahahahahaha!!! but i'd probably replace the cranberry with other fruity bits, like raspberry. not a big fan of the cran :P

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    Replies
    1. i hope you make them too!! post pictures ok! you can use any fruit you like. or nuts!

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  4. I love you too :-p So, could you send some over. Muah ha ha ha ha ha!

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    Replies
    1. LOL!!! (Can I like this - where is the LIKE button?)

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  5. hi diana, so glad i found your cookie recipe here. is this like the "subway" cranberry and white chocolate, chewy-textured cookies? can't wait to try them out. yummmm...

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  6. HI phoebeluv, thank you for leaving a comment :) Yes it is somewhat like the subway cookie - i don't have their recipe (unfortunately) but I think this comes pretty close to it. Hope you have fun making these cookies!

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  7. yay!! i hv all the ingredients and will be trying them out soon! thank you domestic-goddess-wanna-be!

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  8. hey diana, u know what? i think i gave the verdict abit too soon after baking. because more than 6 hours later, the cookies actually softened and the texture is almost chewy! so it's almost as good as the subway cookies after all. i am a happy woman now...heee. hubby thinks i can still cut down the sweetness a bit more. thank you so much!!

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    Replies
    1. Hi! Good to hear - I was going to bake a batch this week to see what could possibly have happened. Glad you like it! Happy baking :)

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