Cookies – or biscuits, as they’re known in my adopted British home – are a very personal thing. The varieties are infinite. You might like them chewy and chunky, or crisp and thin. There is always someone who wants it gooey in the middle, but with a crisp exterior. And some (believe it or not) prefer a cakey consistency all the way through.
I loved to bake when I was a student. What better way to procrastinate than to whip up a batch of cookies? I used to own a small toaster oven – you could use a mini convector too – and cooked almost everything in it. I would make a batch of cookie dough and just bake the cookies as and when I needed them, warm out of the toaster oven. It made me very popular with my roommates.
You can play around with a basic cookie base – chocolate chip, oatmeal, peanut butter and so on - and add anything to it. We used to call them “kitchen sink” cookies at my house because we’d raid the cupboards for pop rocks, marzipan, chocolate sprinkles – everything but the kitchen sink. Each cookie had its own charm and there was something for everyone.
I’m basically a Cookie Monster at the moment – for the last couple of months I’ve been tasting any I can find. I love camomile and peanuts – they complement each other so well. The peanut brittle in this recipe takes a little time, but you won’t regret it. Oatmeal cookies get short shrift in the cookie world – they’re not deemed as sexy as their chocolate counterparts, but they are – and prunes are a really cool replacement for raisins. Look for those with pits as they tend to have more flavour and a better texture.
Cookies can be a good ice-breaker as well as a deal-maker. My business mentor once told me never to go to a meeting without cookies – some of the best advice I ever had. Top tip: teachers quite like them too.
Peanut butter brittle and camomile cookies
Makes 12 large cookies
For the brittle
90g caster sugar
60g golden syrup
½ tsp salt
125g salted roasted peanuts
½ tbsp camomile tea
12g unsalted butter, cubed
¼ tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
A little olive oil or vegetable oil to coat hands
For the cookies
200g unsalted butter
300g caster sugar
100g golden syrup
240g peanut butter
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
280g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp fine sea salt
1 First make the brittle. Line a baking tray with parchment and grease lightly. Have a sugar thermometer ready in a glass of water near the hob.
2 Combine the sugar, syrup and salt with 60ml (about 4 tbsp) water in a large, heavy pan. Warm the mixture gently over a low heat until the sugar dissolves. Turn the heat up to medium and boil until the syrup reaches the hard-ball stage at 130C/266F – at which a little syrup will form a hard ball in cold water.
3 Add the peanuts and camomile tea, and stir until the syrup reaches the hard-crack stage at 154C/309F – it will form hard, brittle threads. Transfer to a heatproof bowl and stir in the butter and vanilla.
4 Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in 1 tsp warm water and fold into the peanut mixture. This will create air bubbles. Quickly pour on to the prepared baking sheet and leave until it is cool enough to touch. With oiled hands, pull the brittle from the sides to stretch it and make a lacey pattern. Leave to cool completely. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6 and line another baking tray with parchment.
5 To make the cookies, cream together the butter and sugar, add the syrup and peanut butter and mix well. Add the egg, yolk and vanilla and mix well.
6 In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the wet mixture. Crush the cooled brittle into roughly 2cm pieces, and fold through the mixture. Scoop on to the baking tray and bake for around 12 minutes. They should be gooey in the centre but crisp outside.
Oatmeal prune cookies
Makes 12 large cookies
250g unsalted butter, softened
200g light brown sugar
100g caster sugar
1 egg
1½ tsp vanilla extract
200g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
200g ground oats (if unavailable, use jumbo)
200g prunes, pitted and roughly chopped
Zest of 1 orange
1 Cream the butter and sugars until well combined but not light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix well.
2 In another bowl, whisk together the flour, soda, cinnamon, salt, and oats. Add the dry mixture, along with the prunes and orange zest, to the creamed butter mixture and mix to combine.
3 Spoon heaped tablespoons of the mix on to a paper-lined tray that will fit in your fridge. Leave a bit of space between each cookie, as they will double in size when baked. Chill them while you preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. You can also pop them in the freezer at this point if you want to bake them later.
4 If you are baking from frozen, allow the cookies 5-10 minutes out of the freezer before putting them in the oven. Bake for 18 minutes. The centre should be slightly soft and under-baked while the edges go golden and crisp. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving. These cookies will keep up to 5 days in an airtight container.
- Claire Ptak is a pastry chef, writer and food stylist and owns Violet Bakery in London. She is the author of the Violet Bakery Cookbook (Square Peg); @violetcakeslondon
