My Favourite Almond and Chocolate Chip Cookies

The obsession continues. Yet more cookies. I am fattening everyone around me up with delicious, tempting cookies under the excuse that every hot beverage requires a cookie for dipping. It’s a great excuse. Flavoured with chocolate, vanilla and a hint of amaretto with added crunchy almonds, these are probably my favourite cookies. I especially like how the top layer of nuts just catch in the oven and give a deep, toastiness.

Ingredients

• 250g plain (all-purpose) flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 170g unsalted butter or margarine (I used Stork!) Cold but not solid.
• 220g packed brown sugar
• 100g white caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp Moroccan Almond essence
• 1 egg
• 90g chopped almond
• 50g chopped hazelnut
• 150g dark chocolate chips

Method

Preheat the oven to 165 degrees C fan, 155C non-fan and line two large baking sheets with grease-proof parchment paper.

In a smaller bowl sift together the flour, baking soda and salt and put to the side for later.

In the bowl of your mixer (if using), beat together the cool butter, brown sugar and white sugar until pale and creamy. Slowly beat in the egg, then add the vanilla and almond extracts until evenly combined

On a slow speed, gradually mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Then stir in the chocolate chips and nuts just for a few seconds. If your butter was cool the mixture should resemble a thick, sticky dough. If the butter was melty the dough mix may be too wet, so cool in the fridge for 10 minutes.

Pinch a ping-pong ball sized chunk of dough and roll and pucker into a taller ball. Place formed dough onto cookie sheet, taller rather then wider.  Don’t overcrowd the sheet as they will melt into delicious round cookies during baking.

Bake for a bout 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown, with crispy edges and soft, cakey centres! If needed, turn them halfway through cooking for an even bake.

With a trusty fish-slice, transfer your masterpieces to a wire rack to cool and be eaten with a good cup of coffee.

 

Originally adapted from ‘My Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie’ The Girl Who Ate Everything.