These are a perfect bite for afternoon tea. Buttery, deliciously crumbly shortbread laced with floral Earl Grey and spiked with the zesty burst of sunshine from a lemon glaze- they are practically perfect for an al fresco tea break in the sunshine.
This is my tried, tested recipe as approved by my Scottish husband! Whilst traditional shortbread is a straightforward (and tasty!) mix of three simple ingredients – butter; flour and sugar, here I’ve added ingredients that I’ve found amplify a shortbread’s more desirable properties. The combination of semolina, rice flour and cornstarch elevate it’s crumbly moreishness while at the same time preventing it from becoming a chalky, dry shard.
I usually cut mine into the no-fuss finger shapes – easy to handle whilst sipping, whilst maximizing the dough amount. Using a cookie cutter is possible but may result in some surplus offcuts. If you choose this route a handy hint is to stir the offcuts into ice-cream. Even more to enjoy!
Check out this #recipe for Earl Grey & Lemon Shortbread
In a food processor, combine the floor and the loose tea leaves. Pulse 4-5 times until leaves are mixed finer into the floor
In a large bowl combine the flour/ tea mixture, semolina, rice flour, cornstarch, sugar and salt. Whisk together to further combine
Add in the cubed butter and rub together with your fingertips until the mixture is just beginning to bind together. Every so often do a quarter turn of the bowl to make sure you’re using all the dry mixture. You’ll want a texture somewhere between breadcrumbs and damp sand before you stop. Be wary of overworking the butter into the mixture – you want to avoid a dough that feels slimy from the butter melting too much into the dry ingredients
Tip the crumb mixture into your prepared tin and press the dough so that it forms a solid layer. Level the surface with the back of a spoon or measuring cup, making sure the mixture is evenly spread and uniform. Prick all over with a fork
With a knife or pizza cutter score the shortbread into 24 rectangular pieces (2 cuts by 7 cuts) taking care not to cut the full way through the compressed crumb
Refrigerate for 30 mins minimum
Preheat your oven to 325°F
Remove the shortbread from the fridge and bake for about 35 minutes or until a very pale golden brown.
Remove from the oven and after 5 minutes rest in the tin, cut fully through the baked shortbread with a knife or pizza cutter at the score lines you previously made
Leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes. Carefully lift the fingers out of the tin with a palette knife or the parchment paper overhang and finish cooling on a wire rack
While the shortbread cools, prepare the lemon glaze
To make the Lemon Glaze
In a bowl or jug combine the powdered sugar and lemon zest. Add the fresh lemon juice to your personal taste (2 -3 teaspoons)
Make sure the shortbread pieces are fully cooled before glazing. Dip or pipe the glaze onto the shortbread pieces to your personal preference. (I usually transfer mine to a piping bag and drizzle lightly over the shortbread)
Episode 5 of Food Network Canada’s Great Chocolate Showdown rolls around and it’s pushing the boundaries on flavor combinations. This one’s all about the TEA! Using tea leaves we have to incorporate the selected flavor into a selection of bakes/ desserts fit for a high tea party. Out of the tea flavors to be selected from (Rooibos; Mint; Sencha Green; Milk Oolong; Chai Masala and Earl Grey) I ended up with Mint. Although this is the most well known, and probably most popular, it could be seen as more of a curse than as blessing due to it’s popularity. Is it a flavor that has been done to death?
Of the two desserts that I chose to present, these Viennese Whirls are my personal favorite. Buttery crumbly shortbread like cookies that are usually sandwiched together with a duo of buttercream and jam, I chose here to use the fillings to incorporate the mint flavor. Infusing a heavy cream base allowed it to be added both the buttercream filling and the feature chocolate ganache. What results is a mint flavor that avoids falling into the cliched “mouthwash mint” territory but remains palatable and interesting in these 2-bite sandwich cookies.
Mint Viennese Whirls #recipe #greatchocolateshowdown
In a small pan combine the heavy cream and mint tea. Stir well
Heat and continue to stir until the cream reaches just below boiling
Remove from heat and leave to infuse for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally
After this time, pour through a sieve to strain the tea leaves, pressing to remove traces of cream and set aside until needed
Cookies
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line 2 baking sheets with non-stick baking parchment or pre-marked silpat sheets
Measure the butter and icing sugar into a bowl, beating until pale & fluffy
Sift in the flour with cornflour and beat on a medium high speed, until thoroughly mixed
Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a medium star nozzle (Wilton 2D). Pipe swirled rounds (size 1 1/2″ dia) on to prepared baking sheets
Bake in the center of the oven for 12—13 minutes, until a pale golden-brown at the edges. Cool cookies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes then carefully transfer, with a spatula or palette knife, to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cool divide cookies into 2 equal portions (I find it best here to sort through the batch and match up cookies of the same size)
Buttercream Filling
Measure the butter into a bowl, sift the icing sugar and tea powder on top
Add the infused cream, beat on medium speed until well combined. Increase to high speed and whip until very light and smooth
Spoon into a piping bag fitted with an open star nozzle (Wilton 32)
Taking one portion of the cookies, pipe a border onto the flat side of the cookies, leaving a void in the middle
Chocolate Ganache filling
Warm the infused cream to just below boiling. In a separate bowl combine the chocolate and icing sugar. Pour over the warmed cream
Leave for 5 minutes
Stir and whisk until smooth and fully emulsified
Leave to cool until semi-firm (transfer to fridge to firm up but not solid)
When firm pipe into center of the cookie with buttercream filling, and seal with it’s matching cookie from the second portion batch, twisting slightly to seal
To Decorate (optional)
Using a piping back with the end snipped off, drizzle some chocolate lightly over the assembled cookies. Leave for the chocolate to set- if you can wait that long!
Valentine’s Day. Love it or hate it, there’s no getting away from it- even here I’m afraid. BUT I am hoping to give you something a little bit different in the recipe department. Heart-shaped and pastel-pink hued? Yes. However that’s where the predictability ends- or at least I’m hoping you think so too.
These started inception as…well…I was hankering for something sweet in between grocery deliveries. I wish I could come up with a more romantic, Earth-shattering epiphany than that but alas, no. My recipe for shortbread has been tried, approved and is a breeze to rustle up in a hurry. The instantly seductive baking phrase comes to mind, ” Quick and with minimal ingredients“. So in an effort to kill two birds with one stone, I got to thinking of doing a Valentine’s Day recipe post on shortbread.
So how can I make it “Valentine-sy”? Heart-shaped chocolate chip cookies just didn’t cut it for me. and so the mental gears turned. I had recently stocked up the pantry of some baking ingredients. “Livin’ the lockdown” dream has me currently baking every couple days- can we say “Therapy Baking”? Anyway as part of a restock I had some crystalised (candied) ginger going spare. I have a love/ hate relationship with this ingredient. Whilst I absolutely LOVE it’s mellow, slow-burning, sweet heat (especially in combination with dark chocolate) and so that was at the front of my mind. Pink peppercorns was my initial selection for the next feature ingredient. My worry, however, was that it falls slightly into the territory of over-familiarity, bordering on a go-to spicy contributor to desserts. Sichuan peppercorns are ideal to fill this gap, lending their signature tongue-tingling sensation as an extra boon without the visual fanfare.
That, for me, was enough going on internally. I try to limit the flavors within a bake in order to stop them becoming a jumbled cacophony on the tongue. I was still thinking of how to finish the flavor experience that I had in mind. And of course- rose hits me! Now I don’t mean some random pensioner walking by whacks me with her Kate Spade tote- I mean Rose the flavor. Sure it can be a tricky ingredient to use but when handled properly it can really bring a decadent statement to a bake. And let’s face it (at the risk of being slightly predictable) what’s Valentine’s Day with roses in some form? I’ve combined it here with an understated addition of white chocolate to help compliment the heat from the spices baked into the shortbread, stopping it from sitting on your tongue too long and dominating your palette.
Finishing and decorating your baked shortbread cookie is entirely at your own discretion. Leave them plain and simple, or as I did add a few choice sprinkles and some edible glitter themed in the spirt of the amorous season. See? I can do pretty.
Whatever you choose to do, whether it’s make these and share them, or keep the all to yourself I hope you enjoy them.
Stay safe, and mask up.
*Updated to include Chocolate version as featured on Food Network Canada’s “Great Chocolate Showdown”.
Makes 16 heart cookies (I use a 2″ heart shape cutter), or 24 if cut into fingers
Ingredients
1 2/3 cups AP Flour
1/3 Semolina
2 Tablespoons Rice Flour (if you’re making a Chocolate shortbread version sub here with cocoa powder)
1 1/2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons fine sugar, divided
1/2 tspn Kosher salt
1 cup/ 2 sticks salted butter, cold and cubed
1/2 cup crystalized (candied) ginger, chopped in to small pieces
2 tspn ground ginger
2 tspn Sichuan peppercorns, toasted and crushed/ ground
To decorate
3oz White chocolate, broken into pieces (use Dark chocolate for Chocolate shortbread version)
1 tspn coconut oil
1/2 tspn rosewater (omit for Chocolate shortbread version)
Candy sprinkles, dragees to suit
Method
Shortbread Cookies
Lightly grease and line a 9″ x 12″ traybake tin
In a large bowl combine the flour, semolina, rice flour, cornstarch, sugar, salt, round ginger and ground Sichuan peppercorns. Whisk together to further combine
Add in the cubed butter and rub together with your fingertips, or a pastry cutter, until the mixture is just beginning to bind together. Every so often do a quarter turn of the bowl to make sure you’re using all the dry mixture. You’ll want a texture somewhere between breadcrumbs and damp sand before you stop. Be wary of overworking the butter into the mixture – you want to avoid a dough that is feels slimey from the butter melting too much into the dry ingredients
Add in the chopped crystalized (candied) ginger and stir lightly to combine
Tip the crumb mixture into your prepared tin and press the dough so that it forms a solid layer. Level the surface with the back of a spoon or measuring cup, making sure the mixture is evenly spread and uniform.
Refrigerate for 30 mins minimum
Preheat your oven to 325°F
Remove the chilled dough from your fridge and using your cookie cutter mark 16 heart shapes by pushing the cutter roughly halfway into the dough. You don’t have to go the full way through to the bottom of the pan. If you’re not making heart-shaped cookies, you can use a knife or pizza cutter score the shortbread into 24 rectangular pieces (2 cuts by 7 cuts) taking care not to actually cut the full way through
Bake the dough for 30- 35 minutes or until a very pale golden brown, and deeper golden brown at the edges
Remove from the oven and using your heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut fully through the baked shortbread . The dough in the cutter should come away, giving you a heart-shaped cookie. On a wire cooling rack carefully push out the cookie. Repeat and leave to cool fully*
(If you’re not using a cookie cutter simply cut with a knife or pizza cutter at the score lines you previously made, cut the the bottom of the pan to complete the cut the full way through. Leave the full slab of shortbread to cool in the tin for 15 minutes. Carefully lift the fingers out of the tin with a palette knife or the parchment paper overhang and finish cooling on a wire rack)
To decorate
In a small bowl, set over a pan of simmering water, combine the white chocolate, coconut oil and rose water
Heat over a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is fully melted and all ingredients are combined
Turn off the heat and carefully remove the bowl
Dip the shortbread hearts or bars into the melted chocolate and set on a rack or tray lined with baking parchment or silpat mat. (If you find you’re chocolate is becoming stiff and hard to work with, place the bowl of chocolate back into the hot water pan and leave to re-melt to a more workable state
Whilst the chocolate is still setting finish decorating in your preferred way
Because of the oil in the chocolate, fully decorated cookies should be stored in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to a week. Separate layers of cookies using baking parchment. To serve remove the cookies about 15-20mind before serving – or just eat straight from the fridge!
“Have yourself a merry little Christmas Let your heart be light Next year all our troubles will be out of sight”
So I’ve finally ventured into the world of online baking, albeit to a select audience- my kids school. Living in the time of Covid-19 has us all at sea, missing connections and striving for some semblance of normality and familiarity in what has become a very isolated, displaced cyber age. Exchanging hugs and handshakes has become thing of the past replaced with online reactions of ‘thumbs up’ and real-time fleeting grabs at proximity with elbow bumps.
It was this want for maintaining connectivity that led me to the small cyber-screen. My kids’ school has a pretty close-knit community of parents and an active parents council. The sundering of this by the Corona virus and the resulting division between “in life” and virtual schooling presented a challenge- how to keep “everyone in the loop”? Both parents and kids missing school-yard friendships and school-gate gossips. Nearly 9 months of following covid-responsible protocols, vastly reduced personal interactions and hyper-vigilant hygiene routines have taken it’s toll on us all – I know they have on me and my family. Now there are feelings of covid-fatigue playing tug-of-war with impending excitement for festivities, all the while trying to hold some together some semblance of normality for ourselves and our children.
Yes, all of this might seem like an overly dramatic preamble to a few festive themed recipes. However, I think it’s in times like these that maybe were forced to look at things differently. Everyday habits and tasks becoming life-buoys helping to navigate the way. We look inward and discover dormant strengths. Especially when it come to our kids. Let’s face it as much as we might complain about them sometimes (oh, I’ll openly admit I do!) there is no judge, jury or executioner that will harm a hair on their heads will we draw breathe. So if distracting them for thirty minutes with cookie making and hot chocolate gives them a well needed little spark of festive joy; a diversion so they aren’t so down about missing playdates or such- then I’m in. I also know as a parent that in times like this when the children are otherwise occupied, you can breathe. Finally exhale and exchange a look with your significant other that says “You okay?… We got this.” Thirty minutes to centre and steady yourself.
A friend of mine said of our current times, “We are not all in the same boat. We are all in the same storm.” There is no cookie-cutter (forgive the pun) or one-size-fits-all way of dealing with this. But we’ll find ways to make it through. It’s what we do as humans and as parents. It’s what we’ll do this holiday season…look for and create some tinsel-tinged spark of festive joy to light the encompassing winter nights. If baking some cookies helps do that then you go ahead and break out those mixing bowls and fire up the oven. I know I will be.
The segment I “zoomed” (?) was just for making and decorating vanilla cookies, along with making peppermint candy cane hot chocolate. I’ve included a couple of other recipes that you can try out if you feel like it. All suitably festively themed and can be made by one or all. Whatever you make or do I hope you and your family have fun. Enjoy the time, the flavors…heck even enjoy the mess.
Wishing you all a happy, safe and healthy Christmas and holiday season. Enjoy the cookies!
“Someday soon we all will be together If the fates allow Until then, we’ll have to muddle through somehow So have yourself a merry little Christmas now”
Photograph: J Lee Frank
Vanilla Sugar Cookies
*Chilling the dough for at least 2 hours is required or else its too tricky and unworkable. I prefer to chill it overnight.
You can’t really go wrong with sugar cookies. Well you can actually. In my experience store bought sugar cookies err on the side of fudgy staleness enrobed in the tooth-aching sweetness of excess icing. This is definitely a case of “homemade is better”.
The only thing to bear in mind with these is the chilling time. I’ve seen various recipes suggesting 30 minutes, whilst others have up to overnight recommended. I’ve found that longer works better so I follow the overnight direction. If you find the dough becoming too soft, gummy and hard to work, wrap it back up in clingwrap and pop it back in the fridge for 30mins or so.
Makes approximately 48 cookies (this depends on your choice of cookie cutters)
Ingredients (all at room temperature)
Cookies
1 cup white sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
Glaze/ Icing
1 ½ cups icing sugar
2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp light corn syrup
½ tsp almond extract
Food coloring (your favorite festive colors) *see note on coloring
Nonpareils; sprinkles; dragees (take your pick!)
Method
In the bowl of a stand mixer, or with an electric mixer, beat sugar, butter and vanilla until mixture is creamy, about 5-7 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl. The mixture should become pale, fluffy and not feel grainy when you rub some between your fingers
Whilst your mixture is beating, in a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt and stir to combine. Set aside until needed
To your sugar/ butter mixture, add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition, until fully incorporated. If you notice your mixture starting to split, add teaspoon of your flour mixture to bring it back together
Once the eggs have been added, beat in the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture, until well combined. Increase the speed until the mixture comes together in a soft dough
Remove the dough from the bowl and divide in to four even balls, flatten to discs and wrap in cling wrap
Chill in the refrigerator for a least 2 hrs, or overnight (I personally find overnight works better
When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350°F
Remove your chilled dough from the fridge, one ball at a time, and leave to become pliable whilst your oven heats to temperature. When your oven reaches temperature, roll out the dough to 1/4″ (0.6 cm) onto a well floured surface. (Avoiding rolling the dough too thin as it may stick and tear). Flour is your friend here – make sure you amply dust everything- counter surface, rolling pin, your hands, cutter
Use cookie cutters of your choice for a variety of different shapes and sizes. Using a palette knife, or spatula, place cookies on your lined cookie sheets
Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes or until the edges are just turning golden brown
Remove from oven and leave to cool on their trays for 5 mins before using a spatula to transfer to cookies to racks to cool completely
Glaze
Combine icing sugar with milk; corn syrup and extract to reach desired spreading consistency. It should be quite thick. If it is much too thick, add 1/2 Tablespoon more milk. If it is much too thin, add 2 more Tablespoons of confectioners’ sugar. If you drizzle a little of the icing with the whisk, the ribbon of icing will hold for a few seconds before melting back into the icing.
Stir in food coloring or leave icing white. You can pour some icing into different bowls if using multiple colors
You can pipe the icing on to the cookies using a piping bag or squeezy bottle, or using a pastry brush, paint frosting over cooled cookies and decorate with your choice of sprinkles
Allow to set for at least 30mins before eating (note: the icing will still be a little soft at this point. If you want the icing to be fully hard for gifting, leave the decorated cookies to air-dry on a rack overnight
*A note on adding coloring: I prefer to use coloring gels when coloring the glaze. They are a concentrate which with very little will pack a real punch of color without affecting the consistency of your glaze. If you’re using the squeezy tube color dyes be aware that because they have a more form you are adding more liquid to your icing mix.
Enjoy!
Rudolph Oreo Cookies
Now these look like SO much more work than they are. At worst they can be a little fiddly but that just means there’s more “mis-shapes” for the family to enjoy. This is a great recipe to get the little ones involved in. Once the chocolate is melted you can pretty much give them free reign! Step back and enjoy some chocolate covered chaos.
“And now,” cried Max, “let the wild rumpus start!”
Ingredients
24 Double-stuffed Oreo cookies (if you can find “Mega-stuffed” even better
Large twist pretzels
48 White chocolate chips (or candy eye decorations)
24 red candy shell chocolates (M&Ms are ideal)
160z chocolate (sweet or semi-sweet, to taste)
Method
Line a cookie sheet with baking parchment or silicone baking matt
Start by cutting up the pretzels. Use a sharp knife to cut them in half, then carefully cut away the center section where the pretzels were joined until to have a vaguely “antler” shape. This bit can be a bit fiddly as the pretzels can break easy but do remember they don’t have to be exact – all reindeers antlers are different after all! Repeat until you have 24 sets of pretzel antlers
Melt the chocolate in a medium bowl set over a pan of water OR in the microwave, stirring after every 30 seconds to prevent overheating. Once it’s melted and smooth, using two forks or a confectionary dipping scoop dip and coat an Oreo cookie until it is full coated. Remove using your chosen tools, then place the dipped cookie on the prepared baking sheet.
While the chocolate is still wet, press a red candy chocolate into the center of the cookie- there’s your nose!
Make your eyes using two white chocolate chips or candy eye decorations
Create two pretzel antlers by pressing them between the cookies and into the space where the cream filling is. You may need to use a fork to hole the top cookie layer pressed in place while you poke the “antlers” in. Once you’ve assembled one reindeer this way, repeat until all of the cookies are dipped and decorated
Lastly to give your reindeer more “eye appeal” dip a toothpick in the melted coating and give each reindeer two black dots in the center of the white chocolate chip eyes
Refrigerate the tray to set the chocolate completely, for about 20 minutes. Store Oreo Reindeer Cookies carefully in an airtight container at room temperature. They will keep for several weeks, but for the best taste and texture, enjoy them within a week
Candy Cane Hot Chocolate
Well…we need something to wash those cookies down with don’t we? If you want to REALLY treat yourself, dip the rim of your mugs into some melted chocolate and then some crushed peppermint candy canes for a stress-free, festive finishing touch.
Ingredients
3 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
4oz semisweet chocolate, broken in to pieces
4 peppermint candy canes, crushed
Optional decorations
1 cup whipping cream, whipped to soft peaks
Mini marshmallows
Crushed peppermint candy canes
4 small peppermint candy canes, to stir
Method
In a saucepan, combine the milk and cream and heat over a medium heat until hot, but not boiling
Whisk in the chocolate and the crushed peppermint candies until melted and smooth
Pour hot chocolate into four mugs, and garnish as preferred. Serve each with a candy cane stirring stick
Enjoy!
Baileys Edible Cookie Dough
Because even the grown ups need a li’l something in the festive season. This can easily be made kiddie-friendly by omitting the Baileys liqueur. Looking for that gift that’s a bit different? Then look no further! Place in mason jars, decorate and tag accordingly et viola! Cookie dough can be stored (in jars or other air-tight containers) in the refrigerator for up to a week. To enjoy at it’s best remove from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature.
Ingredients
2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 cup light brown sugar
¼ cup white sugar
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup butter, softened
3 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp milk
2 Tbsp Baileys liqueur
Extra Fixings
(added to taste but I usually keep it to including 2-3)
Festive Candy Sprinkles
Dark Chocolate Chips
M&M’s
Crushed Oreos
Crushed Peppermint Candy Cane
Method
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl of a stand mixer and stir to combine.
Add in extras and stir until well incorporated. Enjoy! (A note here – I usually keep the extra fixings to a maximum of 3, or else your cookie dough is in danger of becoming an over-sweet mess).
Store in the refrigerator for up to one week. Before eating, remove from refrigerator and let come to room temperature for a softer texture.
Toffee apples are a signature childhood treat. Whether they conjure memories of sparkling carnivals and fairgrounds, or bring back memories of briny seaside meanderings the gloriously sticky treat is always sure to bring a smile to faces young and old.
When I was growing up Toffee Apples were synonymous with day trips to the beach. I much preferred them to ice cream cones, which I thought were far too over rated and messy, not to mention deceivingly bland! My inclination was much more for the glossy crimson globule on a stick. I say crimson as that’s the kind I grew up with. These weren’t coated in a sweet layer of tawny caramel. The toffee apples of my childhood were instead dipped in a rouge sugar syrup at hard-crack stage which set to a glossy, glass-like layer ready to shattered under eager bites and reveal the juicy tart fruit beneath. You’ll have to forgive me for indulging verbosely here. Family jaunts to the seaside were few and far between and lingering triggers for them are particularly powerful. Needless to say it was a constant question to my younger self, ” This red stuff isn’t like any toffee I know so why are they called Toffee Apples?”. Such were the juvenile mysteries that plagued me.
Over time I learned that the red hard-crack layer was easier to make and maintain on site (and let’s face it probably cheaper too!) I learned that the gleaming red orbs of my youth were in fact correctly named, “Candy Apples” and Toffee Apples as should have a layer a sticky sweet toffee, in the more familiar shade of brown, as their dressing. But who was I to argue with a childhood full of sweet cochineal-fueled indulgence!
You can rest easy though. This recipe contains neither glassy red shards nor ruby bug extracts. You’ll of course know by now I have a weakness for oat cookies. And if they happen to be oat cookies that have been pimped up with a lil’ something then all the better. These are my homage to the classic Toffee Apple in all it’s beige, sticky goodness- albeit without the frustratingly wobbly perching on a ice-pop stick! As a combination themselves, outside of nostalgia, caramel and apple worked exceptionally well with oats, in my view. There’s something about the mellow combination of toffee and oats that instantly induces shoulder-slumping comfort & coziness. Chuck in some bites of apple and you introduce enough tart interest to compliment to earthiness of the other two. I’ll leave the beverage of choice to you – coffee, tea or dunking in to cold glass of milk. All are ideal and highly suggested.
Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups All Purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon apple pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon fancy molasses
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups whole rolled oats
1 cup quick oats
1/2 cup toffee pieces
1 cup dried apple pieces, (or dried slices chopped)
Method
Whisk the flour, cinnamon, apple pie spice, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside until needed
In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until blended, about 5 minute, then increase to high speed and whip for another 5-6 mins
In a jug combine the eggs, molasses, maple syrup, vanilla and whisk to combine. Add to the butter mixture and beat for 3 minutes until combined. Scrape down the sides and beat again as needed to combine
Add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients (I usually do it in 1/4 cup increments) and mix on low until combined. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the oats until well coating
Next add in the toffee pieces and apple pieces. Mix well until fully combined. The final dough will be thick and sticky.
Cover and chill the dough for at least 45 minutes in the refrigerator
Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats
Use a medium cookie scoop (about 2 tablespoon size) to scoop the cookie dough on to the prepared baking sheets, placing 2 inches apart 9 (I usually fit 12 per sheet). Bake for 17 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. The centres will look soft.
Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely
Cookies can be kept at room temperature in a sealed container for up to 1 week
Crumbs In My Beard 