Cookies for Lachlan

Every time I ask my eldest son, Lachlan, what he wants for dinner, his answer is always the same... cookies. They’re not dinner (much to his disappointment), but over the years his enthusiasm has inspired me to chase the perfect recipe!

I first fell in love with cookies while living in Oregon for 18 months. Members of the church I was serving with at the time would often welcomed us into their homes, and that’s where I discovered American baking at its best. I’ve never had much of a sweet tooth, I’ll always choose savoury first, but those soft, chewy, gooey centred cookies totally got me addicted! 

I never could find cookies similar in Scotland. So just for Lachlan, I decided to start experimenting. He’s been my very happy guinea pig, tasting every batch and has never been shy to tell me the truth. He never holds back on that!

My recipe, is adapted from Modern Honey  as it always has fantastic recipes that work out very close to what you're trying to achieve. I use bread flour for texture, vanilla bean paste for flavour, and Green & Black’s dark and milk chocolate. Sometimes I add walnuts, almonds, or sometimes even a small amount of crystallised ginger,  and I always finish them off with sea salt flakes.

I don’t make them often, but when I do, I make a BIG BATCH and I roll the dough into balls then freeze them. That way, on a rainy day, all it takes is ten minutes in the oven and we have warm, gooey cookies ready to eat!

Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes: About 12 large cookies

Ingredients

• 225g unsalted butter, softened

• 150g light brown sugar

• 100g caster sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 2 tsp vanilla bean paste

• 300g bread flour

• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

• ½ tsp fine sea salt (plus flakes to finish)

• 200g dark chocolate, chopped (I use Green & Blacks)

• 200g milk chocolate, chopped (I use Green & Blacks)

• Optional: 75g walnuts/almonds, chopped

• Optional: 50g crystallised ginger, finely chopped

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (170°C fan) / 375°F. Line two trays with parchment.

2. Cream butter and sugars, then beat in eggs and vanilla.

3. Mix flour, bicarb, and salt in a separate bowl. Fold into wet mix.

4. Stir in chocolate (and nuts/ginger if using).

5. Roll into balls (3 tbsp each). Freeze or bake.

6. Bake 9–11 mins until edges are golden and centres look soft.

7. Sprinkle with sea salt and cool briefly before serving.

(If baking from frozen, add 1–2 minutes to the baking time.)