Its spring break…
Sitting by the beach sipping on a glass of dirty martini with no worries in the world after all, it’s called a holiday for a reason. The sound of the waves crashing unto the shore of the Playa Tortugas beach, Cancun… Life cannot be any better. Just as I call unto the bartender to refill my glass, my phone rings but wait! I have no phones here….
… And its back to reality. The light is out, my room scotching hot; the sound of cars hooting and racing across the high streets of Ozumba Mbadiwe, Lagos has got me thinking… why do I still hear a phone ringing? Split second later, my brain has loaded; I reach for my phone that somehow found its way across my bedroom floor. It’s Afolabi! Why in the World is she calling me this early? Sob… That dream was soo sweet!
“Morning Afolabi”… “Morning Tolu, quick one… Am off to work now and before I walk into the building, mind sharing with me the recipe you’ve got planned for Afrolems?”… Am thinking errrr…. “It’s a Surprise, my lips are sealed” and before she can say anything else, I hold unto the off button. Sly, aren’t I?
Afrolems, hmmm… I completely forgot I had to be sending in a recipe and I told her I was done. Quick Tolu, think! What shall I indulge my readers in…
I start racking my brain and before it reaches the two-minute mark, I Think… Raspberry and Belgian white chocolate.
Of course that would be the 1st to come to mind… One of my personal Favorites growing up was the Raspberry and white chocolate chip cookies I used to pick up from the Millies Cookies stand at the Brent-cross Mall, London. Even though the large size of those cookies was somewhat of a turn off, I found a way to still grab a bite every time I walked in. But I wanted to recreate that recipe, make it even richer, less sugary and gooier. So, off to my Kitchen.
The key to baking delicious cookies is to get comfortable with some basic techniques, have the right utensils and use the best ingredients your hands can reach.
When baking cookies, make sure that all your ingredients are brought back to room temperature, as either cold or hot ingredients would hurt the batter.
Returning butter to room temperature is easy, you can either cut the butter into cubes and let sit for 15 – 20 minutes or if you are a tad bit impatient, Put the butter in a glass bowl, set your microwave to defrost and microwave at 15second interval until butter is slightly melted, then stir with a spatula till you get an even colored butter.
Utensil required
Electric Mixer
Large bowl mixing bowl
Large glass bowl
Large sieve
Small Sieve (optional)
Small bowls
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Cookie Sheet
Cookie Lifter
Parchment paper
Cooling Rack
Ingredients
1 cup (200g) Unsalted butter
2½ cups Plain flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp Kosher salt
½ tbsp Cocoa powder
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup white sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extracts
¼ tsp brandy essence
¼ tsp Raspberry flavoring
½ cup white chocolate chips
½ cup chopped dried raspberries
Procedure…
- Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius
- In a large bowl, sieve flour, salt, baking soda and cocoa powder. Set aside.
- In the mixing bowl of your electric mixer (if you don’t have one, you can mix using a whisk), mix butter, brown sugar and white sugar together at medium speed until creamy.
Whilst this is mixing, separate your eggs. If you don’t know how to do this, don’t panic, its pretty easy (you will mess it up the 1st few times but, practice makes perfect). Hold Large egg Horizontally, with a sharp knife, crake the egg open as close to the middle as possible. With your thumbs, carefully separate the shell into equal halves (don’t worry if they aren’t exactly equal). As you do this, some egg white would fall through so make sure you have a small bowl underneath to catch it. Then tip the egg yoke from one shell to the other allowing the rest of the egg white fall through. Place the egg yoke in another small bowl and Voilà!
Reduce you mixer speed to low and add one large egg then vanilla extracts, brandy essence and raspberry essence. Mix for a few second and add the large egg yoke.
Whilst still mixing, pour in the raspberries and then gradually incorporate your flour mix stopping a few times to scrap the sides of your mixer bowl with a silicon spatula. Once well mixed, its time to put in the delicious Belgian chocolate.
My preference is Sokolad White chocolate chips (can be purchase by calling 08095566772). Reduce the speed of your mixer to minimum and gradually pour in chocolate chips. Feel free to add more chips for extra gooeyness but try not to over do it as the white chocolate adds an extra layer of sweetness to your batter.
- Pour your goowey batter into a glass bowl and set into the fridge overnight or for 12hour to set (ok, again if you are impatient, an hour would do).
- Once nicely set, scoop batter either using a tablespoon scoop or a regular tablespoon unto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Be sure to allow about 2 inches between each scoop for optimum heat circulation.
10. Set you timer to 10 minutes, place the tray in the lower shelve of your oven and bake until light brown and cookies have a crusty edge. Be careful not to over bake.
11. Remove from the oven leaving the cookies on the tray to cool for 3-5 minutes. Cookies continue to bake after being brought out of the oven and left to cool on the tray so, don’t worry if it still looks unbaked in the middle.
12. Once cooled, transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool for another 5 minute or serve Warm…. DONE!
Notice that only 7 of the cookies made it to the rack? Yeup! That’s anticipated…
These delicious cookies can be enjoyed over a glass of milk, baileys cream, vanilla ice-cream or simply on their own. They make real life feel like a dream.
Email: bitem@iamcookiejar.com or call 08095566771 should you have any questions and thought on this recipe or to order a box of freshly made cookies from our Gourmet bakery
Prepared by Tolu Eros
Founder & Executive Chef
Cookie Jar – Premium Gourmet Cookies
10 comments on “Gourmet Cookies in Lagos by Tolu Eros – Cookie Jar”