On Saturday mornings Mr Gochugaru and I head to our Korean language class where we try hard to remember the vocabulary from the previous week’s class. I do not know how it started but after a while I decided it would be nice to bring cakes and cookies for the class to have whilst battling with pronunciation and verb conjugation. Friday, then, is usually a baking day at home.
This week I thought to make some granola and chocolate chip cookies. I urge you not to throw in any old bits and pieces into the cookie mixture. Momofuku Milk Bar has a cult cookie called the Compost Cookie ® (so famous they even registered the name as a trademark) but you need the audacity and gumption of a New Yorker to get away with it. I am more conservative in the choice of cookie additions.
As an aside, Momofuku Milk Bar also has a cult ice cream called Cereal Milk Soft Serve ™ where milk infused with cornflakes is later churned into ice cream. I have tried it, but at a recent family dinner at Marcus Wareing’s Gilbert Scott we all agreed the latter’s vanilla soft serve with honeycomb is way, way better. Awesomely better.
Finally, if you have a legal mind and have ever wondered what the difference is between the symbols ®, © and ™, here is an explanation to enlighten you.
For the Cookies:
130 g unsalted butter, softened
50 g soft brown sugar
50 g unrefined castor sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
180 g self raising wholemeal flour
90 g granola
pinch of fine sea salt
200 g chopped chocolate (milk or white)
OR
200 g chocolate chips (milk or white)
50 g raisins or dried cranberries
You will also need two baking trays lined with baking paper or a reusable silicon non-stick mat like Silpat. If you have a baking sheet from the superior USA Pan then they will not need lining.
How to Make:
(for the conventional, non-Thermomix method of making these cookies, please scroll right to the end of the post)
Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 350°F/ Gas 4.
Weigh the butter, sugars, egg and vanilla extract straight into the Thermomix bowl and mix 2 minutes/ speed 3.
Add the flour, granola and salt. Mix 40 seconds/ speed 4.
Add the chocolate and raisins/ dried cranberries and stir 30 seconds/ speed 2.
Using a small ice cream scoop (mine holds a volume of 25 ml), divide the dough onto the baking trays.
Place the trays in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. The cookies should look light golden brown and feel just slightly firm in the middle when ready.
Leave the cookies on the baking sheets until sufficiently cool enough to be transferred onto wire racks to finish cooling.
How to make the cookies in a conventional, non-Thermomix way.
Preheat the oven to 180° C/ 375° F/ Gas 4.
Beat the butter, sugars and vanilla extract in large mixing bowl until the mixture is lighter in texture and colour. Note: the texture remains slightly brown and granular and we are not aiming for a cream colour or fine texture.
Crack the egg into a bowl, beat lightly then gently stir into the butter and sugar mixture.
Gradually add in the flour and granola, and continue to beat until everything is incorporated.
Add in the chocolate and raisins/ dried cranberries. Give the mixture a final stir to distribute everything evenly.
Using a small ice cream scoop (mine holds a volume of 25 ml), divide the dough onto the baking trays.
Place the trays in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. The cookies should look light golden brown and feel just slightly firm in the middle when ready.
Leave the cookies on the baking sheets until sufficiently cool enough to be transferred onto wire racks to finish cooling.
Here is a previous Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe using Nestle’s Toll House® chocolate chips. I like their chocolate chips very much and also those from Ghirardelli. Here is Ghirardelli’s chocolate chip cookie recipe.