I shall be making these lovely cookies to celebrate my two scholars placing their little patent leather shoes back on the bottom rungs of the ladder of academia. They are a perfect after school treat with a glass of milk or bribe for a patient teacher.
My youngest daughter, Lily, could be referred to as challenging by some, although personally I think she is perfect in every way. So these cookies are good to have on hand to take to her lovely teacher, who puts up with a lot and greets me every day with a smile at the door of the school. She is always in good humour when she delivers the news of the day. “We had a fall at break time, Lily was very brave (not ),” is a regular report. “Lily was in time out,” she says, “she punched Chloe/Connor/Freya”. “Ah, she’s just spirited,” I say “have a cookie.” Lily may grow out of her six-year-old’s hot temper one day, but if she doesn’t I will make these cookies for her parole officer. I’m sure she will love them too.
This recipe came originally from The Primrose Bakery cookbook, but I found that the ratio of granola and nuts to actual cookie dough was impossible to shape. These quantities below will give you about 24 large cookies and a much easier dough to work with. These cookies should be made with a very good quality granola. I always make them with the locally produced Bowl-a-Granola, available in Galway at the Saturday market, McCambridge’s, and all good grocery stores. It’s the best out there with lots of crunchy nuts and oats, the perfect accompaniment to the soft, melty bits of sweet chocolate. Anything extra to me would seem a bit much, like an over-gilding of the Lily!
Ingredients
460g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
A pinch of salt
230g butter
230g soft light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
300g granola
150g white chocolate roughly chopped
150g dark chocolate roughly chopped
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line two baking trays if cooking immediately. Sift the flour, bicarb, and salt into a bowl. Cream together butter and sugar. Add vanilla and egg, beat well, and mix in the flour mixture gradually to form a dough. Stir in the remaining ingredients with a spoon (granola and both chocolate chips ). Scoop about two tablespoons of mixture out and roll into a ball with your hands. Place them, spaced out, onto the sheet lined with parchment. Flatten cookies slightly with hands or a fork and bake for about 10 minutes, or a little longer until they begin to firm up.
If not cooking all the dough immediately, roll them into their portions and freeze. They will keep as well in the fridge for up to a week, well wrapped. Any cooked and uneaten biscuits are fine in an airtight container for three or four days.
