Dark chocolate walnut cookies

I bake these cookies regularly. They have a balanced deep flavour that's not too sweet, and each cookie comes out thick like a hockey puck - complementing a large coffee perfectly.

I prefer a lighter dark chocolate for this recipe, such as the co-op brand (UK) 56% cocoa baking chocolate. Anything up to 70% works well. Milk chocolate would be sickly in my opinion. If you don't have dark muscovado and golden caster sugar any similar mix of white and dark brown sugar will do.

Ingredients

150g Bar of dark baking chocolate

100g Walnuts

100g Golden caster sugar

50g Dark muscovado sugar

150g Salted butter, softened

225g Plain flour

1/2 tsp Baking powder

1 Egg

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (fan).

Bake walnuts for 5 minutes. You don't want them to be fully roasted as they'll be baked a second time.

Turn off oven.

In a bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until paste-like, then beat with the egg until combined.

Using a large knife, cut the bar of baking chocolate into sensible chunks. I like the varied chunks and shavings this produces, and in the UK, widely-available bars of baking chocolate tend to be better quality than the chocolate chips.

Break the now cooled walnuts into pieces. I like to make irregular quarters by twisting each in my hand.

Add the plain flour, baking powder, walnut pieces, and chocolate to the bowl and gently stir until just combined. Do not over-work it. If the walnuts capture some flour in their folds, don't worry, after resting and baking I find it combines with the surrounding butter just fine.

Spoon the mixture onto cling film or baking paper and roll into a sausage shape around 30cm long. Refridgerate for at least an hour or two.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 180°C (fan).

Cut the cookie dough into 16 little hockey pucks by slicing each piece in half four times.

Place the cookies onto two baking sheets. The end pieces, if rounded, should be placed rounded side down onto the sheet for a more regular shape after baking. Bake for around 12 minutes, or until just browned at the edges (In my oven the lower tray needs an additional minute).

Leave them on the trays to cool otherwise you'll get melted chocolate everywhere.

Up: Kitchen

Next: Greens on toast

Prev: RE: Walnut granola