Friday 8 December 2017

Masala Chai Chocolate Chunk Cookies.



Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

The perfect cookie with your afternoon tea!
Guys, I had been wanting to put chai spices into chocolate chip cookies for ages.
The thought of all those warming spices running through a brown sugar cookie studded with chocolate - I mean, how could that not be good?!
I finally gave them a go a few weeks back. My cousin was visiting from London with her baby son and I baked a batch of these cookies to have with hot tea.
The spices really came through in this recipe. I used ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, allspice and even black pepper. I must admit, I was concerned about the black pepper but it ended up being just the right amount and gave the cookies a real warmth in every bite.

These cookies are more cakey and thick than those I've made in the past. I chose to use chocolate chunks as opposed to chips but you may do either. Just promise me you'll serve them with hot tea to dunk. 

A Simple List of Ingredients:

For the Dry Ingredients:
1. Plain Flour
2. Baking Powder
3. Bicarbonate of Soda
4. Ground Ginger
5. Ground Cinnamon
6. Ground Cardamom
7. Ground Cloves
8. Ground Allspice
9. Ground Black Pepper
10. Salt

For the Wet Ingredients:
1. Caster Sugar
2. Soft Light Brown Sugar
3. Unsalted Butter
4. An Egg
5. Vanilla Essence
6. Milk Chocolate

Bismillah, let's begin!

We start by mixing together the dry ingredients. Into a medium bowl, place 275g Plain Flour.

Add in 3/4 teaspoon Baking Powder.

And, 3/4 teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda.

Next, the spices. The combination of all of them really gives the cookies a masala chai flavour. Perfect for Winter!

To the bowl, add in:
1 teaspoon Ground Ginger
1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Ground Cardamom
1/4 teaspoon Ground Cloves
1/4 teaspoon Ground Allspice
1/4 teaspoon Salt

Give the dry ingredients a good whisk and set aside.

Next, let's prepare the chocolate so that it's ready when we need it. Take 170g Milk Chocolate.

And, cut into chunks. You can use dark or white chocolate too. And, you can also use chocolate chips if you prefer.

Now for the wet ingredients, take 113g Unsalted Butter.

And, melt it! Set it aside to cool slightly.

Then, in a large mixing bowl place 60g Caster Sugar.

And, 130g Soft Light Brown Sugar. The brown sugar gives so much flavour to the cookies and also gives them their signature chewy texture. I love it!

The butter should be cool by now so pour it in.

Using an electric mixer or by hand, beat the sugars and butter for 3 minutes until pale and creamy.

Then, crack in 1 large Egg.

And, pour in 1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence.

Beat again so that everything is well combined.

Then, add in the dry ingredients that we stirred up earlier.

And, mix until you can no longer see the flour and your kitchen is filled with scent of spice.

Finally, throw in the chocolate chunks.

You just know these are going to be good!

Stir in the chocolate chunks. The chunks won't quite incorporate fully into the dough but once you scoop the cookies, they'll be fine.

Next, scoop or roll 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of dough per cookie. 

I managed to get 28 medium cookies from this dough. You may make yours bigger or smaller, if you prefer.

Pop the tray into the fridge so that the dough can chill for at least 1 hour. You can leave them even longer in the fridge or you can freeze them too.

When you're ready to bake, pre-heat the oven at Gas Mark 4 or 180C. Place the cookie balls onto lined baking trays, spacing them apart as they will expand when baking.

When the oven is ready, bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges are golden. They may seem soft in the centre but ...

... by leaving them on the hot tray for 5 minutes before moving will help to firm them up. Cool on wire racks and continue baking the rest.

Just the cookie for a cosy night in!

Masala Chai Chocolate Chunk Cookies.

Prep Time: About 20 minutes + 1 hour to chill.
Bake Time: About 10-12 minutes per batch.
Serves: Makes 28 medium cookies.

Ingredients

For the Dry Ingredients
275g Plain Flour
3/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
3/4 teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda
1 teaspoon Ground Ginger
1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Ground Cardamom
1/4 teaspoon Ground Cloves
1/4 teaspoon Ground Allspice
1/4 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
1/4 teaspoon Salt

For the Wet Ingredients
60g Caster Sugar
130g Soft Light Brown Sugar
113g Unsalted Butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 large Egg
1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence
170g Milk or Dark or White Chocolate, cut into chunks

Mix together the dry ingredients:
In a medium bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. Set aside for later.

Beat the wet ingredients:
In a large bowl, beat the caster sugar, brown sugar and melted butter for 3 minutes until pale and creamy. Add in the egg and vanilla and beat well until combined.

Bring the wet and dry together:
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until you can no longer see any flour. Finally, stir in the chocolate chunks.

Scoop and chill:
Scoop or roll 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of the cookie dough per cookie. Place onto a tray and chill for 1 hour in the fridge.

Bake:
Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 4 or 180C. Place the cookie dough balls onto lined baking trays, spacing them apart as they will spread. When the oven is hot, bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until golden brown at the edges. If you've made them bigger, they may need a few minutes longer.

Cool:
Leave to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before moving. This will help the cookies firm up a little. Cool on wire racks.

Serve:
Serve with your favourite hot drink.

{adapted from a cozy kitchen}

Keep me in your duas please, and enjoy your masala chai cookies!

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!


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