Anytime cookies

Ingredients

• 250 g butter, softened
• 200 g brown sugar
• 150 g granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 350 g plain flour
• 2 tsp bicarbonate soda
• 1 cup toasted almonds, roughly chopped
• 1 cup roughly chopped dark chocolate chunks
• 1 tbsp sea salt flakes

Freezing time: 2 hours

Cooling time: 5 minutes

Instructions

1. Combine the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream for 5 minutes, or until pale and fluffy. In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs with the vanilla extract, then with the mixer running, gradually add a little at a time to the butter mixture.
2. Sift in the flour and bicarb soda to the butter and egg mixture, then mix on low speed until just combined. Fold through the almonds and chocolate.
3. Line a baking tray (that will fit in your freezer) with baking paper. Use an ice-cream scoop to portion individual scoops of the cookie dough onto the tray. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes, gently pressing into the top, flattening each ball (see Note). Freeze for 2 hours, or until firm to the touch. Transfer the frozen cookies to a large ziplock bag and return to the freezer (this step ensures the cookies won’t stick together in the bag).
4. To bake the cookies from frozen, preheat the oven to 180˚C (fan-forced). Place however many cookies you would like to bake on a baking tray lined with baking paper, then bake for 12 minutes, or until just beginning to brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Serve warm.

Note

• The dough will spread much more when it’s thawed, so if you’re intending to bake these from frozen, pressing down the top of each ball before freezing will give you a slightly flatter shape.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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