This is a great way to use up not only Easter eggs, chocolate drops or forgotten chocolate at the back of the cupboard, but also other miscellaneous snacks – anything from pretzels and ready-salted crisps, cereal and oats to Turkish delight and marshmallows. You can pretty much put whatever you want in these. I can’t take glory for the recipe: a Momofuku pastry chef called Christina Tosi had this brilliantly useful and witty idea years and years ago, and this is my variation on it. I wanted to share the concept with you all.
Makes about 28 cookies
Preparation time 10 minutes, plus 30 minutes minimum chilling time
Cooking time 7-8 minutes
- 250g light muscovado sugar
- 120g golden granulated sugar
- 250g butter, at room temperature, cut into cubes
- 1 free-range egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 300g plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 500g combination of any of the following, including at least 150g chocolatey things: porridge oats, mixed chocolate or caramels marshmallows/dried fruit
- rice crispies/cornflakes/any cereal/ pretzels/ready-salted crisps, nuts, such as peanuts or hazelnuts
Cream together both the sugars with the butter using an electric handheld whisk, or a food processor fitted with the whisk attachment. Once it has become pale and creamy, add the egg and the vanilla extract and continue mixing for about 5 minutes.
Combine the flour, baking powder and salt then add to the butter and sugar mixture and continue to mix until well combined.
Now add the ingredients of your choice, making sure that whatever you decide to use, the final weight comes to 500g: you can use any combination of flavours and textures you like and have to hand. It’s best to mix them into the dough with your hands so as not to break the dough up too much. When everything is well distributed, wrap the dough in cling film or greaseproof paper and put in the fridge to chill for a minimum of 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/l80°C fan/gas mark 6 and line two baking trays with baking parchment.
Unwrap the dough and mould it into about 28 x 50g balls. Put a few dough balls, well spaced out, on the lined baking trays (the cookies do spread quite a lot while cooking, so you may need to bake them in batches). Bake in the oven for 7-8 minutes, until they have begun to turn slightly golden but are still quite soft.
Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool briefly before eating (they are irresistible warm, with a glass of cold milk). They keep well in an airtight container for a few days.
Recipe adapted from Restore by Gizzi Erskine (£25, HQ). Photography by Issy Croker.