I haven't abandoned this space like my other food ventures. I am pretty sure that this blog is here to stay. I am battling heat in my part of the world. I am not a fan of summers (not Indian summers). They are too harsh for my liking. I am trying my best to stay hydrated and taking best care of myself.. My cooking is all about shortcuts these days and I am definitely giving my oven a break.
Today morning when I woke up it was relatively cooler. Well I don't know about you but over here 39 degrees feel cooler in the summer months. I instantly decided to bake something. The thought of baking a cake was tempting but then it gets difficult to store it. Leaving it out in open in this weather is not a good idea and I don't like refrigerated cakes. This reason was enough to get me back to baking cookies. It can be stored for longish time. It does not need enormous kitchen time and if you are bored you always have the option of freezing your dough and baking it later.

My cookies always used to turn out crunchy. I like chewy cookies so I decided to take the matter in my hands and get on with it. I researched every website, every recipe and every book and then came up with my recipe after a few rounds of trial and error..



Ingredients
1 Cup Flour
1/4 tsp Baking soda
2 eggs (or 1 large)
50gms Amul Butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cane sugar ( Use Brown sugar if not available)
1/4 cup Chocolate chunks (I prefer chunks over chocolate chips)
1 tbsp Black strap molasses
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Method
Set your oven to preheat at 200 degrees and prepare your baking tray with well greased butter paper
Sift flour and Baking Soda together and keep aside

In a pan brown your butter on a low heat. When the froth appears and the color changes to pale brown switch off the gas. It gives a very nutty flavor to the batter

Let the butter cool down, add sugar, cane sugar, molasses and vanilla and whisk them together, add eggs and whisk until mixed properly

Add the flour mixture in 3 parts mixing well each time. DO NOT OVER MIX

Add chocolate chunks

Put the batter in the fridge for 10-15 minutes. Use a tablespoon to scoop out batter and place it in the tray (You can use an ice cream scoop as well).
Tip: Form dough balls and leave enough space in the baking tray to allow them to expand
Once inside the oven, after 7-8 minutes I tapped the balls with the back of a tablespoon to flatten them (Read: No patience)

Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Take the tray out and let it cool for a couple of minutes. Take the cookies out gently and place them in the oven on the wire rack directly for a couple of minutes.
(The cookies become crunchy if left for too long)

 It feels so good to be back..