Chewy chocolate cookies

I've had my eye on these cookies for a while. A long while apparently, since the BBC Good Food magazine they were originally published in is the April 2006 issue. Hmm, must try harder to clear the back-log of recipes on the 'to make' list. However, these really were worth the wait, and I urge you not to wait as long as I did.

The recipe apparently isn't on the BBC Good Food website (which I've had immense trouble accessing recently, but it seems to have relented today and let me on) but I shall give it anyway! These must be some of the easiest cookies ever, with the most difficult thing being remembering to allow the butter to soften by taking it out of the fridge in time. There are plenty of ideas for variations given in the magazine, but I'll leave it to your imagination - they suggest ingredients such as roasted salted peanuts, dried cranberries, orange zest, cinnamon and raisin, poppy see and lemon zest, mixed chocolate etc etc. Whatever combination floats your boat really!

Chewy Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients
45g light muscovado sugar
100g soft butter
125g self-raising flour
1 heaped tbsp golden syrup (I was generous with this and I think this really helped with the chewiness)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (but on reflection I think I forgot to add this - oops!)
45g milk chocolate, chopped
45g dark chocolate, chopped

Method
- Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking parchment.

- Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and creamy (I used an electric mixer).

- Stir in the remaining ingredients until you have a soft, slightly sticky dough.

- Roll the dough into walnut-sized pieces and place on the baking tray, leaving plenty of space between them (unless you want them to make friends like some of mine did ;-) )

- The original instructions say to chill for 30 minutes in the fridge if you have time, but although I had time I didn't have fridge space, so they just had to wait. I guess chilling them for 30 mins would make them spread less, so they'd be even chewier and delicious. Must make these again when my fridge is emptier!

- Bake for 12-15 minutes until light golden brown. They will still feel soft in the middle when you take them out, and will need a few minutes cooling before you can move them at all. Mine never entirely firmed up, but that's part of the joy of them!

- When cool enough to move, transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

The recipe said it makes 10 (I did a half recipe) but I got 16, which were the perfect size with a cup of tea or coffee.

I can't tell you how long they last as they're all gone now! However, I can say that they're buttery,chewy and bendy in a really lovely way, and the muscovado sugar makes them a little toffee-ish in flavour. My colleagues loved them, and T said they were possibly the best cookies he's had. Praise indeed.

The original recipe (which is twice that given above) had 100g dark chocolate, chopped and 50g preserved ginger or crystallised ginger, chopped and also gave ideas for variations: 100g milk chocolate and 50g roasted salted peanuts, 150g dried cranberries and zest 1 orange, 2 tsp cinnamon and 140g raisins, 1 tbsp poppy seeds and zest 1 lemon, 150g mixed chopped dark, milk and white chocolate. All sound good to me!