These are the Chocolate Chip Cookies of my dreams! It only took 48 attempts. 😅 Superior crispy outsides, soft-baked insides, excellent chewiness, intensely buttery with butterscotch tones, exceptional shelf life. A copycat of Australia’s famous Butter Boy cookies – but better!

On a personal note, thank you to everyone who left such kind, supporting messages on my burn out post a couple of months ago. I am back! Well rested, I have a new assistant, much has happened – catch up post here! I will do a catch up post next week!

The Chocolate Chip Cookies of my dreams

These started out as a simple copycat of the milk choc cookies from Butter Boy, a popular cookie shop here in Sydney. I feel like I’ve tried my fair share of internet-famous cookies, and these are the first that have lived up to the hype.

But at $8.50 each, deciding to make a homemade version was a no brainer! Plus, I was able to tweak them to my own taste – such as making them a bit less sweet (the Butter Boy ones are insanely sweet!), more buttery flavour – and most importantly, a version that can be made in regular home kitchens.

It took 48 attempts, creating it then retesting and stress testing iterations. But it was worth it. I’m thrilled with the final result, my ultimate chocolate chip cookies that are everything I dream a cookie to be!

These chocolate chip cookies are….

….the Rolls Royce of cookies in my cookie collection!

1. They boast a rich, buttery flavor with deep butterscotch undertones, thanks to browned butter (which is literally just simmered melted butter). This simple magic ingredient ensures incredible taste, whether you use budget-friendly or premium butter.

2. Superior texture – thick crisp, golden crust with soft, chewy insides. Their generous size allows for a long enough bake to create an excellent crispy surface while keeping the centre irresistibly gooey which is ultra soft and moist but not blatantly raw cookie dough (not a fan of raw flour taste);

3. Every aspect of these cookies is elevated by an overnight dough chill – flavour, crispiness, chew, colour, and even shelf life. I’ve tested so many with and without chilling, and shorter fridge times to compare side by side. I’m now a believer – there’s simply no way to cheat time!

4. They cost 70% less than the Butter Boy cookies. And in my humble opinion, they taste better. I would be delighted to hear thoughts from Butter Boy die-hard fans who try this recipe!

PS These cookies are BIG. Intentional, so they can be baked long enough to develop a great crispy crust while keeping the inside soft-baked.

Also – proof of crispy base and soft baked insides (I pressed with my finger so you can see it’s not cakey, dry or crumbly):

Ingredients in The Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here’s what you need to make these. No unusual ingredients, achieving the perfect outcome came down to a very exact amount of each ingredient. See FAQ for more information – like can you reduce sugar (no!), can these be made gluten free (sadly not!).

For the cookie dough

• Plain flour / all purpose flour – Please do not substitute with self raising flour. This recipe calls for a much lessor amount of baking powder than what is built into self raising flour.

• Brown and white sugar – Each of these bring different qualities to cookies. The brown sugar adds colour, chew and caramely flavour, while the white sugar makes the cookies crispy. I use caster sugar (superfine sugar) as it dissolves more easily in baked goods as the grains are finer so it is my default sugar for baked goods. However, regular white sugar (granulated sugar) also works fine.

• Unsalted butter – Chopped into pieces so it melts more evenly as we are browning the butter. I prefer to use unsalted butter so I can control the amount of salt added into the recipe.

• Cooking salt – I use 1/2 teaspoon of salt in these cookies which may sound like a lot but it really works here to offset the sweetness and enhance all the incredible flavours in this cookie. Trust the process! See recipe notes for using table salt and salt flakes.

• Egg + egg yolk – Using an egg yolk in place of a second whole egg adds richness, plus to be honest, I didn’t need a whole second egg and it’s easier to measure out a yolk than 1/2 an egg. 🙂 Make sure you use large eggs which are 50-55g / 2oz each in the shell, sold in cartons labelled “large eggs”. If you only have jumbo or XL eggs, see this post for how to measure out the correct amount.

• Baking powder and baking soda (bi-carbonate) – In cookies, baking powder makes them rise, while baking soda makes them spread, so don’t swap them! After much testing, I found 1/4 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp baking soda created the perfect shape and texture.

• Cornflour / cornstarch – A baking trick I picked up in my time, a little cornflour softens the inside of cookies without affecting the crispy exterior. Plus, adjusting the amount controls their shape – just 1 tablespoon extra turns it into a big dome shape!

• Vanilla – For flavour. Vanilla extract please, not imitation essence.

The choc chips

Chocolate chips are key in chocolate chip cookies! 😂 So unsurprisingly, I have thoughts. I tried chopped chocolate but preferred chips for these big cookies – they disperse better throughout rather than having larger chunks which harden when they cool.

I mix dark and milk chocolate for balanced sweetness – 250g dark (semi-sweet) and 150g milk chocolate chips (which are much sweeter than dark chocolate). Since standard Aussie choc chip packs are 200g, feel free to just use one pack of each or use chopped chocolate instead!

The chocolate I use – For everyday purposes, I use Cadbury and Nestle, I stock up when they are on sale at grocery stores. I also get larger bags of Kirkland semi-sweet chips from Costco (semi-sweet = dark chocolate). For a premium option I will splurge on Callebaut chocolate chips which is a Belgium chocolate from speciality stores that is used by professionals (it costs 2-3x as much depending on how much you buy).

These cookies must be refrigerated for 12 hours. Sorry!

Once I landed on my “perfect” cookie recipe that required an overnight chill, I was sure I could tweak it to be just as good (or 98% as good) with only an hour or so in the fridge.

I really tried. (48 versions, remember!). But I was wrong. 😅 Once you’ve had the overnight chilled version, there’s no going back. The best I got was 90% as good – turns out, you can’t cheat time!

what does refrigerating cookie dough do?

You know how sourdough and pizza dough proofed overnight tastes better? This is because the time allows science to work its magic to develop flavour. And that’s what’s happening here. The refrigeration time improves virtually every aspect of this cookie:

• the cookie has more flavour, in a way you can’t shortcut with ingredients

• outside bakes up crisper, sturdier and longer lasting (days!)

• inside is chewier (the difference is stark comparing 1 hour v 12 hour chilled cookies)

• colour is a richer golden colour

• cookie surface bakes up nicer

• shelf life is superior. Excellent 3 days, still great 5 days. The shelf life quality reduces for shorter fridge times less than 12 hours. Regular choc chip cookie recipes are noticeably stale on day 3, I find.

• flour is hydrated and butter solidifies so the cookies bake thick with soft baked centre rather than spreading thin and crispy

How to make The Chocolate Chip Cookies

Are you ready to see how straightforward it is to make the Chocolate Chip Cookie of your dreams??

1. BROWN THE BUTTER

Browning butter is as simple as melting butter then letting it simmer until it changes from yellow to golden brown which only takes a few minutes. This intensifies the buttery flavour and makes the cookies taste buterscotchy. For this recipe, it’s important because it levels the playing field whether making this cookie with economical or premium butter.

1. Melt butter in a silver or other non-black saucepan or small pan. Simmer the melted butter on medium to medium high for 3 to 5 minutes or until you see little golden bits (which are the dairy bits that go toasty) and you can smell the nuttiness. The butter will also change from yellow to golden brown in colour.

   ❓Why does the colour of the cooking vessel matter? It’s easier to see when the butter changes from yellow to golden. If using a black pan, you need to rely on your smell or using a spoon to scoop the butter up to check the colour.

2. Remove from the stove and immediately pour it into a large mixing bowl (including all the little brown bits – extra flavour!). Work quickly as it will continue browning. Then let it cool for 45 minutes+ to room temperature.

   ⚠️ Cooling – The browned butter should still be liquid (ie not solidified bits, not even around the edges) but cool enough so it will not melt the sugar or the choc chips. If it solidifies, then re-melt in the microwave and cool again.

2. The dough is so easy!

You just need a wooden spoon, no stand mixer!

1. Whisk Dry ingredients in a bowl.

2. Wet ingredients – To the cooled brown butter, mix in both sugars using a wooden spoon. It will look like wet sand. Then add the egg, yolk and vanilla and mix. It will look like a a thick caramel (but with visible fine sugar grains).

3. Make dough – Add the flour into the butter bowl and mix. When the flour is mostly incorporated, add the choc chips then mix well until all the flour is fully incorporated.

4. FAT DISCS not balls (and they’re BIG!) – Divide the mixture into 8 equal mounds. They will be 1/2 cup slightly heaped / 155g each (5.3 oz). Roll into balls to properly seal all cracks (they burst into unsightly crevices during baking) then shape into a fat disc 3.75cm/1.5″ thick. See FAQ for chatter about this shape and why shape before chilling.

5. Fridge 12 – 24 hours – Put the discs in an airtight container and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours. See section above for why refrigerating is necessary and how hard I tried to avoid it!

   Chill time variations (see above for more information):
   – 1 hour is the bare minimum (personally I’d make Browned Butter Choc Oatmeal Cookies instead)
   – 5 hours is my recommended minimum but I aim for 8 hours for “company worthy proud”
   – 12 – 24 hours is optimal, up to 48 hours
   – Beyond 48 hours: diminishing returns plus dough starts to dry out, better to freeze after 12 hours.

   ⚠️ Freezing – You cannot shortcut by freezing as the dough as all the good things that happen to the dough in the fridge can’t happen once frozen rock solid. To freeze, you must do the fridge time first then freeze! See FAQ and recipe notes for directions.

6. Bake 17 minutes – Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F (170°C fan-forced)*. Once the oven is hot, place the fridge cold cookies on a paper lined tray 7.5 cm / 3″ apart (to allow for spread).

   Bake for 17 minutes, checking first at 16 minutes**, until the outside edges are golden and the surface is pale golden but has a thin baked skin on it rather than just being shiny melty raw dough. They will look underdone (you will spy wet batter through cracks) which is what you want to allow for carry over cooking as they cool down, by which time they are perfect – soft baked inside, ultra crispy outsides!

7. Decorate – Working quickly, press extra chocolate chips on the surface. I like to press them in slightly, some straight, some wonky. But even if you just place them on top, the heat will melt the chocolate so they bond.

   💡TIP: While still hot, you can also use a spatular to reshape wonky ones into neat circles.

8. Cool the cookies on the tray for 20 minutes. During this time, they will deflate a bit, the inside will finish cooking so it’s not just floury raw dough, the surface becomes more golden, and the outside and base becomes super crispy.

   ATTACK! The 20 minutes mark straight out of the oven is the prime moment of perfection to devour these cookies, when the inside is still warm and the chocolate is molten and gooey, but the outside has set enough so it’s gorgeously crispy. Grab one right now!!!

Phew! So that’s it. The Chocolate Chip Cookies of my dreams. 3 months and 48 versions later. That’s:

• 19 kg / 38 lb choc chips (!)

• 10.8 kg / 22 lb butter

• 41 kg / 28 lb flour

• 384 cookies

Make these once, and I wager they will invade your dreams every night too! – Nagi x

PS I moved the FAQ and Troubleshooting accordions to beneath the recipe card as they started getting lengthy.

Watch how to make it

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The Chocolate Chip Cookies of my dreams!

Recipe video. These are my idea of the perfect chocolate chip cookie – superior crispy outsides, soft baked inside with excellent chew, buttery with butterscotch tones and a milk-dark chocolate combo that's just right. And they're BIG (2.5cm/1" thick, 11cm/4.5" wide) – intended for high impact!

Inspired by Australia's famous Butter Boy milk choc cookies, it took 48 attempts to perfect these. For best results, use scales and do not skip the 12 hour dough chill (see note 5). Also see Troubleshooting and FAQ below recipe card for extra tips.

IMPORTANT: If you don't have a sweet tooth, these are not for you! Sugar cannot be decreased without compromising results (I really tried). These are unapologetically outrageous in every way!

Course Cookies, Sweet Baking

Cuisine Western

Keyword choc chip cookie, Chocolate chip cookie recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Butter cooling + dough chilling 12 hours hours 45 minutes minutes

Servings 8 big cookies (11 cm/4.5″ wide, 2.5cm/1″ thick, 150g/5oz each!)

Author Nagi

Ingredients

• 225g / 2 US sticks unsalted butter , cut into 1cm / 1/2″ cubes

Dry ingredients:

• 2 cups (300g) plain flour / all-purpose flour , spooned and levelled (IMPORTANT – Note 1)
• 3 tsp cornflour/cornstarch , tightly pack and level the spoon measure
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda / bi-carb , sifted if lumpy (don't sub more baking powder, Note 2)
• 1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (halve for table salt, +50% for flakes)

Wet ingredients:

• 1 tightly packed cup (200g) brown sugar (light brown sugar)
• 1/2 cup (100g) caster sugar / superfine super (sub regular/granulated)
• 1 large egg (55g / 2 oz in shell), at room temp
• 1 yolk from a large egg , at room temp
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Choc chips (Note 3):

• 1 1/2 cups (250g) dark chocolate chips / semi-sweet choc chips, plus extra for decorating
• 3/4 cup (150g) milk chocolate chips

Cups – Metric

Instructions

ABBREVIATED RECIPE:

• Brown butter, cool, hand mix in sugar, then egg + vanilla. Mix in whisked Dry, adding choc towards end. Form 8 x 155g (1/2 cup) discs 3.75cm/1.5" thick. Fridge 12 -24 hrs. Bake from fridge cold 4 at a time, 180°C/350°F (170°C fan) 17 min, top with more choc while hot if desired. Cool 20 min on tray, attack!

FULL RECIPE:

Browned butter:

• Simmer to brown – Put the butter in a silver saucepan or small pan over medium high heat. Once melted, let it simmer (as in, bubbling) for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring every now and then, until it gets real foamy, you see little golden specks (wade through foam to see) and it smells nutty & extra buttery.
• Cool – Immediately pour into a heatproof bowl, including all those golden specks. Cool to room temperature (~45 minutes), cool enough so it won't melt the choc chips (Note 4)

Dough:

• Whisk Dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
• Mix Wet – To the browned butter, add both sugars and mix with a wooden spoon. Add the egg, yolk and vanilla. Mix until smooth – it will look caramel.
• Finish dough – Add the Dry ingredients and mix until the flour is mostly incorporated. Add the choc chips and stir until the flour is fully incorporated.
• Make dough discs – Measure out 8 x 155g (5.3 oz/ 1/2 cup) portions of dough, roll into a ball then shape into a 3.75cm/1.5" thick round disc. Place in a very airtight container. (Note 5 for smaller cookies)

CHILLING:

• Fridge 12 hours – Refrigerate for 12 hours, up to 48 hours (Note 6 for different chill times).

BAKING:

• Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (170°C fan-forced). (Note 7)
• Place 4 fridge-cold cookies 7.5 cm/3" apart on a tray lined with baking paper/parchment paper. (Note 8 baking tips)
• Bake for 17 minutes or until the edges are golden and the surface is just set (ie not melty raw dough) but still pale.
• Decorate and cool – Working quickly, press extra choc chips on the surface (Note 9), then cool on the tray for 20 minutes – finishes baking, edges crisp more and they get more golden all over.

  Tip: While hot, you can also reshape with a rubber spatula or similar into a tidy round shape.
• Grab now – peak eating moment! Or, transfer to a rack to cool fully before storing in an airtight container.

Notes

* Recipe can be scaled up as desired. If doubling, you can use 3 whole eggs instead of 2 whole eggs + 2 yolks. Suggest using stand mixer as dough gets quite thick towards end!* 

1. Measuring 225g butter without scales – don’t guesstimate using packet markings!! Melt butter and measure 235ml using a jug (or 1 cup then remove 1 tablespoon), THEN brown the butter (once browned, butter is 180 – 190g). And yes, it’s 235ml, not 225ml (1g butter = 1.043173 ml).

US readers – not applicable to you, just use 2 sticks!

2. Measuring flour (important!) – Scales best (and efficient). If using cups, spoon flour into cups then level surface. Do not dunk cup measure into flour tub or bag (flour settles = 2 cups will be more than 300g = your cookies will puff more). *I am not usually this pedantic, only when a recipe is more sensitive than usual*

2. Baking soda (bi-carb) – don’t substitute with more baking powder if you don’t have baking soda, it will make the cookies puff up into rock-cake form. You need baking soda!

3. Choc chips – Milk choc chips are considerably sweeter so I like a combination of dark and milk so it’s not overwhelmingly sweet. Feel free to use more or less of either (I realise 400g is a neat 2 x standard Australian 200g packs!) or cut your own chocolate, for larger melty pools of chocolate (I prefer the littering of smaller chips all throughout, plus it’s more convenient – and I plan to make these cookies a lot, forever!)

4. Cooled browned butter – Cool enough so it won’t melt the sugar or melt the choc chips, but not so cold the edges solidify (if it does, re-melt and cool again).

5. Smaller cookies – This recipe works great for smaller cookies too but roll them into balls instead of forming fat discs. Here are the bake times:

• 1 tbsp (#20 cookie scoop) – 12 to 13 minutes
• 2 tbsp (#40 cookie scoop) – 13 to 14 minutes
• 3 tbsp (~60g/2oz/#20 cookie scoop) – 14 minutes

6. Fridge chilling enhances every aspect of this cookie, flavour, colour, texture and shelf life in a way you can’t cheat with any ingredient or shortcut. Read in post for more information.

• 12 – 24 hrs – Recommended, for pure cookie nirvana.
• 24 – 48 hours – As above, pure perfection
• 3 – 5 days – Diminishing returns, better to freeze at 12 hours, then thaw on demand.
• 5 hrs – My absolute minimum. If I can’t do this, I make Oatmeal Browned Butter Cookies
• 8 hrs – My target minimum, deemed “company worthy”

Cookie emergencies:

• No chilli time – Doesn’t work, cookie spreads way too much
• 1 hr minimum chill time – increase cornflour by 2 teaspoons, follow recipe. It’s not as perfect as a 12 hr chill but it’s still much better than your average cookie!
• Emergency choc chip cookies, regular size, easier, faster, no chill time here.

7. Oven temp is only 10°C different here for fan v conventional. See FAQ.

8. Bake one tray at a time for standard Australian ovens (60cm) though if you have a large one (90cm) you can bake 2 trays at the same time. 

9. Decorate choc chips – lightly press in to the surface or just rest on surface (chocolate will melt and adhere).

10. Different cup measures in different countries – Recipe works fine as written with no alterations needed except Japan, please use the weights. See FAQ for more information.

11. Storage – exceptional shelf life. Excellent for 2 days, still near excellent on day 3, still great days 4 and 5. Store in an airtight container in the pantry.

Freezing – Uncooked dough discs can be frozen after the 12 hour fridge time. Bake from frozen per recipe (cookies are a bit thicker), or I prefer to thaw overnight in the fridge than bake per recipe. See FAQ for more details.

Nutrition – Let’s just say it’s more than water, less than a Big Mac Meal (I hope!😂). Will update shortly, when I’m ready to face reality.

Troubleshooting

I will continue to add more to this Troubleshooting section as I start seeing questions coming through from people who have made the recipe.

Life of Dozer

The photo I chose to show you:

Though every other shot was more like this:

Because he wasn’t interested in attention. THIS is what he was after!

(And plenty of it, he got, unsurprisingly!)

PS It’s yakitori, we like doing yakitori nights for get togethers! The recipe is here on my mother’s website, RecipeTin Japan.

The post The Chocolate Chip Cookies of my dreams appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.

Nutella Stuffed Cookies. Yes, they are as naughty and indulgent as they look. But so much easier to make than you think! No electric beater, just a wooden spoon. That moment when the melty Nutella floods in your mouth…. send help!

Nutella Stuffed Cookies

This is no ordinary cookie.

This is a cookie that is sinfully decadent, and makes no apology for it.

I feel like the photos tell you everything you need to know to do a run to the grocery shop so you can make these immediately…

But just in case you’re one of those sensible people who thinks before they act (what is life like that, I wonder? 🤔), this is what you’re in for: a soft baked, buttery chocolate chip cookie with beautiful caramel undertones that’s chewy on the inside and just the right amount of crispiness on the edges.

Oh, and it’s stuffed with Nutella. In case you missed that part!! 😂

I love how it looks so innocent when you pull it out of the oven. Just another chocolate chip cookie…

…then you break it open and BOOM! In-your-face-melty decadence!

Are you ready to be shocked how straightforward this is to make? Let’s do this!

SPOILER: It involves frozen discs of Nutella that are buried inside cookie dough.

Ingredients

Here’s what you need to make these Nutella Stuffed Cookies.

1. Nutella

Shocking. I know. 😂

In theory, this recipe will work with any spread that you want to see oozing out of a chocolate chip cookie as long as it will freeze so it can be wrapped with the cookie dough. Immediate thoughts that come to mind:

• Nut-free and other chocolate spreads

• Non Nutella-brand hazelnut spread

• Peanut butter

• Biscoff spread (I know Biscoff is having a moment!)

2. EVERYTHING ELSE

The ingredients are simple. But there’s some chatter below for fellow baking nerds, interested in things like why are you using baking soda instead of baking powder? What’s with that smidge of honey? There is logic behind everything!

• Flour – Just regular plain / all-purpose flour. Don’t use self-raising flour for this cookie, the amount of built in baking powder is too much.

• Brown sugar rather than white sugar, for better flavour and colour.

• Unsalted butter, melted – This is the fat in this recipe, to give these cookies a lovely buttery flavour. If you only have salted, leave out the salt.

• Baking soda (bi-carbonate soda) – This is the leavening agent that makes the cookies rise a bit so they aren’t dense and hard. I use baking soda rather than baking powder for these cookies because baking soda makes things brown faster in the oven which we need for these cookies to have an appealing golden colour and lovely crisp edges in the short 12 minute baking time.

  Baking powder will work, if that’s all you’ve got, and they will still be delicious (I mean, Nutella! Choc chips! Butter!). But expect your cookies to be paler and a little less chewy, and they lose the chewy texture over the next few days. You’ll need to use 1 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder.

• Honey – Baking science at work here! Just 1 teaspoon of honey keeps these cookies moist and chewy inside rather than becoming “cakey” or dry. The honey also makes the cookies colour faster so they aren’t pale (same point above for baking soda).

  Because we only need so little, you can’t taste it at all. Substitute with corn syrup (it serves the same purpose). Maple syrup and other sweet liquids won’t work. It’s fine to leave it out (it’s not a big deal), just expect the cookies to be a little paler and they will lose freshness faster in the days to come.

• Large egg at room temperature – An egg around 55 grams / 2 ounces that has been out of the fridge for around 30 minutes so it is not fridge cold.

  If your egg is a bit larger than 60g / 2.1 oz in the shell, I would feel better if you cracked, whisked, then measured out 2 1/2 tablespoons of egg. Note: Normally I am not so pedantic, even in most cake recipes. But cookies can be a little temperamental and these ones spread a fair bit (you’ll see below), and I worry if your egg is too big then your cookies might spread too much. See here for more information about why the size and temperature of eggs for baking matters.

• Chocolate chips – Because it didn’t feel right not having choc chips as well as Nutella. 😂 I would’ve used Nutella chips if such a thing existed!

• Vanilla extract – For flavour. Vanilla extract is better than vanilla essence which is imitation.

• Salt – To bring out the flavours. Standard baking practice these days, to add a bit of salt. It doesn’t taste salty at all, we only use a very small amount.

How to make Nutella Stuffed Cookies

1. Cookie dough

The cookie dough takes about 1 1/2 hours to firm up in the fridge while the Nutella discs take 1 hour. So we’ll make the cookie dough first.

1. Mix dry – Put the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl and mix to combine. Set aside.

2. Barely melted butter – Microwave the butter in a heatproof bowl for 30 seconds on high or until it is not quite melted. Then mix with a rubber spatula to finish melting the butter. It will be “milky” / cloudy rather than clear yellow oil (ie when butter is fully melted) which is what we want. It makes the cookies taste a little more buttery.

   Don’t fret if you don’t quite hit the mark here, it is not the end of the world, it’s just one of those extra little touches the slightly improves a recipe. 🙂

3. Cookie dough – Add the sugar, vanilla and honey, and mix to combine. Then mix the egg in. It should look like a thick caramel! Lastly, add the flour and mix it in.

4. Chill to firm – The cookie dough will be quite loose at this stage, too sticky to roll into balls. And probably a bit warm. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for 1 1/2 hours until it is firm enough to roll into a log.

2. frozen nutella discs

While the cookie dough is chilling, move onto the frozen Nutella discs.

1. Dollop 1 slightly heaped tablespoon of Nutella on a paper lined tray. Spread into ~8mm/ 1/3″thick rounds. Don’t make it too thin, else it seems to disappear when it melts inside the cookie! 

2. Freeze for 1 hour or until they are firm enough to pick up.

3. cut

1. Log – Once chilled, the cookie dough should be firm enough to roll in your hands. Roll it out into a 18cm / 7″ log.

2. Then cut into 10 equal pieces.

   Why a log? Because I find it faster to cut into equal pieces, plus once cut the pieces are ready-made for wrapping around the Nutella discs. Not need to fiddle with scooping and rolling balls, and pinching a bit of dough from here and there to make them all the same size!

4. stuff

1. Flatten the dough until it is about 5mm / 0.2″ thin (I do this on the lined tray).

2. Press a frozen Nutella disc in upside down (upside down = flat side ends up down when we flip the cookie).

3. Bundle and seal – Gather the cookie dough around the Nutella disc, then seal to enclose the Nutella.

4. Flip and shape – Turn the cookie upside down (so the gathered side is down and smooth side now faces up). Then shape the cookie into 1.5cm/ 3/5″ thick rounds.

   Nutella sealing – It’s ok for Nutella to poke out on the surface but make sure the underside and sides are sealed else the Nutella will run out when baking.

5. Top with chocolate chips and lightly press them in. Do the sides as well, else you’ll end up with a naked ring around the border of the cookie!

   PS Mixing chocolate into the dough makes it more difficult to enclose the Nutella disc with dough as the choc chips get in the way.

6. Ready for baking! Make sure the cookies are 8cm / 3″ apart, to allow sufficient room for spreading and air flow circulation.

5. BAKE & COOL

1. Bake both the trays at the same time for 12 minutes in a 180°C/350°F (160°C fan) oven. The cookies are done when the edges are golden and the surface is pale golden. The middle might look a little undercooked which is ok because they will finish cooking in the next step.

2. Cool the cookies for 10 minutes on the tray. They will finish cooking with the residual heat. Then transfer onto a cooling rack (so the underside doesn’t steam and go soggy) and let them cool for at least 5 minutes before you grab one!

15 Minute Molten Moment

I’ll let you in on a little secret. There is a small window at which these cookies are at their absolute peak.

The moment in question is the 15 minute mark out of the oven. This is the split second when the cookies have had just enough time for the edges to set so you can pick it up without collapsing into a warm gooey-mess (albeit a delicious one), the Nutella has cooled enough so you won’t get third degree burns on your chin but it’s still at melty perfection.

If you can sink your teeth into one of these cookies at that moment, it is an unmatched cookie experience.

Enjoy without guilt. Diet starts Monday! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

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Nutella Stuffed Cookies

Recipe video above. These have a chewy/soft centre, crispy edge and melty Nutella in the middle that floods in your mouth. It is as good and as naughty as it sounds, and dangerously simple to make!

Try to eat it exactly 15 minutes out of the oven. It's still warm but the edges have crisped up just enough so you can hold the cookie without sagging, and the Nutella is still molten inside. That is an unmatched cookie eating experience!

Course Baking, Cookies

Cuisine Western

Keyword nutella cookie, nutella stuffed cookies, stuffed cookie

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time 12 minutes minutes

Chilling / freezing 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 2 hours hours 7 minutes minutes

Servings 10 cookies

Calories 361cal

Author Nagi

Ingredients

• 10 tbsp (slightly heaped) Nutella or other chocolate-nut spread
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (or chopped 70% dark chocolate)

Cookie dough:

• 1 1/3 cups plain flour / all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda (bi-carbonate soda, Note 1)
• 1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
• 120g/ 8 tbsp unsalted butter , cut into 1 cm / 1/2″ cubes (fridge cold is fine)
• 2/3 cup (tightly packed) brown sugar (Note 2)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp honey or corn syrup (Note 3)
• 1 large egg (55g / 2 oz), at room temperature (Note 4)

Cups – Metric

Instructions

Abbreviated recipe (hand-mixed):

• Mix flour, baking soda and salt. In separate bowl, barely melt butter, mix to finish melting. Mix in vanilla, honey and sugar, then egg. Mix in flour, fridge 1.5 hrs. Freeze Nutella discs 1 hr. Enclose Nutella with dough, press in choc chips, bake 12 -13 min at 180°C/350°F (160°C fan). Cool 10 min on tray, then at least 5 min on rack. Attack!

Cookie dough:

• Mix dry – Mix the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl, set aside.
• Barely melt butter – Using a heatproof bowl, microwave the butter for 30 seconds on high until mostly but not fully melted, then stir with a rubber spatula to finish melting it so it's "milky" rather than clear yellow oil (Note 5).
• Wet mixture – Add the sugar, vanilla and honey, stir until combined. Add the egg and stir until combined, it should look like caramel.
• Chill dough 1 1/2 hours – Add the flour mixture and stir until combined. The mixture should be slightly warm and too soft to roll into balls. Cover and refrigerate for 1 1/2 hours to cool and firm up enough to roll into a log.

Frozen Nutella mounds:

• Line a small tray with baking paper / parchment paper. Dollop Nutella on tray and spread to ~8mm/ 1/3"thick rounds. Freeze for 1 hour until firm enough to pick up.

Stuffing and baking:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan-forced). Lightly grease 2 trays then line with paper.
• Cut dough – Scrape dough out and shape/roll into a ~18cm / 7" log. Cut into 10 equal pieces.
• Stuff – Flatten cookie dough, press in frozen Nutella, bundle dough up around it to enclose and seal. Flip upside down so the smooth side is facing up. Shape into ~1.5cm/ 3/5" thick rounds, press choc chips into the surface and sides. Repeat to make 10 cookies, 5 on each tray, 8cm/3" apart to allow for spreading (Note 6 working tips).
• Bake both trays at the same time for 12 – 13 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are golden, the centre is pale golden and just set (ie not raw melty dough).
• Cool & swoon – Remove from the oven and leave on the tray for 10 minutes (finish cooking / set). Transfer to a rack, cool for at least another 5 minutes. Grab, bite, swoon. That moment when the melty Nutella floods into your mouth…..

Notes

Makes 10 generous cookies about 10cm / 4″ wide.

1. Baking soda substitute – 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, though cookie will be paler and not quite as chewy. See FAQ to geek out on this.

2. Measuring sugar – If using cup measuring, be sure to pack the sugar in fairly tightly and level the surface (if you don’t pack it in, you will be short and cookie texture + flavour will be altered).

3. Smidge of honey = baking trick! Helps the cookie brown faster so it’s a lovely caramel colour, and makes the cookie more moist inside. Corn syrup works the same. Don’t have either? Leave out, cookie will be a bit paler. See FAQ for more information.

4. Egg from a carton labelled “large eggs” which are 600-660g for a dozen, so each egg is around 50 – 55g / 2 oz. Jumbo eggs (800g a dozen) or larger may make the cookie spread too much so crack, whisk, measure out and use 2 1/2 tablespoons (see Ingredients section in post for more information).

5. Barely melted butter has a pale yellow “milky” colour yields more buttery tasting cookies than butter that is fully melted and more glassy clear yellow on top (dairy “milky” part settles on the bottom). But recipe works fine with fully melted butter so don’t stress!

6. Forming cookies – Keep unused Nutella in the freezer and dough in fridge as required, so they don’t melt/get sticky. Or, work fast! 🙂 My method: think, money bags! I gather then flip upside down so the smooth side is up. Some Nutella poking out the top is ok, but ensure it’s fully sealed on the sides and base (else it will leak everywhere).

7. Different measures between countries – There are slight differences in cup and measuring spoon sizes between countries. For most recipes, the difference is not enough to affect the outcome. For baking recipes, it can be the difference between success and failure. This is recipe is fine as written wherever you are except Japan, please use weights only, not cups. See FAQ.

Storage – Still excellent 3 days later, crispy edges and chewy/soft middle. Store in airtight container in the pantry once fully cool.

Nutrition per cookie. I’m shocked. I thought it would be much higher! *Reaches into the cookie jar for another….*

Nutrition

Calories: 361cal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 41mg | Sodium: 143mg | Potassium: 185mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 309IU | Vitamin C: 0.05mg | Calcium: 68mg | Iron: 2mg

Life of Dozer

Coming to you live from Canberra with Dozer! Canberra is a 3 hour drive from where I live and I’m here for a book signing event. I’m staying in a dog friendly hotel – here we are, making ourselves at ohm in the hotel lounge!

And here is Dozer getting chauffeured to Canberra. To make the trip as comfortable as possible for him, I hauled his bed into the car which is so big, it almost takes up the entire boot with the rear seas folded down. I mean, I don’t need room for a bag. Who needs a change of clothes?! 😂

And the hotel breakfast situation. No dogs allowed!!

More next week! Time to make myself respectable for the book signing today! (Westfield Belconnen, 12-2pm. If you miss out because the line gets cut, don’t worry! Come back at 2pm for a quick photo and a signed book plate to stick in your book! – N x ❤️)

The post Nutella Stuffed Cookies appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.

These traditional Greek Cretan biscuits are here courtesy of Irene, the very Greek mother of my very Greek hairdresser. Does it surprise anybody that I spend most of the time at the salon discussing food with everybody and anybody? 😂

Meet Irene, beloved local Greek grandmother and baker

If you love buttery shortbread biscuits and almond cookies, you will adore today’s Greek Cretan Biscuits. But first, I want you to meet Irene!

My hairdresser Deange Hair is run by two Greek sisters, Angela and Diane, in a small shop attached to their parents’ house. On any given day, the salon buzzes with customers getting their hair done as they nibble homemade cookies while young children dart around the shop. Irene, the family matriarch, holds court with clients as she interjects with “advice” for her daughters as they work with delicious aromas wafting in from her kitchen.

You might even catch her doing a weekly audit of her biscuit sales to ensure her daughters aren’t shortchanging her. “Make sure this money goes to your mum!” I sternly remind Angela and Diane every time I buy some. 😂

It’s a wonderfully familiar scene that provides much amusement to regulars.

Of all the homemade cookies I’ve tried (and I’m pretty sure I’ve tried them all!), the Greek Cretan biscuits have been my favourite. Thank you Irene for sharing your recipe!

Ingredients in Irene’s Cretan Biscuits

Here’s what you need to make Irene’s Cretan Biscuits.

biscuit dough

• Blanched almonds – These are skinless almonds that have been blanched (did the name give it away?? 😂) meaning they have been briefly boiled in water so the skin comes off easily. These almonds are softer and have a more subtle almond flavour than regular roasted almonds. They are also chosen for aesthetic reasons when you don’t want the dark brown almond skin in foods, like in these Cretan Cookies.

  Can you use regular almonds with skins? Yep, you sure can and the flavour will be similar. But prepare yourself for little dark brown bits inside your cookies!

• Butter – Gives these cookies the divine buttery flavour reminiscent of shortbread cookies. I prefer to use unsalted then add my own amount of salt. But if you only have salted that’s fine, just skip the salt in the recipe.

• Flour – Just plain / all-purpose flour. Note: Irene’s original recipe called for self raising flour. See FAQ for what and why I deviated from her original recipe!

• Baking powder – This is what makes the cookies rise into those wonderful little mounds! ⚠️ Don’t substitute with baking soda (bi-carbonate soda), the cookies will taste metallic. Also, if your baking powder has been lying dormant for months in your pantry, check it’s still alive before starting the recipe (instructions here, it’s dead easy).

• Egg – Use a “large egg” which is sold in cartons labelled as “large eggs”. They are ~50g/2 oz each in shells. Eggs in a carton are not all the same weight because those darn hens, they’re so selfish, how dare they not lay eggs exactly the same weight every time! The point of providing a size guide is so you don’t use a gigantic ostrich egg or tiny quail egg….the recipe will not work! 🙂

  Got jumbo eggs? Crack, whisk, measure out 45g / 2 1/2 tbsp. (More information here).

  Make sure your egg is at room temperature, not fridge cold. else you will struggle to get it mixed into the butter properly.

• Vanilla extract – For flavour. Vanilla extract trumps vanilla essence (imitation). I wouldn’t use pricey vanilla beans in a recipe like this!

Decorating

• Egg white – Used to brush the top of the biscuits to make the almond flakes stick. Use the yolk plus leftover egg whites for your morning scrambled eggs or omelette!

• Almond flakes – For decorating the surface. Not critical, but a nice to have for both extra almond flavour plus visual. I would plough ahead with this recipe if I was out!

How to make Irene’s Cretan Cookies

This is a straightforward cookie recipe. However, this section has a fair amount of descriptions so even novice bakers can have confidence making this recipe. For pro bakers, head straight to the abbreviated directions on the recipe card below!

1. crushed ALMOND BITs

1. Roast almonds – Pop the almonds in the oven for 7 minutes to toast them lightly. This will intensity the almond flavour but won’t make the almonds too brown (we want them to stay white so it’s invisible in the cookies).

   Roasting is not an essential step because the cookies are lovely as is. But it does bring out the almond flavour. It’s especially good to do this if you are using almonds a little on the old side. 🙂

2. Bash or blitz – Use a food processor or a ziplock bag and rolling pin to bash the almonds into little crumbs. We’re not going for finely ground almonds here. If we were, the recipe would use almond meal instead! I describe the pieces as “coarse sand plus some larger bits” because whichever method you use, it’s hard to get the almonds all uniform in size. And that’s what we want, because it’s actually really nice to have little bits of almonds in the cookies!

2. BISCUIT MIXTURE

1. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together then put them aside.

2. Cream the butter and sugar until it’s light and fluffy, like soft spreadable butter. It takes about 1 1/2 minutes on medium high.

   Tool – I prefer to use a handheld beater because you can move it around the bowl so you don’t really need to scrape the sides down. If you want to use a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment and scrape down the sides of the bowl at least twice.

3. Egg and vanilla – Then beat the egg and vanilla into the butter mixture. It might look a little curdled but don’t worry, it will come together once we add the flour.

   ⚠️ Important to ensure the egg is at room temperature as it will incorporate into the butter mixture more easily. Fridge cold egg will not mix in properly.

4. Flour mixture in 3 lots – Beat in the flour mixture in 3 lots. By this, I mean add 1/3 of the flour and beat on medium speed until the flour is just about mixed in ie some specks of white is fine, about 5 seconds with the beater. Start on low then increase the speed to medium (if you start on high there will be a flour storm!). Then repeat this twice more until all the flour is used up.

5. Crushed almonds – Then lastly, add the bashed almonds and beat until the flour is fully mixed in.

6. Finished dough – This is what it looks like. Shaggy but soft, rollable into a smooth ball.

3. MAKING THE COOKIES

Use whatever method you find easiest to roll 30 x 2 tablespoon balls (30 ml). The steps below depict the method I find to be the fastest to make even size cookies.

1. Trays – You will need 2 large baking trays. Lightly grease with butter or spray with oil then cover with baking paper (parchment paper).

2. Scoop first – Use a #40 (2 tbsp) cookie scoop to scoop and dollop the cookie dough into mounds on baking trays. You should just about get 30 cookies if you fill the scoop without air bubbles and “smear” it up the side of the bowl to level the surface.

3. Roll and flatten – Working one cookie at a time, I roll the dough into a smooth ball then slightly flatten to about 2 cm / 0.8″ thick.

   Then place the cookies 4 cm / 1.6″ apart on the trays. I do 15, being 3 rows of 5 cookies on each tray They don’t expand outwards that much but we want sufficient heat circulating around each cookie so they cook properly.

4. Almond topping – Brush the top with the egg white them place a pinch of almond flakes on top (no need to press in, egg glues them on).

5. Bake both trays together for 20 minutes or until the cookies in the middle are light golden and the ones of the edge of the tray are slightly more golden.

6. Cool 5 minutes on the tray then transfer onto a rack to cool for at least a further 10 minutes before attacking! (Hot cookies = fragile / mouth burns. Either situation is not ideal). While typically eaten at room temperature once cooled, they really are extra special when warm and fresh out of the oven.

Matters of storage – and the most important thing

Once fully cool, store in an airtight container in the pantry, not the fridge. They stay fresh for 5 days and still very, very good at 7 days, making them excellent for…..oh, I don’t know. Selling at the counter of your hair salon? 😂

While shelf life information is useful, I know what you’re all waiting for – Irene’s review of my Cretan Biscuits! Very happy to report that she gave them a big thumbs up. 👍🏻 PHEW!!! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

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Greek Cretan Biscuits (almond cookies)

Recipe video above. A recipe for traditional Greek almond cookies, given to me by Irene, the proudly Greek mother of my Greek hairdresser! Tastes like almond shortbread cookies. Love the mound-like shape, feels substantial biting into it.

See FAQ about difference in measures between countries, no need to tweak this recipe, works as written.

Servings 30 cookies

Calories 144cal

Author Nagi

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup (100g) blanched almonds (Note 1)
• 2 1/2 cups plain flour (all-purpose flour)
• 4 tsp baking powder
• One pinch cooking salt / kosher salt
• 250g/ 2 sticks unsalted butter , softened (Note 2)
• 3/4 cups white sugar (or caster sugar)
• 1 large egg , at room temperature (~50g / 2oz in shell)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Almond decoration:

• 1 egg white , lightly whisked (use leftover for breakfast scrambled eggs!)
• 1/4 cup almond flakes

Cups – Metric

Instructions

ABBREVIATED RECIPE:

• Toast almonds 7 min at 180°C/350°F (160°C fan), cool bash or blitz. Cream butter and sugar, beat in egg and vanilla. Add dry ingredients in 3 lots, then beat in almond. Roll 30 x 2 tbsp balls (#40 scoop). Slightly flatten, brush with egg white, top with flakes. Bake 20 min until light golden.

FULL RECIPE:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan-forced). Lightly grease (or spray with oil) 2 large trays and line with baking paper (parchment paper).

Almond bits:

• Roasting (optional, Note 1) – Roast the almonds for 7 minutes on a small tray, shaking once halfway. Cool almonds on the tray.
• Bash/blitz the almonds using a food food processor or ziplock bag with a rolling pin until they resemble coarse sand with some small lumps (little almonds bits in the cookies are nice). (Note 3)

Cookie dough:

• Dry ingredients – Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
• Cream butter and sugar – In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar using a handheld beater until it is soft and fluffy, scraping down the sides as needed, ~1 1/2 minutes on medium high. (Note 2 stand mixer) Add the egg and vanilla, then beat until mixed in. (Note 4)
• Add the flour mixture in 3 lots, beating in between until the flour is mostly mixed in (some visible white flour is ok). Start the beater on low and increase to medium, about 7 sec each go.
• Add the crushed almonds then beat on medium until you can no longer see flour.
• Form cookies – Roll 30 x 2 tablespoon balls (#40 cookie scoop) then slightly flatten to about 2 cm / 0.8" thick. (Note 5 for my method). Place the cookies 4 cm / 1.6" apart on the trays. Brush the top with egg white them place a pinch of almond flakes on top (no need to press in, egg glues them on).
• Bake both trays together for 20 minutes or until the cookies in the middle are light golden and the ones of the edge of the tray are slightly more golden.
• Cool 5 minutes on the tray then transfer onto a rack to fully cool. Attack!

Notes

1. Blanched almonds are the skinless almonds sold in packets labelled “blanched almonds” (I know, shocking! 😉 ) Almonds with skins on works but you’ll get little brown bits in the cookies. Roasting intensifies the almond flavour but it’s not recipe critical.

Using almond meal instead – It’s finer and more absorbent so I’d use less, around 75g,  say 1/2 cup. It won’t be quite the same though as you won’t get little almond bits in the cookies, but I’m sure it will still be tasty.

2. If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment and scrape down sides as needed. For this recipe, I find a handheld beater easier because you can move it around so probably don’t need to scrape down the sides.

3. Almond bashing – We’re not aiming for fine almond meal / almond flour here, we want lots of tiny little bits!

4. If the mixture looks a little split when you add the egg that’s ok, it will come together when you add the flour.

5. My cookie forming method: scoop and dollop all the dough onto trays, then roll and flatten. I find this the fastest way to make even sized cookies. (I also do this with meatballs!)

Store cookies in an airtight container for 5 days (once fully cool). Do not refrigerate. 

Nutrition per cookie.

Nutrition

Calories: 144cal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 23mg | Sodium: 5mg | Potassium: 97mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 216IU | Calcium: 37mg | Iron: 1mg

For cookie monsters

Chocolate Chip Cookies (Soft!)

Melting Moments

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (Soft & Chewy)

Anzac Biscuits

Italian Almond Cookies (Gluten free biscuits, Ricciarelli)

World’s Best Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

Cookies

Life of Dozer

Dozer’s raincoat. Cute and practical! From Surf dog Australia. No that is not an affiliate link. 🙂

The post Irene’s Cretan biscuits (Greek almond cookies) appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.

Jam Drops! Vanilla shortbread biscuits with a dollop of jam baked in the middle, these old-fashioned favourites are also known as Thumbprint Cookies. Just like your nana used to make them! Though I think I’m a little more generous with the jam. 🙂

Jam drops

You know how people write about how there’s sooo many things you can bake with just flour, sugar, butter and eggs, but when you need to bake something right now without going to the shops, you just can’t think what to make?

Of course, it has to be something quick and easy, universally adored by everyone, and bonus points if looks pretty.

Well, the next time you’re in that situation, Jam Drops are your answer! (Don’t try to tell me you don’t have a jar of jam in your pantry…). This old school favourite is a buttery shortbread cookie with a dollop of jam baked in the middle, it’s a combination that just works, is simple to make and loved by all. Why aren’t we making Jam Drops more often??

Ingredients in Jam Drops

Here’s what you need to make Jam Drops. The cookie is a cross between melt-in-your-mouth buttery shortbread cookies and classic vanilla biscuits. I blend the two because I feel like shortbread cookies are a little too sandy-crumbly for this shape of cookie, whereas vanilla cookies are a little crisper than what I want.

• Jam – Any flavour you want! Strawberry and raspberry are common (strawberry is pictured), apricot is also popular. Whatever you use, and especially if it’s from the fridge, give it a good mix beforehand to loosen it up so it pools nicely in the dent. (Microwave gently if necessary but be sure it’s at room temperature before you use it, else it will melt the butter).

• Unsalted butter, softened – Use unsalted rather than salted butter, as the amount of salt in butter varies from brand to brand. Soften it to room temperature so it can be creamed – around 17-20°C is ideal (63-68°F), if you want to be exact! If it gets too soft, it will be greasy, melted, sloppy mess.

• Flour – Just regular plain flour / all-purpose flour. Don’t use self raising flour (ie with baking powder built in), it will make the cookies puff up and get too soft.

• Sugar – Caster sugar / superfine sugar is ideal here because the grains are finer so it ensures you don’t end up with any undissolved sugar in the cookie. However, regular sugar / granulated sugar works fine too.

• Vanilla extract – For lovely vanilla flavour. Use vanilla extract rather than imitation vanilla essence (fake isn’t as good). I personally don’t use vanilla bean or vanilla bean paste because it’s more expensive – I reserve it for creme brûlée, creme anglaise, that sort of thing!

• Egg – Just one large egg, which is an industry standard weight of 50-55g/2oz per egg (sold in cartons labelled “large eggs” which are 600g / 1.2lb for a dozen).

• Salt – Just 1/4 teaspoon, to bring out the vanilla and buttery flavour in the cookies. Well accepted standard baking practice these days.

How to make Jam Drop Biscuits

Here’s how to make Jam Drops. Depending on your rolling speed, they take around 40 minutes from start to finish (5 minutes dough mixing, 21 minutes rolling/assembling, 14 minutes oven).

1. Make the cookie dough

1. Cream Butter and Sugar – Beat butter and sugar until it’s creamy. It takes about 1 1/2 minutes on medium speed. Initially it will be a bit crumbly but then it will come together. Use a handheld electric beater or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (not the whisk, aerates butter too much + annoying to clean). Scrape down the sides as needed.

2. Finish dough – Add the vanilla, egg and salt. Beat for about 20 seconds until it’s incorporated. At first the mixture will seem a bit split but it will come together (and it comes together more when the flour is added). Add the flour then beat until you no longer see white flour.

3. Crumbly dough – The mixture will be crumbly but if you grab a bit, you will see that it presses together into a dough.

4. See? 🙂

2. Forming cookies

I have a very specific method to shape jam drop cookies so they don’t crack. The typical method is to roll all the balls, put them on the tray then make an indent in the middle which also flattens them slightly. When you do the indent, it makes the cookies crack. You can fix it by pressing the edges together but honestly, I just find it easier to do this roll > flatten > indent method, working one cookie at a time (plus the cookies come out so neat!).

1. Measure – Tightly pack a 1 tablespoon measure or a size 60 cookie scoop (15 ml / 0.5 oz) with the crumbly dough, very slightly mounded rather than absolutely flat.

2. Tap it out onto your hand.

3. Scrunch / press the crumbly mixture to form a pliable dough.

4. Roll into a smooth, crack free ball.

5. Press into a 1.25 cm / 1/2″ thick disc.

6. Indent the cookie using your thumb. (Thumbprint cookies!) My dents are probably a little more generous in width than most, to hold more jam (most recipes seem to use around 1/4 teaspoon per cookie, I use 1/2 heaped teaspoon).

7. Repeat with remaining cookies working one cookie at a time. It works best to flatten and indent a freshly rolled cookie ball which is slightly warm on the surface from your hand as it is less prone to cracking.

8. Place cookies on a baking paper lined tray (parchment paper)*. Leave 3.5cm / 1.5″ space between each. They only spread about 10% but we want the air circulation so they bake evenly.

* Not the end of the world if you don’t have paper, you can bake on an un-greased tray as they won’t stick because they are so buttery. The paper protects the base of the cookie slightly so it cooks a little more evenly.

3. FILLING & BAKING

1. Fill the indent of each cookie with jam. Make sure the jam is nice and loose so it oozes into the dent rather than sitting upright in a stiff dollop (which mightn’t properly spread in the oven).

   ⚠️ Don’t be too greedy with the jam! Fill so it’s level with the surface of the cookie. It will spread and we don’t want overflow. Also, you can top the jam up after they come out of the oven, if you feel they need it.

2. Ready to bake! We will bake both trays at the same time.

3. Bake for 14 minutes, until they are light golden around the edges and pale golden on the surface. Rotate the trays and switch the shelves* at the 10 minute make, so they cook evenly.

   * By this, I mean move the tray on the lower shelf onto the top shelf and the tray on the top shelf onto the lower shelf.

4. Cool the cookies on the tray, during which time the underside will finish cooking. Then grab and devour!

Jam Drops will last for 5 to 7 days in an airtight container in the pantry, though they are at their best in the first 2 – 3 days after baking. After this, the jam starts to soften the cookie a touch, I find.

And lastly, I’m dropping in another FAQ section for this recipe! It’s a new function on the website that I started using for recent recipes. A neater way to include extra information to answer questions, as well as a place for me to write (yet hide) excessive volumes of information about recipe testing and development! Because sometimes (ok, often), I have a lot to say about a recipe but I don’t want to clutter the post with my outpourings. So I have to exercise severe restraint.

No more! I can chatter away and hide it in the collapsable section. I love it. – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

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Jam Drops (Thumbprint Cookies)

Recipe video above. Buttery vanilla shortbread biscuits filled with jam, made the old fashioned way – because you can't improve on perfection! I'm a little more generous on the jam than typical recipes, and insist on baking the jam into the cookie rather than filling the dent in afterwards (it's just not the same!).

I also insist on making this the traditional way using your thumb to make the dent (hence the recipe name Thumbprint Cookies). Use any flavoured jam you want, though strawberry and raspberry are popular choices (strawberry is pictured), apricot is also common.

Course Sweet Baking

Cuisine Western

Keyword jam drops, thumbprint cookies

Prep Time 26 minutes minutes

Cook Time 14 minutes minutes

Cooling 15 minutes minutes

Servings 28

Calories 139cal

Author Nagi

Ingredients

• 225g (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup caster sugar / superfine sugar (regular/granulated sugar ok too, Note 1)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg , at room temperature (~50-55g/2oz)
• 2 1/2 cups plain flour (all-purpose flour)
• 1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
• 1/2 cup strawberry or raspberry jam , or any other flavour, mixed well to loosen (Note 2)

Cups – Metric

Instructions

Abbreviated steps for baking pros:

• Cream butter and sugar. Beat in vanilla, egg and salt, then beat in flour. Roll 3cm/1.2" balls (#60 cookie scoop), flatten, indent, fill. Bake 14 minutes 180°C/350°F (160°C fan), cool on tray.

Full recipe steps

• Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan-forced). Line 2 trays with baking paper/parchment paper.
• Cream butter and sugar – Beat the butter and sugar until creamy – about 1 1/2 minutes on medium speed using an electric beater or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
• Crumbly dough – Add the vanilla, egg and salt, then beat for ~20 seconds until incorporated. Add the flour and salt, then beat until you cannot see white flour. The mixture will be crumbly.
• Form cookies – Measure out 1 tablespoon of mixture, very tightly packed (#60 cookie scoop). Tap out onto your hand, scrunch in your first to press into a dough then roll into a smooth ball (3cm/1.2"). Flatten into a 1.25cm / 0.5" thick disc then use your thumb to make an indent. (This method avoids cracks, see Note 3).
• Fill – Place cookie on the tray, and repeat to make 25 – 28 cookies, leaving 3.5cm / 1.5" between each. Fill the indent with slightly heaped 1/2 teaspoon jam (Note 4).
• Bake for 14 minutes (both trays at the same time), or until the edges are light golden and the surface is pale golden. Rotate and switch the tray shelves at the 10 minute mark, so they cook evenly.
• Cool fully on the tray (the base will finish cooking). Then grab and devour!

Notes

1. Caster sugar (superfine sugar) is finer than regular sugar so it bakes it a wee bit better in stiff doughs like this, I find. However, regular white sugar works fine too. Brown sugar can be substituted but the cookie will be softer and a little more golden.

2. Loosen jam by microwaving briefly then stirring vigorously, so it sort of thickly oozes when dolloped into the dent rather than a lump of jam (might not spread when baked). But make sure it’s not hot when you fill the cookies (will make butter in cookies melt = bad)

Apricot is also another popular jam flavour. Try a mix so you have lovely colours!

3. Stop crackage – Roll > flatten > indent each cookie one at a time, as you go, as the dough is slightly warm and pliable, so less prone to breaking. (Rather than rolling all, putting on tray, then indenting them all at the same time – dough surface dries out / goes slightly cold = crackage)

4. Jam filling – Though it’s tempting, don’t be greedy. The jam spreads slightly in the oven and you might get overflow. Restrain now, and you can top up later.

Different measures – Cup sizes differ slightly between the US (1 cup = 226ml) and the rest of the world (250 ml). While the difference is not enough to make a difference in most recipes, for some baking recipes it can mean the difference between success and failure. I made this recipe using US cups, Australian cups and the weights I’ve provided and there was no difference in the end result.

Storage – Biscuits will keep for a week in an airtight container though they are at their best for the first 2 to 3 days (jam starts to soften base). Dough can also be made 2 days ahead and refrigerated, then bring to room temperature (else it’s impossible to roll balls). You could even form the cookies, refrigerate (covered in cling wrap), then fill with jam just prior to baking (factor in extra baking time for cold tray).

Nutrition per cookie, using 28 cookies.

Nutrition

Calories: 139cal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 23mg | Sodium: 77mg | Potassium: 21mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 209IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 1mg

For cookie monsters

Chocolate Chip Cookies (Soft!)

Melting Moments

Byron Bay White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (Soft & Chewy)

Brown Butter Oatmeal Choc Chip Cookies (easy!)

Italian Almond Cookies (Gluten free biscuits, Ricciarelli)

Shortbread Cookies

Outrageous Triple Chocolate Cookies

Cookies

Life of Dozer

Playing a few roles today:

• Shoot assistant

• Cookie-sitter

• Aroma diffusor (his natural body odour. I want to tell you he smells like roses but it’s suspiciously like duck poo again).

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