Shortbread fudge cookies

Okay, so tomorrow's goodies for work are Shortbread fudge cookies.  Why?  Because they're quick and simple. 

Ingredients:
6oz plain flour
2oz sugar (supposed to be caster sugar, I have granulated in the cupboard so it'll do)
4oz butter (I use baking block as I'm tight)
Pack of fudge pieces (The one I used was 85grams from tesco's baking section)

Steps:

1. Put the flour and sugar in a bowl.  You're supposed to sieve the flour but I never bother as I'm lazy.
2. Add the butter to the bowl.  It's easier if it's in quite small chunks.
3. Rub the butter into the mixture using your fingertips until it's like breadcrumbs.  If you don't know how, put both hands in the bowl, pick up some of the mixture, rub between your thumb and middle and fore fingers, dropping back into the bowl.  Then repeat.
4. Add the fudge pieces.  Try not to eat too many, but man are they tasty.
5. Squidge together until it forms a dough.  Think the technical term is kneading.
6. I leave it for half hour, dunno why, but it seems to help the mixture bond.  I think it has to do with the heat of my kitchen allowing the butter to melt.
7. Roll out the dough on a floured surface.  Use a cutter to cut out shapes and put on a baking tray.  I use a round one until the tray is full then a smaller one for the left overs to fill in the gaps on the tray.  Once again I use a silicon lining.
8. I like well done shortbread, so I cook it for about 20mins on gas mark 4 (200C?).  15 mins if you want it normal shortbread done-ness.
9. Leave out for 5 mins then put on wire rack.  Or eat them.

As you can see, forget about the fudge pieces, they taste awesome, but don't look pretty, and if you eat a cookie too quickly, they act like Napalm.

Why do I always add stuff to cookies?  Because it makes them delicious.  Now I'm going to watch today's Babylon 5 on Watch on catchup (Season 3 is amazing, if you haven't seen this show do.  Buy it on DVD, it's cheap and watch it.  Season 1 is so so, Season 2 is better and season 3 and 4 are amazing.  Season 5 is so so again as they were expecting it to be cancelled and then it was reprieved).

Let me know if anyone else wants cookies.

Baking and Books, well Double choc chip oatmeal cookies

So each week for work I bake some goodies and thought why not share it with you all, the recipe's come from  my mum's giant old cook book she's had for 50 years, as well as tell you about the books I've read this week, but I'll do that tomorrow, maybe.

This week I've made Double choc chip oatmeal cookies, 

The ingredients you'll need for a single batch are below, I normally double up and make loads, as you can see in the picture above!

• 4oz Sugar,
• 4oz Marg / Butter
• Tablespoon Golden syrup,
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of Soda
• 4oz self raising flour
• 4oz oats
• 100g milk choc chips
• 100g white choc chips

The steps to make this are:

1. Melt the marg or butter with the sugar and syrup over a low heat.  And yes, stir it until its melted or it'll burn.
2. Take it off the heat and mix in the flour, then the bicarb before mixing in the oats.  Why the oats last?  As they're a pain in the backside to mix, I've snapped one of my mum's wooden spoons doing it before (I blamed someone else of course)
3. Leave for about 45 mins to cool.  Why do you do this?  So the choc chips don't melt, trust me, I've made this mistake.
4. Once it's cool to the finger, mix in the choc chips.
5. Heat the oven to gas mark 4, no idea what the temp is, 200C maybe?  The tray I use has a silicon liner, why is this important?  So they don't stick and are easy to get off.  I've tried other things like baking paper but it's pretty crap.
6. Roll small balls of dough about the size of a ping pong ball, bigger for bigger cookies, smaller for smaller ones, obviously.
7. Cook for about 10 minutes.  About?  Yes, about, each oven is different, and after the oven's been doing a few batches they can be done a little less.
8. Once done, leave the tray on the side for 5 minutes.  If you don't leave them and try to take them off the tray straight away you'll fail as they'll still be too gooey.
9. Once you've waited, move them onto a wire rack to cool.
10. Repeat this until you've run out of dough.
11. Eat them.
12. Curse your weakness for failing your new years diet.

Why should you care about cooking?  Because cookies are amazing, and they're easy to make.  Plus, if you ask us nicely at most convention's we'll have a stash of cookies to help us through the day, often not eating real food but full of sugar and caffeine.  Plus, nothing goes better with a book than a cuppa and a cookie, or a quick snack during a game of Fifa or Mario Kart.  Talking of which I can't wait for the new one to come out on the Wii U (when it does I hope Robbie buys one, I know I can't afford it!).

Next week I'll either cook Chocolate flapjack or fudge shortbread cookies, if you have any preference, let us know.