The Spoon of Joy.

There is magic in the air with the festive season of Christmas around, the joy of decorating the Christmas Tree, the beautiful sight of the city so bright and radiant welcoming the new year! the shopping centers looking so inviting with all the Christmas goodies, but what makes this season all the more special is, that it gives us a chance to express our love and blessing to our dear ones with all the special Christmas gifts. The tradition of becoming Santa, ringing the door bells of our near and dear ones on the eve of Christmas, and leaving them guessing who is this blessing from!! This Christmas, for all my foodie near and dear ones, this Jar of  Joy to wish you all a Merry Christmas!

INGREDIENT TO GO IN THE COOKIE JAR

175 gms of plain flour,
1 tsp baking powder,
85 gms muscavado sugar,
55 gms caster sugar,
100 gms of plain chocolate chips

INSTRUCTIONS TO GO ON THE RECIPE CARD

INGREDIENTS
1 tsp vanilla extract,
1 egg beaten,
125 gms butter,

Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 5. Lightly grease two baking trays.

Mix all the ingredients from the jar, with vanilla extract, butter and egg and beat until well combined.

Place tablespoon of the mixture on the prepared baking trays, spacing them  well apart to spread during cooking. This should make approximately 15 cookies.

Bake in the pre-heated over for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Transfer the cookies to the cooling rack to cool down completely.

A beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon, on our way back home from Church, Lilies suggested lets bake some cookies, it sounded like a perfect Sunday plan for the two of us. It took less than a few minutes to decide on the ingredients before we could come home and pick our recipe to make our perfect Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies from our favourite book, The Beginners Cookbook, from Pamela Gwyther.

Chewy, gooey, crispy, crunchy, these cookies just melt in the mouth, the banana gives these cookies a rounded sweetness, and even more seasonality, and the nuts add in to another layer of flavour to the chocolate chips.


Makes about 18 Cookies 

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 15-20 Minutes

INGREDIENTS
125g/41/2 oz unsalted butter
5 tbsp demerara sugar
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/s tsp vanilla extract
1 small, ripe banana, mashed
175g/6 oz plain flour
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
pinch of salt
2 tbsp milk
115g/4 oz good-quality dark chocolate (with atleast 50% cocoa solids), roughly chopped
55 g/2 oz walnuts, chopped

You will need a mixing bowl, a wooden spoon, a cook's knife, a chopping board, a metal spoon, measuring spoons, 2 or 3 baking trays (lined with baking paper) and a cooling rack.

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars together until the mixture is pale in color and light and fluffly.

In a seperte Bowl, beat the egg and vanilla extract together.

Add the egg mixture to the butter, a little at a time, beating well between each addition.

Finally, beat in the mashed banana until the mixture is completely smooth.

In a seperate bowl, sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt and add to the mixture, carefully folding it in with a metal spoon. Stir in 2 tablespoons of milk, then fold in the chocolate and walnuts.

Drop a dessertspoon of the mixture onto the lined baking trays, spaced well apart (about 6 per sheet).

Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until lighly golden. Remove from the oven and leave them to firm up slighly before placing onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Repeat with the remaining mixture if necessary.

Store in an airtight tin a cool place for up to 1 week.