Tatum McCraw's Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Photo by Kathy Pitout Photography
“This Chocolate recipe is special to Jackie Cameron School of Wine student, Tatum McCraw, because it delivered the first cookies that her family ‘passed’. They agreed she’d finally hit the jackpot.”
Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Ganache Drizzle
Makes: 12 - 22 cookies (depending on the size you want to make)
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Ingredients:
115g unsalted butter, softened
100g brown sugar
50g caster sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 tsp (5ml) vanilla extract
150g Champagne Valley plain flour or cake flour
1/4 tsp (1.25ml) Oryx salt
1/2 tsp (2.5ml) baking powder
150g dark chocolate chips
Method
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter with a whisk. Once the butter is smooth and soft, whisk in both the brown sugar and the caster sugar. Whisk for 3-4 minutes, until light in colour and fluffy.
Then whisk in the egg, scrapping down the sides of the bowl as you go to make sure that the mixture is fully incorporated. Once the egg is evenly mixed into the mixture, add in the vanilla extract and beat till well incorporated. Set aside.
In a separate medium sized bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder.
Then gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture with a wooden spoon until fully mixed and just combined. Then fold in the chocolate chips until they are evenly incorporated.
Place the dough in cling film and wrap tightly in a ball shape. Chill in the fridge for 2-3 hours, or overnight, until firm.
Once firm, preheat your oven to 180C. Make sure the middle shelf is clear and ready then line 2 baking trays with baking/ silicone paper and set aside.
Get dough from the fridge and weigh out small balls of dough, weighing between 30g and 45g (depending on the size you want). The biscuits in the picture weighed 30g.
Place the dough balls on the baking sheets at least 5cm apart. The dough balls will slowly melt to flat disks in the oven.
Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown on the middle shelf.
Once done, remove cookies from the oven and cool them in the trays for 5 minutes and then transfer them to a plate or wire rack to cool completely.
If you desire, you can drizzle the cookies with the chocolate ganache or just have the ganache to dip the cookies in.
You can store the cookies in an airtight container for 4-5 days or freeze then for up to 8 months.
Best served with chocolate ganache drizzled over and a cup of milk to dunk them in.
Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients:
100g dark chocolate, chopped up
75ml of double cream
Method
Put the chocolate in a small mixing bowl.
In a small saucepan, heat the cream until just simmering.
Once steaming, pour the cream over the chocolate and leave to melt for around 5 minutes then stir, with a whisk, until all the chocolate and the mixture is smooth and glossy and then set aside to thicken slightly.
Drizzle over cookies with either using a spoon, fork or piping bag with a small tip cut off. (I used a piping bag).