Whilst I always enjoy sticking my teeth in a well-made cookie, when it comes to ingredients and particularly chocolate, I think it's important to choose ingredients made with respect for the environment and the people producing it. By this I mean buying Fair Trade and organic as much as possible.
Because the price of cocoa beans has undergone a prolonged fall in price despite a high demand for chocolate products, cocoa farmers often struggle to make a living. But through buying Fairtrade products, you can help these cocoa farmers get a fair price and a better future for their families.
So let me introduce you to a Fairtrade and Organic brand I follow since they got their first Great Taste Award in 2011 : Chocolate and Love.
Founded in 2010 by a couple of foodies who left the corporate life to create their own brand of chocolate, the range is now available in no less than 35 countries. They have won multiple Great Taste Awards for every flavour in the range (8 different bars). I still have to try their latest intriguing flavour, Pomegrenate and Almond.
The cacao, cane sugar, coffee and vanilla they use are all sourced from cooperatives certified by Fairtrade.
Now, let's get back to these cookies shall we?
As per the famous recipe from the New York Times, these cookies taste best if you make the dough at least 48 hours in advance. It might seems a bit excessive for cookies as they are usually something that you would bake on a whim. But trust me, the resting of the dough allows for the perfect balance of crunchy yet chewy cookies. And for the dunking aficionados, these cookies served warm with a glass of cold milk are fantastic. I am more a cookie & coffee combo team myself.
Recipe provided by CPH Good Food, for Fairtrade.
For 25 - 30 cookies :
- 160g butter, softened
- 275g brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 250g plain flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1⁄2 tsp. baking soda
- 1⁄2 tsp. salt
- 100g “Sea Salt Chocolate” from Chocolate and Love,
- chopped into big chunks
- 100g walnuts, coarsely chopped
- (or nuts of your choice)
- A pinch of sea salt to sprinkle
Method :
- Using an electric mixer, whisk together the butter and brown sugar for about 5 minutes, until white and creamy. Add the egg and continue mixing for another 2 minutes until combined and smooth.
- In a bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, chocolate and walnuts.
- Stir the flour-mix into the whisked butter/sugar, little by little, until just combined.
- Don’t keep stirring.
- The cookie dough now needs to rest between 4-48 hours in the fridge. Either shape the dough into a roll and wrap it in a piece of cling film or simply cover the bowl and place it in the fridge.
- Pre-heat the oven to 200C (175C for fan assisted). Cut the cookie roll into 1cm thick slices or just press a scoop of dough onto a baking sheet in the desired thickness. Make sure you leave a little space between the cookies, as they can expand a little during baking.
- If you’re fan of salty treats, why not sprinkle a small pinch of flaky sea salt on every cookie.
- Bake the cookies for approximately 15 minutes or until golden around the edges, while still soft in the centre. Leave the cookies to cool down for 5 minutes before serving.
My extra tip : bake only 5 or 6 cookies at a time when you first make the recipe. This way you can adapt more easily the cooking time and temperature. When baking cookies, less is more. Meaning the less you bake them, the more chewy they are.
I have a second recipe to share with you. But for now, just grab yourself some chocolate and get baking !
You can find Chocolate and Love delicious chocolate bars in Waitrose (Nationwide) and various stores in London like John Lewis, Planet Organic, Whole Foods, As Nature Intended ...
Find Chocolate and Love on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
Find Fairtrade on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
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