Chocolate Smartie Cookies

Chocolate cookies with smarties added,whats not to like.I am partial to chocolate and i like smarties so this recipe by Jo Wheatley was right up my street.

Ingredients

200g butter.
300g soft brown sugar.
2 eggs.
1 tsp Vanilla extract.
360g plain flour.
40g cocoa.
1tsp bicarbonate of soda.
Pinch of salt.
1tsp baking powder.
200g smarties.

Recipe.

1.Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees c/325 degrees f/gas mark 3.
2.Line a baking tray(Or two) with parchment paper.
3.Soften the butter.
4.Mix the butter and sugar together in a bowl with a mixer until light and fluffy.
5.Beat the eggs together in another bowl then add to the mixture of butter and sugar a little at a time.
6.Once the mixture is combined well add the vanilla extract.
7.Sift the flour into the mixture.
8.Sift the cocoa into the mixture.
9.Sift the bicarbonate of soda into the mixture.
10.Sift the salt into the mixture.
11.Sift the baking powder into the mixture.
12.Mix it together using the mixer until it reaches a clay like dough.
13.Fold in half of the smarties.
14.Using a spoon put your cookie dough mounds onto your prepared baking trays.
15.Stud your cookie dough mounds with the remaining smarties.
16.Bake for about 10 minutes on the middle shelf of your oven,taking them out at about halfway through and banging your tray on your work surface to knock out the air bubbles and flatten them.
17.When they are cooked leave them to cool slightly before placing them on a wire rack and leaving to cool completely.

Whilst these were fairly easy to make i did encounter a few issues.

1.The recipe said that these made 10 cookies.When i began spooning the mixture out i had done 10 and still had more left.I eventually made at least 12.

2.When they were cooking they began to enlarge and ended up stuck together.This was despite the fact that i had placed them well apart.

3.As ever my oven caused me some problems and i had to bake them for a lot longer.This caused the bottoms of some of them to be little bit burnt.

 

All in all though they were fine if a bit to big for my liking.Next time i make them i would either halve the amount of ingredients or just put a smaller amount in a mound and therefore make even more,albeit smaller ones.
                                                                                        
                                                                   The Monday Baker