Spiced Double Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

I love watching the recipients of these cookies rummage through their flavor memory bank searching for a name for the layered spice flavors in their mouths. These will continue to tickle your taste buds and keep you coming back for more.

Inspired by lebkuchen, a festive German cookie, you don’t have to wait for Christmas to enjoy it. The cookie dough keeps well in the refrigerator for a week, but you can freeze the dough balls and thaw them slightly before baking to soften them.

Times

Preparation time: 30 minutes plus 24-48 hours of refrigeration

Cooking time: 12-14 minutes

Do it

14

Ingridients

• 290 g of unsalted butter
• 260 g of powdered sugar
• 260 g of light brown sugar
• 190 g of strong flour for white bread
• 190 g plain flour
• 140 g of cocoa powder
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp each grated nutmeg, ground cardamom and ground white pepper
• 1 tablespoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 40 g of whole milk
• 250 g of dark chocolate, roughly chopped
• ½ tsp sea salt flakes

The method

1. Place the butter and two sugars in a bowl or stand mixer. Beat gently until the mixture is well creamed, but not airy (otherwise the cookies may collapse during baking).

2. Sift together the two flours, cocoa powder, all spices, baking soda, baking powder and ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, then mix together.

3. Add the dry mixture to the butter mixture in three portions, alternating the milk between each addition. Beat briefly to combine, but do not mix.

4. Add 200g coarsely chopped dark chocolate (save the rest for later) and stir briefly to combine. Place in the fridge to ripen for at least 24 hours, preferably 48 hours.

5. Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5.

6. Place two baking trays in the oven. Scoop the cookies into approximately 100g each (14 in total) and roll each one briefly between your hands into a ball.

7. Remove the sheets from the oven and carefully place the cookies on the hot sheets, smoothing them lightly while pushing a few pieces of the remaining chocolate on top of each. Add a pinch of fine sea salt and bake for 12-14 minutes, turning the sheets after 10 minutes. Cool on a tray.

8. Uncooked cookies will keep in your refrigerator for up to a week and freeze well once you shape them. You can also bake them directly from frozen, just add a few minutes to the baking time.

Recipe from Rebecca Bishop’s Two Magpies Bakery (Headline Home, £26)