Chocolate chip and oat cookies (choc chip cookies)

Chocolate chip and oat cookies are deliciously light with a soft centre. They are easy to make and are far better than any shop bought cookies I have tried. If you are a cookie lover why not also make a batch of blueberry and white chocolate cookies which are also perfect for baking in bulk and freezing.

Ingredients

• 125g butter
• 125g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 150g plain flour (all purpose flour)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 125g oats
• 100g chocolate chips

How to prepare

Bring the butter to room temperature. Cream together the butter and sugar.

Add the egg, vanilla essence (1 teaspoon), oats (125g oats), flour (150g flour), baking powder and chocolate chips (100g choc chips) and mix together. The mixture will be dry and stiff at this stage but this is how it should be. Continue to mix until the ingredients are evenly combined.

Use your hands to form biscuit shapes about 3 cm in diameter, and place on non-stick sheets on baking trays, leaving a space between each biscuit as they will expand slightly.

Cook in batches, one tray at a time in the centre of the oven at 180^oC, 350^oF, gas mark 4 until they just start to turn golden at the edges. This will take around 10 minutes. The biscuits will be soft when you take them from the oven but they will set as they cool down. Leave to cool on the baking tray until set. For an Aga, cook on the grid on the floor of the roasting oven with the cold plain shelf on the second set of runners.

Makes around 25 cookies.

Tips

1. If you have self raising flour you can use this in place of the plain flour (all purpose flour and omit the baking powder.
2. The butter can be softened in the microwave on the appropriate setting as an alternative to taking it out of the fridge ahead of starting to prepare the cookies.
3. If you don't have chocolate chips then cake chocolate can be used instead. Simply chop into small chunks on a board using a sharp knife.
4. Don't be tempted to leave the biscuits in the oven too long. They will still be soft when it is time to take them out of the oven. They will set as they cool down.
5. The cookies can be stored in an airtight tin for a couple of days. They can also be made in bulk and frozen.