Perfect American style cookies any flavour you want

Makes 3 large trays full (about 20 cookies)

The basic recipe:

• 225g/8oz butter
• 225g/8oz caster sugar
• 170g condensed milk (tubes of this size can be bought, or just measure this amount out from the tin)
• 350g/12oz self raising flour

This recipe could not be easier:

1. cream butter and sugar
2. add condensed milk
3. add sifted flour, mix to make a soft dough
4. add extras
5. shape and bake: pull off golf ball sized pieces of the dough and place on a greased baking try, there is no need to flatten them.
6. 180 degrees C/gas mark 4 for 15 minutes (keep and eye on them towards to end so that they don't brown too much

The cookies will be too soft to move when the are straight out of the oven, and you may think that they aren't cooked enough, but they are meant to be soft and lightly golden.

leave the cookies on the tray for 5 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.

This cookie dough can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days, to do this gently roll our the cookie dough into 2 sausages and wrap in cling film, when you are ready to bake you can just slice off the cookies and place onto greased baking trays. These cling filmed sausages of cookie dough can also be frozen.

Variations:

• Chocolate chips: 

Add 100g/4oz of chocolate chips (dark, milk or white) to the basic recipe after the flour

• Chocolate and nut:

Add 100g/4oz of chocolate chips and 100g/4oz of chopped nuts (any will work) to the basic recipe after the flour.

• White chocolate and raspberry:

Add 100g/4oz of white chocolate chips to the basic cookie dough recipe after the flour. Add 100g/4oz of chopped fresh or dried raspberry after you have made your golf ball shapes out of the dough and squash the raspberry pieces into them (if you mix the raspberries into the dough they turn to mush and the dough goes pink).

• Double chocolate cookies

Replace 1 tbsp of the flour with 1 tbsp of cocoa and add 100g/4oz of chocolate chips.

• Oat and raisin cookies:

Replace 100g/4oz of the flour with porridge oats and add 1 tsp of cinnamon. Also add 1oog/4oz of raisins.


As I'm sure you can see this recipe can be adapted endlessly, m and m's, smarties, dried fruit, types of chocolate, crystallised ginger the list goes on.
Why not let me know what variations you have tried!
Happy cooking
xoxo