Rainy Day Cooking - Chewy Chunky Jaffa Cookies

Hi again When the weather starts to get chillier and we have some of those rainy days that make hanging out at home seem so inviting, why not get into the kitchen? Not only is it nice and warm with the oven on, you also keep more active grating, stirring and chopping than sitting on the couch. Let's not mention though, that eating your yummy treats might follow - it doesn't count!! Today when I was working, cooking at a gorgeous winery, I invented these jaffa cookies. It was raining and pouring outside (I'm sure an old man was snoring somewhere!) but I was happy and content cooking away in the kitchen and when these came out of the oven they didn't last long! They would be fab for a lunchbox snack or with a nice cuppa for morning or afternoon tea. You can store them for a week (or even more if they last that long!) in an airtight container at room temperature. These are definitely a "sometimes" food or a treat but at least when you make your own you know exactly what's in them and there are no nasty artificial things like flavours, colours and preservatives. Give them a go - you won't be disappointed and they're super easy peasy lemon squeezy!

makes about 20cookies Ingredients: 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar 1/2 cup caster sugar 1 1/2 cups SR flour 1/2 cup plain flour 180g melted butter 1 lightly beaten egg 1 lightly beaten egg yolk 2 tsp natural vanilla extract 150g dark chocolate (eating quality) chopped into chunks zest of 1 orange finely grated 1 tbsp fresh orange juice Method: *preheat the oven to 180 degrees C or 160 degrees FF *grease 2 baking trays and line with baking paper *mix sugars and flour in a large bowl *add the butter and combine *add egg, egg yolk, vanilla, zest, orange juice and chocolate and mix well *make heaped tblsp sized balls of mixture and place on the trays leaving a gap of about 8 cm around each ball *bake in the oven for about 15 minutes or until lightly golden *cool completely on the trays - if you can wait that long!! *eat immediately or store in an airtight container for up to 10 days tip: for something even more exciting break up some cookies and stir through some softened ice-cream (vanilla or chocolate!), then refreeze until firm and serve with or without topping! yummo!

tip 2: if you're part of a small family ie. single or couple, or if you don't need to make the whole batch of cookies in one go, roll half of the dough into a log, wrap tightly in two layers of cling wrap and freeze - then next time you need some cookies just take out of the freezer, slice and bake. Okey doke. Hope you enjoy these...but then...how could you not?!?! Chin chin xxx