Recipe: Sugar Cookies

I think these are about as easy as a cookie gets - and they do come out pretty damn tasty. The good thing is that you can do almost anything you want with them. You can add flavouring to the dough or even dried fruit or chocolate shavings (which I’ve done here). Alternatively you can ice ‘em up, or dip them in chocolate, or sandwich them with nutella... I think you get the idea. In short, they’re versatile. And pretty hard to mess up too. Though I dare say, there was a little bit or trial and error in my kitchen. You know what they say though - practice makes perfect.

Ingredients

400g plain flour

½ tsp salt

225g unsalted butter, room temperature (alternatively, if your being spontaneous, just shove in microwave for ten seconds)

140g caster sugar

1 large egg

1 tbsp golden syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

Optional:

75g chocolate shavings or drops (yes, the piddly ones - the cookies are too thin to take chunks)

coloured sugar

What to do

1. Preheat the oven to 190 Celsius. Sift together the flour and the salt. Then, in a separate, large bowl, stir together the butter and sugar until sort of creamy.

2. Stir in the egg and then the golden syrup and vanilla. When completely combined to make a gooey-golden paste, add the flour one-third at a time. You’ll need to dive in by this point, no spoons and spatulas.

3. Once well mixed, add in the chocolate shavings (if you’re using them) and knead around a little. Pat the dough flat-ish, wrap in cling film and cool in the fridge for around an hour. If you’re impatient like me, then put it in the freezer for 20 minutes - just don’t forget it’s in there!

4. When it’s firmed up, roll the dough between two sheets of greaseproof paper (I didn’t have any, so I went with flouring the kitchen counter - but don’t blame me if it sticks!) to around half a centimetre in thickness. If you want them slightly chewier, keep the dough thicker.

5. Choose any cookie-cutter shape that tickles your fancy and away you go!

6. Transfer to an un-greased baking sheet and sprinkle with coloured sugar if you so wish.

7. Take a step back and marvel at your handiwork.

8. Then pop into the oven for a swift 8-10 minutes. When they start to brown around the edges, that’s probably a good time to remove them. I realised this by the third batch.

9. Marvel some more, swear and blaspheme when you try to touch them and they’re still too hot, transfer to a wire rack to cool and then stash away (if there are any left) in an airtight container for midnight feasting.

Enjoy! xx