17 December 2023 , 17:00
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Baking festive treats doesn't have to break the bank.
As the cost-of-living crisis continues to hit Brits, we're all looking for ways to make Christmas a little less expensive. This Christmas chocolate cookies recipe from celebrity chef Nigella Lawson is the perfect way to indulge without breaking the bank.
If shopping at Ocado, bakers can make a batch of 24 cookies for £4.08 - which works out at just 17p per serving. However, the price of ingredients may cheaper elsewhere in retailers such as Aldi, Lidl, and Morrisons. Plus, you will probably already have some items in your kitchen cupboards.
"I love these dark, fat patties of chocolate shortbread exuberantly topped with festive sprinkles," Nigella said. "There's something so cheering about the sight of them, but they have more in their favour than looks: they are a doddle to make, and meltingly gorgeous to eat."
Nigella Lawson's Christmas chocolate cookies
Ingredients (Makes 24 cookies)
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Biscuits:
- Plain flour (300g)
- Cocoa powder (40g)
- Caster sugar (150g)
- Soft butter (250g)
- 1/2 tsp of bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp of baking powder
Festive topping:
- Icing sugar (175g)
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1stp vanilla extract
- Christmas sprinkles
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Method
- Preheat your oven to 170 degrees Celsius (or 150 fan). Line a baking sheet with baking parchment.
- In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until you have a 'light, soft, whipped mixture'. Then, beat in the cocoa powder (sieving first if lumpy) and mix in the flour, bicarb, and baking powder. If you have a food processor, you can just blitz everything together.
- Pinch of pieces of the 'soft and sticky' mixture about the size of a large walnut. Roll them into balls and then slightly flatten into discs. You should get around 12 cookies on a tray.
- Bake each batch for 15 minutes. Nigella says that even though you might feel like they're not ready yet, they will continue to cook as they cool. They should have a slightly cracked top, which this chef says she 'loves'.
The chef says the cookies are 'meltingly gorgeous' and easy to make (Toronto Star via Getty Images)- Remove the baking sheet to a cold surface and let them biscuits rest for 15 minutes before moving them onto a wire rack, with parchment paper underneath.
- For the topping, simply put the cocoa powder, icing sugar, vanilla extract, and 60ml of just-boiled water into a small saucepan. Whisk over a low heat until everything is 'smoothly combined'. Then take off the heat and let it rest for 10 minutes.
- Now the biscuits are cooled, drizzle each one with a tablespoon full of the chocolate sauce. Use the back of a spoon to spread the mixture. Once you've done six biscuits, pour over your sprinkles. If you ice all the biscuits before adding the sprinkles, the sauce will have dried and the sprinkles will struggle to stick.
And there we have it. Lovingly imperfect cookies that are cheap to make, but taste amazing. You can bake these five days before the big day, so all you have to do on Christmas morning is prep the sauce. Simply cool and store them in an airtight container between sheets of parchment paper.
What's your top Xmas baking tip? Let us know in the comments section below