The lovely Jaime of Jaim’s Kitchen came along to my cupcake class and was a superstar. Then she came along to my bread class was a superstar and brought these biscuits for me. They’re so good you need them in your life. Here’s their story and recipe in Jaime’s words…
Cookies have a special place in my heart, and home.
I have lost count of how many batches of cookie dough we’ve gone through. My latest obsession (and my husband’s too) are these Walnut, Fudge and Fleur de Sel Cookies I made for friends over a week ago. They are so easy and quick to make, but I remember a time when baking cookies were well, not so easy-peasy lemon squeezy.
Before an electric hand whisk made it into our home (and way, way, way before powerful stand mixers entered it) we creamed butter and sugar by beating it with a wooden spoon. Every couple of minutes or so, I would ask my mum if it was ready and she would answer, “Check if the sugar has dissolved. If not, keep beating.” I was a scrawny kid. Later, after what seemed like an eternity of whisking and swapping from left hand to right and back again my mother would nod in approval and tell me to stop; the mixture is ready. But my joy is always short-lived when I see the eggs…and the beating resumes.
Oh but why bother, you might ask? Because cookies are good! In fact some are so very good, like my mother’s pineapple cookies, but unfortunately also happened to be the most tedious and difficult to make. And this is after she had already pre-cooked her own pineapple jam.
Sometimes I would deliberately appear incompetent and my mum would take over. She tuts jokingly and in Hakka tells me I will never gain strength in my arm without hard work. As a fidgety teenage, neither patience nor endurance were my forte (I’m glad to say this has massively improved with age) and repetitive tasks quickly lost its charm. So I ignore the dig, thankful to be spared further bicep-developing tasks for I had gone from an excited state to exhaustion, and was now on the verge of plain boredom.
But I liked watching my mum work at lightning speed. I would stay sitting close by, asking questions and making small talk until the cookie dough is formed and we could start shaping them (yes, the easy part). As I got older and electrical appliances arrived at our home, I grew to appreciate that wooden spoon more. Once albeit in a very long while, I take mine out to cream butter and sugar with. It is a great reminder that good things are really worth striving for; that the reward will taste oh-so-much-better when all of your heart, might, soul and love have been poured into it.
Walnut, Fudge and Fleur de Sel Cookies
Ingredients
250g unsalted butter, softened
112g caster sugar
100g light soft brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
400g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
150g mini fudge pieces (I love the ones by Morrisons)
150g roughly chopped walnuts
1 tsp fleur de sel (French sea salt)
Preparation
In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla extract using an electric mixer (or wooden spoon?). Start from the lowest speed, increasing the speed setting as the mixture comes together. Continue beating at high speed until the sugars have dissolved, the colour of the mixture has lightened and the texture is fluffy. Remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
First, sift 240g (equivalent to 1½ cups) plain flour into the creamed butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla extract. Fold in using a silicone spatula until well combined.
Next sift in the remaining 160g (equivalent to 1 cup) plain flour together with the teaspoon bicarbonate of soda. Fold again until well combined. Working in two batches will make it easier to work the flour into the creamed mixture.
Now add the fudge pieces, walnuts and fleur de sel. At this stage, the best tools to combine all the ingredients are your hands. So give them a good wash and dry, and get stuck in. Gently knead and form the mixture until the cookie dough comes together into a ball.
Chill Time
Turn the cookie dough out onto a large piece of cling film, wrap tightly and refrigerate between 30 minutes to 1 hour before baking.
Oven Settings
Preheat your oven according to these settings.
|
Type |
Temperature |
Bake Time |
| Halogen |
160˚C |
25 minutes |
| Conventional / Electric |
180˚C |
15 – 20 minutes |
|
Gas |
Mark 4 |
15 – 20 minutes |
Baking
Remove your cookie dough from the fridge. It should be firm, but not rock hard. I used to roll the cookie dough between my palms to form a perfect round but of late, I have been favouring a more rustic look. Pinch about 30g worth of cookie dough and place it in the palm of one hand. With other hand, use your fingers to pat the cookie dough into a rough round. Place it on your baking tray/cookie sheet and gently pat it down to slightly flatten the dough. Work quickly to avoid warming up the dough too much as you will lose the lines in the dough. Those little lines form lots of little cracks in the finished product, giving the cookies that lovely homemade feel.
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Holly Bell 
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Sadly this recipe didn’t really work for me, I couldn’t get the mini fudge so chopped up some normal size pieces but they just melted and spread all over the baking sheet making the biscuits hard to get off the baking sheet. They taste ok but they look a complete mess. :-(
Hi Julie, so sorry these didn’t work for you. I think the best thing to do is contact the lady whose recipe this is through the link on the blog post and ask her advice. Jaime is very nice and I am sure would love to help you. Let me know how you get on. X Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange
Ah ha!
I took your advice Holly and went to Jaim’s site and at the bottom of this recipe on her page she says….
”
I prefer the Morrisons
fudge pieces as they are specially made for baking. The texture is quite hard and
this helps the fudge keep their shape well throughout the baking time.
However, these are hard to
come by and in this particular bake I was 90g of fudge short. Regular vanilla
fudge sold as candy can be used as an alternative. Cut them into cubes of four.
As fudge sold as candy is
much softer, they tend to melt during baking leaving holes in the cookie where
the fudge has melted. It will still taste amazing, and is all down to personal
preference how you prefer the texture of fudge in your cookie.”
Which I think will be useful info to have here.
Looks like I’ll be making a special trip to Morrisons as my family were curiously unbothered by the untidy nature of these and have asked for another batch! :-)
Excellent news! That’s fab. So basically you need baking fudge so to speak. They are such great biscuits aren’t they? XX Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange
Hi Holly,
Thanks lovely. I hope you are well. Been missing your blog lots since our move.
xx
Jaime
Hi Julie,
Thank you for trying my cookie recipe! I’ve been meaning to reply but we’ve just moved to a new flat (and very far from Morrisons!) so it’s been a little crazy in our home – plus no internet access yet and I’m here in my office peaking at my blog during lunch :D
I’m so sorry the fudgey bits made a mess of your cookie tray, but I’m really glad to hear that your family still enjoyed it. I understand what you’re saying as I once made cookies from a cookbook asking for soft caramels. This is what I did which help:
– take 30g of the cookie dough, roll it into a ball and flatten it
– cut fudge in half and place one half in the centre of the flattened cookie dough
– bring up all the sides, leaving a little gap on top showing some fudge
– reshape the cookie into a round on the sides
As the cookie bakes, the fudge will still melt but it should ooze out of the tops onto the cookies rather than the tray.
I hope that helps, do let me know how it goes and if you have any further questions/comments.
Thanks lovely!
Best,
Jaime
Thank you for your lovely comments, so happy you like the cookie recipe. I hope you enjoy eating them as much as we did. xx Jaime
When I was a student I had no electric beater and I tried to make cookies by hand. Literally I had to take breaks, my arms were killing me! So I know what you mean! Thanks for the lovely recipe.
http://thekitschcook.blogspot.com/
These sound delicious.
Just to let you know I’ve nominated you for a Versatile Blogger award, congratulations xxhttp://ritualsbeauty.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/versatile-blogger.html
Lovely guest post that I very much enjoyed reading. Will defo be trying these biscuits. They sund great.
me love cookies. me love salty sweet sensation. thanks for sharing this recipe – i will be making these the next time i get a cookie craving, and one will be along pretty soon, i reckon.
A lovely guest post! Really enjoyed reading it. Have also bookmarked the recipe.
Don’t worry i will keep on making things at home!! Hope you get cbr checked soon!! Matthew :)
Holly, See your lovley bake off challenge can you go even if you are 12 as i loved your bakes on the bake off and are really interested in it. If not i though a great thing would be to do a childrens version. Take this as a compliment i will come all the way from Scotland To England to come to your classes!!
Hi Matthew,
Afraid I am not CRB checked so the only way that under 18s can come along to classes is to be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Be warned though that it’s an adult class and by its nature is very fast paced so it’s not for the faint hearted! x
Could you use any sea salt or does it have to be fleur de sel ? never tasted it before.
No idea – best to ask Jaime on her blog I think. There’s a link in the first para. xx
Thank you Holly. Jaime has been most helpful. For anyone else wondering the same as I did Jaime said that she thought good quality ordinary sea salt would be a reasonable alternative.
She described Fleur de sel as `more delicate than ordinary sea salt…almost a purer salty taste, but very faint difference. As for texture, it’s moist and although in flakes, they are finer, unlike ordinary sea salt which is dry and coarse’.
What a lovely blog entry; so detailed, honest and down to earth – thank you Holly and Jaim. I hope to make these cookies soon xx
The cookies sound delicious, I’ve bookmarked them. And I have to confess that I use a wooden spoon. I’ve just never got round to buying a mixer and am so used to it now. That’s not to say that I won’t adore it when I finally buy one!
Ah – the wooden spoon! My grandmother never made a sponge any other way (firmly believing that the metal made it lose it’s rise). I confess that some 30 years later I agree (when time is on my side) and am raising both my daughters to do the same!