Cookies with the Mercs
Today, I decided to do something very different. I decided to reveal who I really am. That’s right guys, I am not really Medic. I am in fact ENGINEER! Just kidding. I simply moonlight as an Engineer, whenever Carnival or Halloween comes along. Or when I decide to do baking! Yes. Baking. You think Engineer leaves all those dispensers to idle when he’s not busy defending the intelligence?
“Medic!” you ask. “What are you baking today?” I’m glad you asked. I’m making double chocolate cookies. The recipe comes from She Wears Many Hats, but I’ve modified the recipe to better suit my dietary needs. Let’s get stared!
First off, ingredients. We’ll be needing the following stuff:
325g (about 2 cups) of flour
150g (about 1 cup) of light brown sugar – You can use white sugar if you want, but brown sugar gives it a nicer taste.
150g butter
100g chocolate, cut into pieces
60g (about 1/2 cup) of cocoa powder – If you don’t have cocoa powder, you can use drinking chocolate, but they won’t be as nice.
1 teaspoon (5g) baking powder – Do not confuse this with baking soda.
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs or 3 small eggs
As for kitchen utensils, you’ll need a bowl, a saucepan, a baking tray, spoons and some grease-poof baking paper.
Step one: Preheat your oven to Gas Mark 5, or 350F.
Step two: In your saucepan, melt the butter on a low heat. Make sure it doesn’t burn. A bit of burn will give it a nutty taste, but too much will ruin everything.
Step three: Once the butter has melted, turn the heat down as low as possible and mix in the cocoa. Stir the mixture thoroughly, until it’s smooth with no lumps in it. Remove from the heat and let the mixture cool. Don’t forget to turn off the gas. I know what some of you Pyros are like!
Step four: In a bowl, pour in your flour, baking powder and salt. Mix it all up.
Step five: As the butter/cocoa mixture probably hasn’t cooled yet, let’s prepare the baking tray. Mine’s round and has holes in it, it’s meant for pizza, but any tray will do. If you are using a silicone tray, you don’t need grease-proof paper. If you don’t have grease-proof paper, dab some oil or butter on some kitchen roll and rub it on the tray. To cut a round shape, fold your paper in half, then again, then fold it diagonally. Cut along one edge to make a circle.
Step six: That mixture has finally cooled. Pour the sugar into the saucepan and mix it all up. Then break in your eggs and mix them in too. A whisk will help break the eggs up if they get all claggy and lumpy.
Step seven: Pour the cocoa butter sugar mixture into the flour mixture and continue to mix. It’ll form a lump eventually. When the mixture is properly mixed, you should be able to roll it into balls without it sticking to your hands. If it’s too wet, add some flour, if it’s too dry, add milk.
Step eight: Break your chocolate into pieces if you haven’t already done so, then throw that in and mix it into the cookie mixture. Mix some more, then start rolling the dough into balls. The size of the ball is about the size the cookie will come out when it’s done, the cookie dough doesn’t really spread.
Step nine: Bake your cookies in the oven for 7-8 minutes if your cookies are small, or up to 15 minutes if they’re particularly large. If you’re not sure, I find that nine minutes generally works, but start off at 7 then check them every 3 minutes. The cookies are done when they’re crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.
Step ten: EAT!
These cookies are best eaten when warm, but they are good for up to a week if kept in an airtight container. Assuming they last that long!
I’d like to thank my sister nommykins, for the wonderful photography, and my brother Terroxy for letting us put tons of gel in his hair.
If you enjoyed this article, let me know (either by leaving a comment below or posting on SPUF), so I can do more TF2 cooking in the future!