Homemade toffee sauce!

I can't stand throwing away good food and am always looking for recipes to use things up. We are not big cream eaters in our house but at the moment you often get a free pot of double cream with a punnet of strawberries. As this pot of cream neared it's use by date I decided I better use it up sharpish, so with a few other ingredients I turned it into rich and indulgent toffee sauce, perfect for pancakes, ice cream and puddings. As a rule with making toffee sauces you want to use an equal amount of butter, sugar and syrup, or if you are using cream then reduce the amount of butter. I added a dash of vanilla too as I think it's yummy in everything, but you could leave it out if you'd rather.

Yummy Mummy's Toffee Sauce

75g Stork (or you could use butter),

150g light brown sugar,

150g golden syrup,

1/2 tsp vanilla extract,

150ml double cream.

1. Put all the ingredients in a pan and heat until the butter has melted and they have combined. Bring to the boil.

2. Boil rapidly (like you do with a jam) for 4 minutes, stirring constantly so that it doesn't stick or burn. It will be very hot but shouldn't be spitting at you, if it is then turn it down.

3. Pour into a bowl to cool. It will still be quite runny but will thicken as it cools. Don't be tempted to sneak a spoonful too soon, it is very hot and will burn your tongue (lesson learnt!).

This sauce can then be refrigerated or frozen for another day! Perfect on a ice cream sundae in the sunshine!

xxx

Perfect chocolate chip cookies!

I feel like I have stumbled upon some sort of Holy Grail this afternoon; the perfect chocolate chip cookie, perfectly crisp on the outside, with a soft, squidgy interior, packed full of chocolate. I have used many cookie recipes and never found one that made these perfect cookies, until today! The recipe is in American cups so I have used Delia's conversion chart to put the weights in grams and ozs, but I have not tested these measurements! Next time I make them I will use cups but weigh as I go so I can guarantee the conversion! If you try it before me then let me know! NOTE: I have now weighed this recipe as I've made it and put in brackets the weights in grams for anyone who doesn't own American cups.
This is the original recipe that I worked from:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Best-Big-Fat-Chewy-Chocolate-Chip-Cookie/Detail.aspx

So anyone, without further ado, here we go...

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups (320g) all purpose/self raising flour,

1/2 tsp baking powder,

1/2 tsp salt,

3/4 cup (130g) Stork, melted.

1 cup (170g) packed brown sugar,

1/2 cup 100g) caster sugar,

1 tsp vanilla extract,

1 egg,

1 additional egg yolk,

2 cups (350g) (I did say they had a lot of chocolate in!) chocolate chips.

1. Preheat the oven to 325F/170C.

2. Measure all of the dry ingredients apart from the chocolate chips into a bowl or mixer. Add the egg and additional egg yolk.

3. Melt the Stork (I did this in the microwave in 15 second bursts). Allow to cool slightly.

4. Add the Stork and chocolate chips and mix until you have a thick dough you can pick up and roll into a ball. At this stage me and little big man did quite a bit of tasting!!

5. Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

6. Unwrap the dough and roll into balls, spreading them out on ungreased baking trays. I made 24 cookies from the dough, post snaffling!

7. Bake for 15 minutes until just starting to brown, don't leave them in too long or the middles won't have the yummy gooeyness.

8. Leave on the baking trays for 5 minutes then remove to a wire rack and enjoy with a glass of cold milk!

Hope you LOVE these cookies as much as I do, I can now be 'that Mom' when my boys start school who makes amazing cookies for when they come through the door!

xxx