Break time cookies

It's been a while since my last post hasn't it? A pretty big break actually. I've oh so much to share! And this cookie recipe here is the perfect way to pick up where I left off. I made a batch of these cookies a month ago. Yes, you heard right, a MONTH ago. So what excuse do I have for waiting this long to tell you all about it? Sadly, none. Well, I have been busy travelling and wolfing down obscene servings of desserts. And when you get used to eating at least three pastries a night, every night, for 10 days straight, food coma takes a pretty strong hold of you. All thoughts of blogging vanish and all you want to do is crawl back into bed and await your next trip to the patisserie. Feeling sorry for my weighing scale yet?

But, as I said before, this cookie recipe is it! A good place to re-start.

Crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside? Yes! Crunchy toasted almonds? Yes! A good hit of coffee? Oh yes :) What more do you need in a cookie?

I saw this recipe while flipping through a magazine late one night - not a very bright idea, let me tell you, reading food magazines before bedtime. You end up craving whatever you see on the page and because you can't possibly have it, you compensate by reaching for that cupcake sitting in the fridge. *Sigh* I was so eager to get started that for a moment I toyed with the idea of firing up my oven and baking a batch. But the thought of having caffeine fueled nightmares brought me right back to my senses!

Now, this is an adaptation of a recipe for 'Coffee Almond Crisps' I found online. I used butter in place of shortening which probably made my cookie chewy in the middle. No complaints,  it's just the way I like it! I also left out cinnamon - I don't care for the flavour.

What you need

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup brewed coffee at room temperature I used good old south Indian filter coffee - strong! You can also use instant coffee granules dissolved in hot water and make it as strong or as mild as you like
• 1 and 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon Optional - feel free to play around with the quantity
• 1/2 cup chopped, toasted almonds
• 3 tbsp white sugar Optional

This is how you do it

Preheat you oven to 180 degree Celsius.

In a large bowl beat butter and brown sugar until it almost doubles in size and becomes light and fluffy. This took me 5 minutes. Add the egg and beat well, about a minute. Beat in the coffee. 

In a separate bowl sift together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon (if using). Add it gradually to the butter-sugar-egg mixture and mix until thoroughly combined. Stir in the almonds. Your cookie dough should now look like this

Drop spoonfuls of this dough, 2 inches apart, onto a cookie sheet lined with foil or parchment paper. Using the back of a wet spoon slightly flatten and shape these cookies. Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes till firm. 

These cookies do expand in the oven and they will harden further upon cooling. Take the cookies out after 12 minutes if you want them chewy. If you're looking for crisp cookies, leave them in for about 15-16 minutes and be careful not to burn them.

I used a tablespoon to shape my cookies and I got about 15 from one batch. Stored them in an airtight container and they still went soft after a couple of days- crazy Mumbai humidity! So I just put them back in a preheated oven at 170 degree Celsius for 5 minutes and they were as good as new :)

Shooting food makes me hungry :-/