Recipe - Chocolate Cookies with Almonds

As a housewife, we would try to find something easy to cook or bake but never compromise on its taste and nutrient, so that we have some sweet time for ourselves; to watch a movie, to read a book or go shopping.

This is the chocolate cookies I like to bake for the family. It is simple and delicious and absolutely terrific for afternoon tea and party. The most important thing was that you can always bake this cookies fresh. How? Keep the unbaked chocolate mixture in the refrigerator, as and when you need it, cut and baked them. So you always have a freshly baked cookies at home. What a good idea, isn't it?

Here is how to do it:

Cream 250g of butter and 150g of fine sugar together. Beat till mixture is fluffy.

Mid way, add 1 tea spoon of chocolate 'emulco' and an egg. Continue at medium speed or high it doesn't matter. When it was completely mixed, stop the machine.

Now, sieve 400g of multi-purpose flour or plain flour and 20g of cocoa powder (choose the premium quality for a better taste) and 1/4 tsp of baking powder into the batter. Add gradually.

Use spatula initially as it was very sticky and messy. When finished adding the flour, uses hand to rub the batter until the mixture is well mixed.

Adding almond flakes will give the cookies the extra crunch. You can replace almonds with hazelnuts, walnuts, and so on. Instead of flakes, you can use crushed/ground nuts too.

Finally, blend in the 150g of almond flakes.
Get ready a square baking mould, size 9" x 9". Spread a piece of cling film on top of it. Ensure that you left some excess cling film by the sides. The purpose is to cover the chocolate mixture later.

Okay, now pour the chocolate mixture into the baking mould. Press the chocolate mixture to make it firm and compact and has a smooth surface.

Use the excess cling film to wrap the firmly pressed mixture.
Keep it in the refrigerator for a few hours or over night. The purpose is to get it harden to make the slicing easier.

Anytime you feel like eating cookies, take the whole thing out from the refrigerator and unwrapped the cling film. First cut the 9x9 bar into 4 equal stripes. Then slice the chocolate stripe into thin pieces, about 3mm thick. If you are a bit slow like me, keep the rest back to the refrigerator. Do it one by one. It is difficult to cut if the chocolate bar get soften.

Lay them on the baking tray and bake at 180 °C for 18 minutes. (Always pre-heat the oven) Depends on the type of oven you have, some have good functions and there are those without fans. Keep an eyes if you bake it for the first time and you can adjust the temperature to say 170 degree for 20 minutes.

Let it cold before you served.

Have a nice morning or afternoon tea with your love one. Bake with LOVE and serve with a warm heart. Enjoy!!