Baking Day

Aah, the appeal of a warm kitchen, Rayburn running and the prospect of homemade biscuits and cakes - a real tonic on a Winter Sunday!

I don't often use the oil-fired Rayburn in our kitchen but with snow outside and time to spend a day in the kitchen I thought the prospect of baking in a warm kitchen was irresistable, so I fired up the Rayburn, put a pot of soup on the hotplate and a gammon joint in the oven and headed for the baking tins.

Ginger Choc-Chip Cookies
Ingredients
8 ozs butter, softened
3 ozs light soft brown sugar
9 ozs SR flour
2 tbsps golden syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 ozs dark chocolate drops
2 ozs preserved ginger, roughtly chopped

Method
Butter 2 large baking sheets and cover with baking parchment. Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and creamy. Stir in the remaining ingredients to make a soft dough. Roll the dough into walnut-sized pieces and space out generously on the baking sheets. Chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas Mark 6. Bake the cookies for 12-15 mins, until light gold in colour -they will still feel quite soft in the middle. Leave on the baking tray for about 5 mins then transfer with a palette knife to a wire rack to cool completely.