I love a cookie. They’re playful, portable, simple to make, even easier to eat, excellent freeze-ers and just so adaptable. These Chocolate Brazil nut cookies are a brilliant twist on a classic.

I’ll share some of my favs with you over the coming months, but for now here’s one that took me by surprise.

My Dad absolutely loves chocolate covered brazils and they always make an appearance in his Christmas stocking. For Father’s Day this year I decided to make them into a cookie. Initially I wasn’t sure how they would come out, not sure if they might be a bit dry with such all those nuts and a bit concerned that the quality of the chocolate coating wouldn’t be as good as a regular chocolate chunks (so I added a little addition of milk and dark choc to the mix). I was wrong, they were so addictive.

Cookies eaten…quickly followed by my words.

Chocolate brazil nut cookies

Ingredients

• 250g roughly chopped chocolate coated brazils (I used a mixed pack with milk and dark chocolate)
• 50g dark chocolate chunks
• 50g milk chocolate chunks
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• ½ tsp instant coffee
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 300g plain flour
• 150g melted butter
• 1 large egg (best from the fridge)
• 1 tbsp milk
• 150g light brown sugar
• 75g caster sugar

Method for Chocolate Brazil nut cookies

1. Preheat oven to 170°C . Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Roughly chop the chocolate brazils and chocolate chunks and leave to one side. Coat in 1 tbsp of flour, to stop the chocolate and nuts clumping or sinking in the batter.
3. Sieve the flour, salt, instant coffee, spices and bicarb together into a separate bowl and leave to one side.
4. In a food mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy (this will probably take about 5 mins).
5. Add the cold egg into the mix to combine. Then add the vanilla extract and milk.
6. Add in the flour mixture slowly until just combined.
7. Add in the chocolate brazils and chocolate chunks to the mixture. Mix with a spatula to make sure all flour is incorporated.
8. Use an ice cream scoop to portion out the dough. Place onto baking sheet a few inches apart. Flatten each ball of dough slightly with your fingers before cooking.
9. Cook for 9-11 minutes until golden brown. (The longer you bake, the crunchier the cookie will be).
10. Remove from the oven. Leave to cool on tray for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

This will make approx. 18 cookies.

Tips

Weigh out all ingredients before you begin, it makes everything so much easier, although does add to the washing up.

You can’t really over mix the butter and sugar but once you add the flour, only whisk enough to just combine. The longer you mix at this stage, the tougher the cookies will be when baked.

Love chocolate with nuts at Christmas? Here are some lovely gift ideas from Hotel Chocolat

Looking for a unique chocolate Christmas bake? Why not try my Quality Street chocolate cupcakes