"The Way the Cookie Crumbles"

'That's the way the cookie crumbles' once said Bruce Almighty. Well this is what you would feel like after baking and eating these super easy, rich and delicious mini cookies with chocolate bits all through them. I made them and started writing the recipe right away and I am looking at the bowl now, where are just a few left. 

The truth is that I was watching tons of cookie videos online, but always thought that they will not be THAT good. It is crazy, I was a cookie skeptic. I used to always buy that kind and enjoy them very much, but the idea of chewy cookies just did not sound appealing to me. I loved them crispy and crumbly. One day however I decided that is the whole American nation loves them, maybe I should give them a try too. Also I am perfectly aware that homemade is always better. I looked at some recipes to check what they call for and had a look at what I had in my pantry. I didn't had some of the ingredients, but it was easy for me to make some swaps. In the end I ended up with a complete new recipe, that is even better than the "original". I have made the cookies with all the right ingredients that most recipes call for, but I did not like the result, so here is my version of chocolate chunk cookies. 

Ingredients:

1 stick of room temperature butter (125g) 

1 egg

4 tbs molasses (really dark and sticky brown sugar)

4 tbs powdered sugar  

1 tsp lemon juice

1/2 cup of coconut shreds

vanilla 

a pinch of salt

1 tsp baking soda

chopped chocolate (one bar)

flour

This recipe can be made with a whisk, hand mixer or standing mixer. It is really forgiving and you can taste it and adjust the ingredients up to your liking. For example if you add too much flour you can always add some more butter or another egg. 

We start with creaming the butter and both sugars. In a bowl we put first the butter and beat it for a few minutes until it becomes creamy, then add the sugars and keep mixing them until incorporated. The molasses gives this recipe richness and some chewiness, also compliments the chocolate, but the white sugar keeps the cookies crisp. If you like these sweet treats on the crumbly side feel free to add even more butter. 

Next step is adding the egg, vanilla and lemon juice and mixing them too. In a separate bowl mix 4 tbs of flour with the salt, soda, your coconut shreds and half of the chocolate. Mix them well and add them to the butter mixture. Again with a fork, whisk or mixer keep incorporating the dry and the wet ingredients. Then check your dough consistency - you should be able to roll a bowl out of it without it sticking to your hands or leaving residue. If it is too runny or sticky keep adding flour or even coconut shreds. You don't taste them, but they give nice texture. I ended up adding 5 more tbs of flour until I got my dough to the right consistency.

Now it is the time to turn on your oven to 170'C, prepare a backing tray lined with backing paper and start rolling your cookie dough into balls. You can make them as big or as little as you want, just keep in mind that the time for backing will vary depending on the size. I rolled my balls on the smaller side as I wanted to make mini cookies (hello portion control :) ) but they do spread quite a bit. On my tray I placed 16 small balls and on top I added a few chocolate chunks from the remaining half a bar. Then put them in the oven for about 8 min, or until they are starting to get golden brown. When you touch them they will be firmer on the outside, but still soft in the center. this is the best time to take them out and let them cool on a cooling rack. I didn't had one, so I made one myself. I put the wire rack from my oven on top of a few cups and cooled the cookies on top, so the air could circulate around them. Once they cool completely they become nice and crispy, with chewy bits around the chocolate pieces. 

The time this recipe took me was exactly 1 hour form start to finish, as I baked 4 trays of 16 cookies (and ate quite a lot of them while cooling too). It is easy, quick and absolutely delicious, which means that I will be making it more often over the weekends. I hope you try it too and love it as much as I do.

Quick and Easy Fall Lentil Cream Soup

Here are the cold days of fall. It gets dark really early and my biological clock is thinking it is time for bed at 5pm. That's why I am getting really lazy these days and cooking after work is not something I want to do as I am very tired. Recently my slow cooker is being my best friend as it cooks while I sleep. To be honest I wanted one for a very long time and recently my lovely mum bought me one as a present. I am still learning how to use it, especially as it is smaller than my usual pots, but it is doing fantastic job. I am saying all that because today's recipe is perfect for both cooking on the stove in a pot or in a slow cooker over night. We are blending it anyways (I just love anything creamy) and don't have to worry about overcooking anything.

What's the best for this recipe however is that it is full of fibers and it keeps you full for longer. The lentils that we use are the brown kind, with the skin on, which makes it hearty. You can use the red lentils if you wish, but they will not make it as thick and creamy, plus the red lentils are skinned, so you don't get as much fiber. This means that you will be hungry shortly after eating it. One more good thing for the soup is that you don't need to put any fat in it if you are a clean eater. I personally try to avoid it wherever possible just to keep myself healthy.

Here's what you'll need 

2 cups of brown lentil
1 carrot
1 head of onion
1-2 green peppers (I prefer Severe peppers)
3 -4 cloves of garlic (I put even more, but if you don't like it use less)
1 small diced tomato
cooking cream or sour cream (this is optional)
paprika
savory (or oregano)
salt
pepper
vegetable oil

In a pot on the stove put your oil,  washed lentil, graded carrot, chopped onion and pepper. You want all vegetables finely chopped, so they will cook faster. Cover everything with water., The amount here depends on how thick you want your soup. I like it on the thicker side, so I put less water, like 2 -3 cm above the ingredients. Bring it to boil and let it cook until the lentils are almost done. Then add your spices, and tomato and let it cook for about 5 - 10 min, or until everything is perfectly tender. Turn off your heat and add your garlic, that's been chopped into medium sized pieces. Let everything rest for about 5 min. Give it a taste to make sure it's salty enough. Then it is time to blend it. Use a blender or an emergent blender to do so. Be careful when blending hot soups, because you might burn yourself. When everything is blended stir in some cream of choice as it makes the soup very nice and rich. The soup on the stove comes together in about 40 min.

But you can make it is a slow cooker as well. Simply add all your ingredients, but the tomato, garlic and cream, in the cooker.Keep in mind that the water in the slow cooker will not evaporate, so you might want to put less of it. Leave over night on low, or for about 3 hours on high. Then put your tomato and leave it for 30 more minutes, then turn the heath off , add your garlic and let it rest for 5 - 10 min, so the garlic can "awake". That is it. All you have to do now is to blend it, add cream and serve it.

I like to serve mine with some cheese and garlic on top, as on the picture, but it is also very nice with croutons.

This is the perfect fall soup, full of healthy ingredients, affordable, quick and easy. You can leave it in the fridge for 3 - 5 days,or even freeze it. If you are vegan, feel free to leave the cream out, or substitute it with a boiled potato.