Now I think it's important to clarify the difference between cookies and biscuits. As an Australian, I'm all about not being too "Americanised", but I think there is an important distinction between cookies and biscuits. Biscuits are hard - choc ripple, ginger nut, Anzac, these are all biscuits. Cookies are soft - Mrs Fields and Subway are both good examples of cookies.
And these guys are a perfect example of a delicious cookie. They're soft and fudgey and full of tons of chocolate chips and nuts, and super chocolatey with lots of cocoa. I've made a few batches of these this week - I made some for a friend's party last Saturday, and then more for a work bake sale, and finally SOLD SOME at my shiny spankin' brand new online store! Some of them also mysteriously disappeared before they even left my house. Definitely not into my belly though, that would be impossible!
A couple of tips I can't recommend more:
1. Make sure butter is softened. It must be softened to get the perfect dough consistency! You're best to let it come to room temperature naturally, but if you are in a hurry, pop it in the microwave for a quick spurt. Only heat for a short amount of time - you don't want the butter to get melty because the dough won't stay together!
2. Trust the cooking time! The first time I made these, I took them out after the 8 minutes and thought, "There is no way these are cooked" and popped them in for a bit longer - they ended up burning :( The 8 minutes is perfect to get the delicious softness you really want from your cookies.
But enough of me - here is the recipe so you can make some yourself!
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
3.4 oz pkg instant chocolate pudding mix
2 eggs (at room temp)
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cup flour
1 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips
80 grams macadamia nuts
Preheat oven to 180 degrees. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla.
In a separate bowl mix together the flour, cocoa, dry pudding mix, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Fold in the chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.
Drop by the spoonful onto baking sheets 5 cm apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes.
Source: Adapted from What's Megan Making
Variations: Remove the cocoa, swap the chocolate pudding mix for vanilla pudding mix
Swap the chips and nuts for M&Ms for brightly coloured cookies