I went to a friend’s BBQ on Saturday night so I got out the Kenwood Chef and whipped up a batch of yummy cookies, based on the recipe for fig and white choc cookies in the Popina Book of Baking (a lovely baking book, and highly recommended, by the way).

Choccy fruity yumminess!
Here’s the recipe (makes about 25, or fewer if you’re a greedy pig like me and keep eating the mixture…):
- 100g butter
- 160g caster sugar
- 1tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- three handfuls of dried mixed fruit
- 100g dark chocolate, chopped (or dark chocolate chips)
- 260g plain flour
- 3tsp baking powder
Preheat the oven to 160C and track down your baking sheets from wherever your housemates last put them (this may not be applicable to you). Line them with greaseproof or non-stick liner.
Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy and blended. Mix in the vanilla extract and beaten eggs. Add the dried fruit and chopped choc and mix well. It might look a bit odd and lumpy at this stage. It gets better, promise.
Mix the flour with the baking powder in another bowl (what a faff! I just mix them together carefully in the pan of my weighing scales…) Stir the flour into the mixture until you have a nice smooth dough.
Scoop into walnut-sized balls (I use my fingers) and place well-apart on the baking sheet. I get about 8 or 9 per sheet. Into the oven for about 20-25mins, until they start to go golden on top. Pop them on a wire rack to cool and be ready to fend off the greedy fingers of housemates/boyfriend with a rolling pin.
Fruity cookies – always good! Will add to the list of To-Makes…
They are very yummy – and a big hit at the BBQ!