Wednesday 2 January 2008

Special Request

Okay, Coffeedog, this just proves that I am a sucker for flattery! Seriously, it is nice to know people somewhere are reading and apparently enjoying. What can I say. There are some strange people out there.

I cannot take credit for the creation of chocodoodles. They are a Nigella Lawson recipe. I love Nigella's books and her food. Cannot stand seeing her on television. She seems to be slowly turning into a ghastly hybrid of Jessica Rabbit and Jamie Oliver. If Jamie Oliver had had elocution lessons from Princess Michael of Kent. But reading her books makes my tummy rumble and I have never had a bad result from one of her recipes, so I will cut her some slack.

Anyway, the recipe:

225g plain flour
25g cocoa powder
100g plus 2 tbsp caster sugar
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
125g butter at room temp (I used dairy free marg because of First Born's allergies and it was fine)
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp cinnamon

Grease a couple of baking sheets and preheat oven to 180 degrees C/gas mark 4.

Sieve together the flour, cocoa, nutmeg, baking powder and salt and set aside. In a big bowl cream together the butter and 100g of sugar until it is light and creamy (duh!), then beat in the egg and vanilla. Stir all the dry ingredients in and mix till smooth. It will look a bit sticky but don't worry. On a plate, mix together the 2 tbsp of caster sugar and the cinnamon.

Now, pull off little balls of dough about walnut sized. Roll them around between your palms and then roll them in the cinnamon/sugar mix and arrange on the baking sheets. They don't spread out too much but leave them a little room to expand. You should get about 30 or so from the mix. Bake about 15 minutes, then let them sit for a minute on the sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool. They start off crispy outside and doughnut-y inside and after a day in an airtight tin, go a bit squishier.

Warning: may repel husbands. If you leave out the cocoa and up the flour to 250g, you get the non-chocolate version which Nigella calls Snickerdoodles for reasons I do not understand as they do not contain Snickers. Haven't tried those yet, but I might.

Now, Coffeedog - quid pro quo. You need to tell me in your next comment at least whether you are male or female and where you hail from. So I can imagine you enjoying your chocodoodles, of course. (I am just nosy, not stalkerish, honest!)

6 comments:

  1. Warning: may repel husbands
    This would be a positive point, I take it?

    Now, Coffeedog - quid pro quo. You need to tell me in your next comment at least whether you are male or female

    Well, that's easy. It would be "coffeebitch" for female, wouldn't it?
    :-)

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  2. Sounds yummy. Can you convert all of the measurements to the S.I. system for me? Oh, never mind. I'll just go buy a Snickers bar.

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  3. Ummm, last I knew, a dog was a dog was a dog, but I won't deny that I might have actually BEEN called a coffeebitch before, or maybe it was more like "get some coffee and stop being such a bitch?" or something along those lines. At any rate, I am, indeed, female, and I DO love my coffee, and yes, Old Black, I would most definitely pay more than $4.00 a cup anytime I had to!
    Heather, I did the conversions today, and if they work out right, and the cookies turn out ok with my conversions, I'll post again here and let you know - I'm going to make them Saturday.

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  4. Wikipedia says: ...a male canine is referred to as a dog, while a female canine is called a bitch.

    However, I do agree with you about the ultimate value of a coffee - I'd give my life sometimes! (whether that's worth more than $4.40 is a moot point though).

    By the way, is this you?
    Coffee-dog

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  5. Nope, that blog is not mine. I don't have a blog. I just read OTHER people's blogs. And drink a lot of coffee. And have a lot of dogs.

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  6. Coffeedog, I'm of similar inclination....my public blogs are only fairly minimal because I don't do anything interesting and, in contradistinction to Loth, I can't write creative and imaginative anecdotes. Like you, I read a lot of other people's blogs. I think it's wonderful that Loth & others provide me with such bright rays of sunshine in my otherwise dull and uninspiring routine.

    And coffee - YES! Various health practitioners tell me I drink too much coffee, but having already given up alcohol and chocolate I reckon I'm entitled to one consumable pleasure in life.

    I draw the line at dogs, however. I'm too lazy and selfish to look after any other animal or person.

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