It’s been a busy few weeks.
I’ve baked several loaves of sourdough, a Thanksgiving pie,
a farewell pie, a “welcome home” pie, two batches of ice-cream*,
a Christmas cake, a birthday cake, birthday cookies, housewarming cookies
and “Sunday at the markets” cookies.**

These are the latter, and proof of how easy it is
to turn unsophisticated ingredients into knock-your-socks-off great cookies.

Based on my Pretzel-freckle cookies. This makes a double batch — a good
amount for sharing — but you can easily halve the recipe.

Gather:
2 + 1/4 cup plain flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

1 cup chopped Malteasers (or Whoppers or similar)
1 cup chopped caramel buttons (or butterscotch chips or similar)

220 g butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar (packed)
1 tsp vanilla (…or Galliano)
2 large eggs

Then:

1. Preheat the oven to 170° C.
2. Take the butter and eggs out of the fridge if you haven’t already!***
3. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
   …
4. Chop the Malteasers and caramel buds into quarters until you have a cupful of each. Set aside.
   …
5. Cut the butter into small cubes. (If it’s not already at room temperature, zap it in the microwave for 15 seconds.)
6. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl with hand beaters), cream the butter and both sugars for around 3–5 minutes.
7. Still mixing, add in the eggs one by one, then the vanilla or Galliano.
8. Slow down the mixer(s), and gradually add the flour mixture until fully combined.
9. Switch to a wooden spoon, and stir in the Malteaser and caramel bits.
   …
10. Scoop out heaped teaspoons of dough onto a baking sheet (no more than 8 to the largest tray), then bake (in batches) for about 8 minutes, or until the cookies are just golden at the edges and just dry in the middle (you want them to be chewy, trust me).
11. Allow to cool/solidify a little on the trays, then transfer to a wire rack (and repeat Step 10 until you’re done).
12. Share with anyone who isn’t too grown up to enjoy such a low-brow crowd-pleaser of a cookie.

Notes:

*Not “baked” per se, but you know what I mean.
**I also have a full-time job and managed to get married somewhere in between the pies and the cakes.
***Sugar won’t dissolve in cold butter; instead of a creamy fluffy butter+sugar mixture, you’ll have a greasy, gritty sandy thing. And adding cold eggs just makes this worse — even if the butter+sugar was the right temperature, the fats will re-solidify and the whole thing separates instead of becoming more combined. On the other hand, room temp. butter + sugar + room temp. eggs = a delightfully light, creamy, moussey base for your cookies. It’s the little things…