Back Home and Baking

Hello everyone. Hope you're all well! To those of you in Queensland, Australia,  my heart goes out to you. We just returned from Australia, and just missed the flooding that is now occurring in Victoria. Such a disaster. Damage is massive, so if you are interested in donating, click here.

I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things, now that we're back, but it didn't help that we had Christmas decorations to dismantle upon our return.  I baked some cookies this weekend as I needed something to clean the house by. The best part was that I had all the ingredients in the cupboard. They're pretty flipping good - hope you like them.

Double Chocolate and Sour Cherry Cookies - makes about 30

8oz/250g unsalted butter, softened
12oz/350g light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped white chocolate
3/4 cup dried sour cherries

Preheat oven to 350f/180c. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add the eggs and vanilla and stir well. Sift in the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and salt, and mix to just combined. Fold in the cherries and chocolate.

Place large spoonfuls of dough on parchment paper lined baking sheet, and flatten the dough slightly. Make sure to leave room, between each spoonful, for spreading. Top with an extra piece of white chocolate.  Bake for about 15 minutes, until the bottoms are cooked. Cool on wire rack.

I will definitely be back soon! Now to catch up on your lovely blogs.

I leave you with a picture of my new Australian friend. He walked right up to us. Love him.