HAPPY ST. VALENTINE'S DAY

Shakespeare might think that music is the food of love, but I must be very pedestrian because my motto is "If food be the food of love, eat on"!!!!!

I associate chocolate and Champagne with romance - probably because I love both, and any excuse!!  This year I wanted to make a nod to the day that's in it - despite my ongoing efforts to shed a few pounds.  To this end I searched out Ellie Krieger's book The Food You Crave - Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life (I bought it late last year and then forgot all about it - anyone else ever do that?!).  She had a lovely sounding recipe for Triple Chocolate Cookies and I thought that they would do the trick - we'd get the chocolate hit and my poor hips wouldn't become an increasing target!!

They are delicious - darkly chocolaty with an interesting (in a good way) texture, which is helped rather than hindered by the whole wheat flour.  My only problem was that Ellie said that the recipe made 24 cookies - I could only etch out 14!!  I know that I am probably failing on the "portion size" module of my diet education - but dividing the mixture into 24  would have made TINY cookies, anyway these morsels are not quite as low in calories as I might wish (!) but they have it all taste wise.  I have (of course) played around with the recipe, and this is how I made them:



Triple Chocolate Cookies

1/2 stick (2oz)        butter, softened
1/2 cup                   packed brown sugar
1/4 cup                   flavourless oil (I used sunflower)
1 large                    egg
1 tsp                      vanilla extract
1/2 cup                  whole wheat flour
1/4 cup                  cocoa powder
1 oz                       dark chocolate (about 70%) - chopped*
1 oz                       milk chocolate - chopped*


Preheat oven to 180 C/350 F
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

Mash the butter and sugars together until well combined.
Add the oil and the egg and beat until creamy.
Add the vanilla and combine.
Sift the flour and cocoa into the butter mixture (just add in any flour that doesn't go through the sieve)
Mix until fully combined.
Add the chocolate and mix well.
Place teaspoons of the mixture on the baking sheet, leaving space between the cookies. (I made mine in two batches)
Bake until they are set - about 12 minutes.
Cool on a wire rack.
When cool, hide away in a tin - they are way too tempting to leave sitting around!

* I just used 2oz dark chocolate (which actually only makes these Double Choc - oops!!)

Enjoy.