:: mummy, it's just like a party! :: butter cookie recipe ::

These were Amélie's words, exclaimed with a wide smile and sparkling eyes, when we sat down yesterday and ate freshly baked chocolate chunk cookies with cold milk. It made me smile. For all my impatience to get the cookies into the oven and not into little mouths first (though...does it really matter!) it was lovely to share that moment together and see it through my little girl's eyes.

We've made this recipe twice recently. It's one of Annabel Langbein's that is quite a basic, butter-cookie recipe (see below) with almost limitless possibilities of adding different flavours and creating varieties, from lavender, hazelnut & chocolate, 100s & 1000s, ginger, cranberries, and so on... Ours were chocolate and hazelnut and delicious!

And here are my little helpers, waiting patiently for a batch to bake while taste-testing, of course!

:: Recipe : Butter Cookies (Annabel Langbein - Simple Pleasures) ::

Prep time     20 minutes + chilling
Cook time    20 minutes
Makes          about 7 dozen

500g butter
1 cup sugar
4 1/2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
flavourings of your choice

Cream the butter and sugar. Stir in the flour, baking powder, vanilla and sweetened condensed milk until the mixture comes together in a ball. The raw dough can be made ahead to this stage and frozen until needed. Defrost before baking.

)At this stage you can divide the dough up into different portions and add further ingredients, i.e. chocolate bits, nuts, cranberries etc.) Taste a little raw dough as you go and adjust the flavourings to suit. Chill mixture for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C. Line 3 or 4 oven trays with baking paper. Roll cookie dough into walnut-sized balls, place on baking trays and flatten slightly. Bake until lightly golden and set (about 15-20 minutes).

Allow to cool for 10 minutes on the tray then transfer to a rack to cool completely before storing in an airtight container or jar. They will keep for several weeks - if they become a little stale simply refresh for 5 minutes in an oven preheated to 180 degrees C.

Enjoy! Bon Appétit!!