Everyone has a favourite chocolate chip biscuit recipe. (FYI: Biscuit is what us Kiwi's call cookies!) It might be a family secret, or favourite tried- and true recipe from a favourite cookbook like the trusty old Edmonds or another familiar baker.
In my family we usually either did the Edmond's recipe or one mum had handwritten into her own recipe book. We affectionately knew her recipe book as "the red book". It was full to the brim with all kinds of recipes, handwritten and magazine or newspaper cuttings. The thing that always mystified me was the order in which the recipes were written. The book itself had separate sections for baking, mains, desserts etc, but for some unknown reason mum didn't put her recipes into the appropriate section! Only she knew where to find a particular recipe! I think the chocolate chip biscuit recipe was in the fish section or somewhere equally unusual!
Mum's chocolate chip recipe (like the Edmonds one) had that delicious, essential ingredient-- sweetened condensed milk! Who else remembers trying to get every last drip from the empty can and savouring the spoon?! Or sneaking teaspoons from any left overs stored in the fridge?! I also wonder if anyone else has seen the steady increase in price of this super sweet ingredient too?! I am sure that when I was growing up, a can cost $1.50 to $2.00. I have seen cans recently priced for upwards of $3.50 a can. I am not an especially frugal person, but when I see a can at that price, and I only need 3 tablespoons, I do think twice! (By the way, I have seen a recipe on Pinterest for making your own sweetened condensed milk, but I haven't given it a go myself! Link to recipe here)
So with that in mind, when I got a recipe emailed to me by Chelsea Sugar, touted as one of the best recipes ever, I thought I would give it a go. Mainly because, the recipe had no condensed milk! I have always wondered if it is an essential ingredient and what it adds to the biscuit as the sugar content of the whole recipe is pretty high when you take into account regular sugar, sweetened condensed milk AND chocolate chips.
Here is the link to the recipe that I used. I did a few alterations by adding in both white and dark chocolate chips, and also a small amount of chopped peanuts. They added extra sweetness (haha, totally not required!) and the peanuts some extra flavour and texture.
I would probably use this recipe again, (if I didn't have the condensed milk), BUT it did use egg whereas my usual recipe is egg-free, great for allergy sufferers.
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Love to hear about anyone else's favourite recipes! Leave me a comment below:
grt
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