#sinfuldelights

Ben’s Cookies

So as it turns out, a year ago to this exact day, happened to be our very first trip to Singapore! (and.. oh what a lovely/exciting/awesome/fun-filled/tiring trip it was indeed!) 

Considering it was our first trip abroad, it happens to be at the top of my  favourite place to visit for an international getaway...till I discover a new one...that’s if any place compares to the sheer awesomeness that is “Singapore” (I guess there must be something about a first trip abroad or visiting a different country for the first time that makes it so special to each person)

It happened to be the The lady of the moon festival / Mid-Autumn Festival at this time; which is a harvest festival celebrated by people in China, Hong Kong & Singapore. 

It’s also called the Moon Festival because of the celebration's association with the full moon on this night, as well as the traditions of moon worship/moon gazing. Another name is “Mooncake Festival” because of the popular tradition of eating mooncakes on this occasion (I didn’t fancy the flavours of mooncake too much: lotus, redbean,durian to name a few; but it was pretty cool to try out something different and unique) 

So one of the best things about the trip (among many others) was the fact that we happened to accidentally run into a cookie store, by the name of “Ben’s cookies” at Wisma Atria mall. Funnily, what lead us to buying the cookies was their AMAZINGLY EVIL enticing aroma that almost filled up the entire ground floor of the mall !!

Only later on did we discover (after much stalking online) that Ben's Cookies has stores in the UK, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Kuwait and Singapore ONLY ! What are the odds right?! The ONLY store in whole of Singapore and we happen to run into it. 

At first we decided to try out just one cookie. But, once we bit into it and realised what soft/sugary/buttery/heavenly deliciousness it was, we couldn’t resist packing up a whole box of cookies for our folks back home! (ask my dad, he was the happiest of them all !) They have about 14 types of cookies (dark chocolate, oatmeal & raisin, white chocolate and macadamia, triple chocolate chunk, cranberries & white chocolate to name a few) 

Trust me when I say, if you get the chance to go to any of the stores, if close to you, DO IT ! (You will probably have to WALK back to India after you eat them, they are that sinful !!)

Ever since I had these cookies, a year ago, I’ve been wanting to try my hand at making them, so after reading around a lot, I’m sharing a recipe for what I hope to be the best version of  “Ben’s cookies” 

Note: This recipe makes 16 Large cookies

INGREDIENTS

275 gm Self Raising Flour

200 gm Butter

300 gm Castor Sugar

50 gm Cocoa powder

1 large egg

200 gm Milk chocolate

200 gm White chocolate

METHOD

Start off with dicing the milk chocolate & white chocolate into tiny pieces, mix both in a bowl. Keep a few full pieces of each aside separately for the centre stuffing. 

Now, Preheat your oven to 200°C

In a large bowl mix the butter and castor sugar together evenly. Then add in the full egg and mix it again.

Sift in the Self Raising flour and cocoa powder and stir till all the ingredients are mixed evenly. 

Note: Upto this step, you can mix the ingredients using a kitchenaid as well, if you find it easier.

Finally, add in the chocolate pieces and give it one last stir, so the pieces are distributed evenly. The cookie dough is now ready !

Cover your baking tray with foil, next make a large egg size ball of the dough (use your hands to shape them) and depending on how large your tray is, place approx. 4-6 cookie dough balls leaving sufficient distance from each other.

Don’t forget the full chocolate pieces you had kept aside ! Take a single piece of white chocolate and placing it right on top a cookie dough ball, press the dough down onto the tray (this will make the dough spread a bit) Then, cover the chocolate piece with the sides of the dough. Do the same with the full milk chocolate piece and go on alternating this way. This is important because it’s what will give your cookie the molten chocolate centre; just like “ben’s cookies”

Now pop the tray into the oven for 8 minutes. (not a single minute more)

And once the time is up, slide the cookies off the tray with the foil and let them sit for about 15-20 minutes. Because that’s the exact time they need to form their crusty exterior (but, they will be super soft in the centre at the same time)

Enjoy with a strong cuppa black coffee !!

Tips: 

1. Wait for about eight minutes after you take the cookies out of the oven and with a round cup/ cutter cut the slightly burnt edges off...Then they will look exactly like the real “Ben’s cookies” ...and taste that way too. 

2. Make sure you measure all your ingredients and keep them readily available in separate bowls before you start the mixing (makes the process much faster).