Heidi's Cookies - A Quick and Easy Bake for the Weekend

Heidi's cookies.  Full of chocolate and walnuts - Yum.

I don't know exactly where this recipe came from.  It was in one of the London evening papers many years ago.  A friend suggested it for a school fete and I still have it written on a crumpled and stained piece of paper.  It takes minutes to make and bake;  it is cookie-like in texture (think Tollhouse cookies) and it is made in squares. (No time is wasted dropping batter onto a cookie sheet.) Also, it does not require hauling the big  Kenwood up onto the worktop. That is a big plus with me. So, whenever I have a chocolate and nut craving, out comes this recipe.



How to make Heidi's cookies:

Ingredients:
4 Tablespoons of vegetable oil (something that does not have a strong flavour of its own.)
3 oz of butter (softened)
3 oz of white sugar
3 oz of brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon good Vanilla essence
7 oz Self Raising Flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 oz chopped walnuts ( I bash mine in a plastic bag with a meat mallet.)
6 oz dark chocolate in chunks or chips (If I don't have chocolate chips, I bash up some dark chocolate bars.)

Method:

Soften the butter in a small saucepan. - Keep an eye on it so it does not burn.
Add the oil to the butter.

In a bowl, mix the oil and butter with the two sugars and beat with a spoon or a whisk.
Add the egg and vanilla and beat again,.

Sift the flour, bicarb and salt and fold this into the mixture.

Pat this mixture into a greased 9" x 13" tin.

Sprinkle the nuts and chocolate over the mixture and gently press it in.  This ensures an even distribution.

Bake at 190 C, 375 F for 15 - 18 minutes.  DO NOT OVER BAKE or the squares will be very hard.

Cool, then cut into squares and serve.