Spreads Cookies

Spreads Cookies recipe

Food is disappearing in our house at an alarming rate at the moment. As fast as I can buy/make/bake it it’s eaten. I’d love to just blame the 3 hungry men in our house, but I’m to blame here too. I have a voracious appetite and a crisp and Fry’s Turkish Delight habit which is out of control. I have been meaning to try these Spreads Cookies for a while, and now, with my hunger at critical levels, the time seems right.

Spreads Cookies are the creation of my all time blogging heroine, Ree Drummond. She inspired me to start writing Lucy Loves, with her fantastic recipes and brilliant sense of humour. Spreads are basically a large soft cookie, spread onto a large baking sheet; the clue’s in the name. The warm cookie is then spread *there’s a theme* with chocolate and sprinkled with all name of delights. I chose miniature marshmallows, brightly coloured sprinkles and crushed Crunchies, but the possibilities are endless. Nuts, more chocolate, M&M’s, get the children to choose and sprinkle *if they’ve washed their hands and not been picking their noses*.

This brilliant recipe makes a bloody great big batch of cookies which is perfect for these challenging times. There’s nothing else to do during lockdown but bake and eat and I am, unfortunately, or fortunately, doing a lot of both.

Standard cookie line up for these Spreads. Along with my chosen toppings; I went for brilliant, brightly coloured sprinkles, tiny marshmallows and my favourite crushed Crunchies. I chose milk chocolate to make it more my family friendly, but you could definitely use a mixture of milk and dark. Chocolate chips work best, but I chopped up my milk chocolate and it was just perfect.

Make a start by pre heating the oven to 160 degrees fan assisted and lining a large baking sheet with greaseproof paper. Next, in your stand mixer or in a bowl with a hand whisk, or wooden spoon, cream the soft butter and light brown sugar until lighter in colour and texture.

Whisk in the vanilla and the egg until well mixed.

Weigh out the flour and add the bicarbonate of soda and mix. Then add to the mixer in 3 batches to avoid a huge flour flurry in your kitchen.

Mix until you have a smooth dough then tip onto your lined baking sheet.

Using a palette knife spread the cookie dough out into a large rectangle. Leave a couple of inches around the edge to allow for the dough to spread.

Don’t panic too much about the shape being perfect, these are meant to be a rustic affair. Bake the dough for around 15 minutes or until golden, firm and just cooked through.

Remove the Spreads from the oven for a moment. Chop your chocolate into small chunks then sprinkle over the warm cookie in an even-ish layer.

Place the tray back into the oven for another minute to melt the chocolate then take out and spread into a smooth-ish layer with a palette knife. Again, looks aren’t everything with this bake, so don’t panic.

Now comes the fun part and the agonising part. Sprinkle away with your chosen toppings then leave to set in a cold part of your kitchen *my whole kitchen* or in the fridge. This should take a tedious hour or so.

Once the chocolate is set, chop into chunky squares. The cookie is soft, the toppings are sweet making these Spreads desperately moreish.

This man child is the main reason this whole batch of Spreads barely lasted a day. Happy to make another batch, however, these are simple and comforting and all the while George is eating, he’s not shouting at me.

Lucy x

Spreads Cookies recipe

Makes about 35, dependent on your cutting skills

You will need a stand mixer or a bowl with a hand mixer or wooden spoon and a lined large baking sheet

225g soft butter

200g soft brown sugar

1 egg

240g plain flour

1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

200g chocolate chips, chopped chocolate, milk, dark, white, you choose

Miniature marshmallows, sprinkles, crushed Crunchies, chocolate chips, sweets to decorate

Pre heat the oven to 160 degrees fan assisted and line a large flat baking sheet with greaseproof paper.

In a stand mixer or a bowl with a hand mixer, beat the soft butter and light brown sugar until lighter in colour and texture. Mix in the egg and vanilla. Weigh the flour and measure in the bicarbonate of soda. Whisk to mix.

Add the flour mixture in 3 seperate increments to the butter mixture, beating until you have a smooth dough. Tip the dough out onto your lined baking sheet then spread into a flat, even-ish rectangle, leaving a border measuring a couple of inches around the edge. Bake for around 15 minutes until just golden and firm.

Take the cookie out of the oven and sprinkle with the 200g chocolate chips or chopped chocolate in an even layer. Pop back in the oven for 1 minute to melt the chocolate. Remove from the oven and spread the melted chocolate into a layer covering the cookie base. Sprinkle with your chosen toppings such as marshmallows, sprinkles, crushed chocolate bars, more chocolate chips or nuts, the possibilities are endless.

Leave to cool until the chocolate has set, either on the counter top or in the fridge if the weather’s warm. Once set, chop into squares and devour.

The Spreads cookies will keep for around 5 days in an airtight tin, but I can guarantee these won’t last that long.