I have the mother of all to-do lists. By this, I mean my Mam made me sit down the other night and write down all the things I needed to do in the next week and plan them day by day. When you start to have a crisis in the middle of the day (like I did) because your dissertation project is stressing you to the hills, I’d advise the same thing. Phone your Mammy. Get her to tell you it like it is. Make a to-do list and stick to it.

It’s the same with these cookies. Ok, they aren’t exactly an integral item on the list, and yet in some ways, they are. I had bought the chocolate weeks ago. The brown sugar was looking wistfully at me from the baking shelf. It was on every to-do list I wrote, and yet these cuties were never made. Which is a damn shame, because these cookies are like little fluffy clouds of cappuccino in biscuit form. Filled with flecks of pick-me-up coffee, smooth creamy chocolate and caramel-like brown sugar, these cookies are just the thing for an afternoon slump. Crazy to-do lists that are filled with emails, interview questions and tweeting need peppered with these cookies. I promise.

I’d advise making these after you’ve crossed five things off your to-do list. Then, whilst that fluffy cookie dough chills out for a while, go cross off another thing. Bake the cookies and leave to cool. Do the dishes. Make a coffee and eat the cookies. It’s like a sugary reward for supreme productivity. Take control of the little things. Then make cookies.

 

Adapted from Joy the Baker

Makes 24 cookies

You Will Need

250g butter

130g caster sugar

130g brown sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla paste

338g plain flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons instant coffee

150g good quality white chocolate, finely chopped

Whisk the butter and two sugars together in a large bowl with a hand mixer for 3-5 minutes until thick and creamy. Add the egg and the yolk and whisk again. Pour in the vanilla paste and whisk until fully incorporated. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and coffee powder together. Add to the creamed mix and whisk until fully incorporated and fluffy. Stir in the finely chopped white chocolate, then cover the bowl with cling film and place in the fridge for at least 45 minutes.

Once chilled, preheat the oven to 180oc/160oc fan/Gas Mark 4. Line two baking trays with baking parchment and set aside. Remove the cookie dough from the fridge and place heaping tablespoons spaced widely apart onto the baking sheets. Place in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden round the edges. Cool for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy with a cappuccino and cross ‘making cookies’ off your to-do list.