Jamie Oliver's chocolate malt cookies

It's time for some chocolate cookies!  February is just a few days away and to me, the month is synonymous with Valentine's Day and chocolate.  Needless to say, I'm a big fan of February and I'm ready to get an early start on the chocolate talk and consumption.

Chewy chocolate malt cookies with crushed Maltesers and milk chocolate bits

Most of us know our way around chocolate cookies but these called out to me because they're pretty unusual ones, different from what I'm used to here in the States.  It's a recipe from Jamie Oliver and, maybe not surprising given the British association, the flavor is a combination of chocolate and malt.  Specifically, malted milk powder and crushed pieces of Maltesers provide the malt flavor.  

Some key ingredients: sweetened condensed milk, dark chocolate to be melted into the dough, Maltesers, as well as some milk chocolate bits

But wait...the recipe stays interesting.  Condensed milk is the sweetener in these cookies and right away, I envision a very chewy cookie and that's exactly what we end up with.  A little bit of ground almonds make things even more interesting; it adds a tiny bit of texture in the background that maybe you wouldn't be able to pinpoint exactly if you weren't the baker but appreciate nonetheless.  Dark chocolate - as in 70% to counter the sweetness of the condensed milk - is melted into the dough to create the chocolate base.  Along with crushed Maltesers, the recipe calls for a little bit of chopped white chocolate but I opted for milk chocolate instead. (While there's a place for everything and I remember an old fondness for Nestle's Alpine White chocolate bars, I just can't seem to gather much enthusiasm for white chocolate these days.)

As for dry ingredients, some ground almonds and malted milk powder make things more interesting

For me, there's so much that's unusual yet familiar about this cookie recipe.  Growing up in Hong Kong for the first handful of years in my life, I'm fairly familiar with British eats and snacks, and malt as well as milk powder are some of those familiar things. We are also no stranger to condensed milk; I've been known to put it on toast occasionally.

I totally thought of my husband when I saw this recipe.  He not only loves malted things - as in drinks, milk shakes, and cookies - but chewy cookie are also his favorite. Happily, he was a big fan of these cookies and devoured them readily (though I admit he is hardly objective when it comes to my food). 

For me, I'd say these cookies are largely about the texture - they are very chewy and moist.  The center is almost brownie-like (my husband goes so far as to say they're like a chocolate truffle).  Those are all good things.  Now let's talk flavor.  The malt factor isn't overwhelming but to be honest, neither is the chocolate.  I used 70% bittersweet Scharffen Berger chocolate in these cookies.  It's a dark chocolate with strong overtones that you usually can't miss.  Here, the sweet condensed milk wipes those flavors out so you don't get intensely deep chocolate taste.  Personally, I prefer chocolate intensity so that's not a selling point for me.  However, life is about variety and this is a great cookie experience for that special chewy texture and sweetness. It's just important to go into things knowing what to expect.


Making cookies is always fun and it was interesting to mix up this slightly more unusual cookie dough.  I divided the recipe in half, which turns into a dozen cookies. The recipe originally calls for self-rising flour.  Since, I've never seen self-rising flour in my supermarkets, I simply added baking powder and salt to regular all-purpose flour and went from there.

You can almost tell how thick and chewy this cookie will turn out to be when you look at the thick, glossy batter after the dark chocolate has melted and been stirred together with the condensed milk.

Maltesers - they are essentially the British version of our Whoppers.  You could certainly make these cookies with Whoppers but I bought Maltesers from a specialty food store and sometimes they're even available at bigger grocery stores.  I placed the Maltesers into a sandwich bag and gently crushed them with a meat mallet (you could just use a wooden spoon). You can leave larger chunks like I did or break them down further if you like.

I am glad I went with milk chocolate as opposed to white chocolate for the other mix-in.  The cookies are definitely on the sweet side and while the white would have looked nice as a contrast, I just prefer the milk, which melded with the Maltesers nicely.  On the topic of the chocolates used in the cookies, do use a dark bittersweet chocolate.  You need that 70% level dark chocolate to offset the sweetness from the condensed milk and candies.

The cookie dough needs a few hours in the refrigerator to cool down and firm up. After scooping, gently press them down a little.  They don't spread very much while baking and the thick centers give you that big, chewy, brownie-like texture.  You can store the cookies in an airtight container for a few days and they stay nice and chewy.

I baked off most of the dough and kept a few in the freezer for another day.  That's the neat thing about cookies dough - you can stow some away in your freezer for an 'emergency'.  And cookie emergencies tend to come up constantly, don't they?  At the time of this publication, all these cookies are gone.

I'm glad I tried this Jamie Oliver cookie recipe.  And speaking of the man, isn't his food stunning?!  It really wasn't until I started watching Jamie Oliver's 15 Minute Meals (aired on CBS a while back) that I appreciated how creative and visually appealing his food is.  The show was a feast in so many ways - as far as the food itself, the cinematography, the presentation...it was an eye opener and I was really impressed so nowadays, I keep an eye out for Jamie Oliver recipes.


Recipe:

Jamie Oliver's Chocolate Malt Cookies
Adapted from Jamie Oliver's Comfort Food

- For 12 cookies (original recipe is double this quality) - 

2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 1/2 oz. bittersweet chocolate (70%), coarsely chopped
7 oz. (half a can) sweetened condensed milk 
1/2 oz. ground almonds
1 heaping teaspoon malted milk powder or Horlicks
1 3/4 oz. (about 23) Maltesers (or you could use Whoppers)
1 oz. milk chocolate, chopped into small pieces 

In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together.

In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and bittersweet chocolate until just smooth and combined, stirring occasionally.  Remove pan from the heat and stir in the condensed milk, followed by the almonds and milk powder.  Add the flour mixture and stir together until just blended.  Transfer mixture to a bowl and chill for about 15-20 minutes until cooled but still pliable (do not chill too long or the dough may be too stiff, making it difficult to stir in the other ingredients).     

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  

Place Maltesers into a sandwich bag and crush gently into bits.  Add the smashed Maltesers and milk chocolate into the cookie dough and mix together.  Scoop the dough into 12 balls.  Flatten each cookie slightly (you can freeze the cookie dough this way to bake for another day) and bake until chewy in the middle and just firm along the edges, about 12 minutes.  Let cool on baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.