The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2012

This year I was really excited to take part in The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap. I read about it last year after sign ups had closed so this year I didn’t want to miss out and I signed up straight away to take part. The idea is that food bloggers from all over the world try out a new cookie recipe and send a dozen to 3 different bloggers. You are matched with other bloggers in your country so you don’t end up sending them half way across the world!

Obviously, you will then receive 3 different types of cookies from other bloggers – what a treat! It’s a fabulous way to try out something new and receive something yummy too. All the cookies I received were thoroughly tested by my children who declared that they were delicious!

I decided to make white chocolate and cranberry cookies to send out – a favourite flavour combination of mine but I’d never tried them in a cookie recipe before. I sent my cookies to Pat’s Kitchen, Fanny’s Foods and Little Black Heart – I hope they enjoyed them!

Here’s how to make the white chocolate and cranberry cookies:

Ingredients (makes 18-20)

125g unsalted butter, softened

50g soft dark brown sugar

150g golden caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

200g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 egg

50g white chocolate, chopped into chunks

50g dried cranberries

What to do

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

2. Cream together the butter sugars and vanilla extract in a large bowl – I use a food mixer to make this easier.

3. Mix in the egg, flour and baking powder until it forms a dough – don’t worry if it is a little sticky!

4. Add the white chocolate and cranberries and mix into the dough until they are evenly distributed.

5. Divide the mixture into 18-20 equal sized balls and place on baking tray (leave room for the cookies to spread as they bake). I use an ice cream scoop to do this.

6. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes until they are golden and just looking crispy around the edges.

7. Leave to cool on the trays for a couple of minutes before transferring them onto a wire rack to cool.

Enjoy!

A huge thank you to those bloggers who sent cookies to me. They were all wonderful!