My quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie began some time ago, you could say to the point of obsession. I've been playing around with recipes for a good couple of years, determined to find the holy trinity of cookie greatness; that crunchy Maryland style exterior, chewy Millie's Cookies vibe and a hint of shortbread madness, and up until now my attempts have been futile and full of failure - tasty failure - but still failure nonetheless. 

And then I found the one. I first tasted the best cookie in the world at Cafe Grumpy in Chelsea, NYC. I clocked that bad boy through the glass counter, skeptical of its vegan title given its clear good looks. Obviously I felt compelled to try it, keen to prove its mere existence wrong - surely it couldn't be good and vegan, I scoffed. I carefully removed it from the grease-marked brown paper it had been wrapped in and dove right in.

It was delicious. The first bite took me by surprise, 'but it's vegan!' my brain screamed at itself, sure that there had been some kind of error on the labelling. 'Those grumpy coffee aficionados must be messing with me', I concluded before inhaling the rest of the best cookie I had ever tried in about 0.3 seconds flat. 

When I got back to London I began trying to recreate the magic, and settled on using Ovenly's vegan choc chip cookie as a base. The first attempt was incredible, following their recipe pretty much to the T I found that I had a deliciously classic, chewy and slightly crunchy cookie - but it was missing that shortbread aspect I like so much. I wanted it to be crunchy, chewy and crumbly all at the same time. What can I say, I'm hard to please. 

I revisited the recipe, this time subbing canola for coconut oil and found that I had struck GOLD. The dough itself was more shaggy and crumbly, but came together nicely when I pressed it into mounds - like a shortcrust pastry would. When the cookies emerged from the oven, just crisp yet almost lava-like before cooling, I basically couldn't handle my life. 

But I still wasn't 100% happy. They didn't have that speckled chocolate flex that I'm all about, the choc chips instead gave off too much of a cookie next door all-American vibe, plus I wanted a more balanced salt flavour, rather than a heavy game on top. 

This is where Lindt's Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt came in. Not too much salt but not too little that the flavour fails to come across, I chopped a couple of bars into chunks and shards and threw them into the mix. The result? Speckled, salty, crunchy, chewy, ever so slightly crumbly - everything you could want in a cookie. 

Suck on that, Chips Ahoy.   

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Dark Chocolate + Sea Salt Cookies

Yields approx. 18

Recipe adapted from Ovenly's heavenly Vegan Choc Chip Cookies

Ingredients

240g all-purpose flour

1 + 1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

200g Lindt Dark Chocolate with a Touch of Sea Salt

80g caster sugar

70g soft light brown sugar 

100g coconut oil

60ml water

Coarse sea salt flakes like Maldon for garnish

Method

1. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Chop up the chocolate into small chunks and shards and stir into the flour mixture. 
2. In another bowl combine the two sugars, breaking up any clumps with your hands or the back of a spoon. 
3. Heat the coconut oil until melted, then add to the sugar along with the water - whisk until smooth. 
4. Add the sugar mixture to the flour and stir to combine with a wooden spoon until no flour is visible and the dough just comes together - it should be quite shaggy, don't worry about this. 
5. Cover the bowl with cling film and refrigerate for 12-24 hours - DON'T SKIP THIS STEP!
6. After the dough has rested in the fridge, preheat the oven to 180°c (165°c FAN).
7. Using your hands roll the dough into 2 inch balls (you should be able to make about 18) and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. 
8. Use a spoon to gently press down the balls slightly, and sprinkle the a pinch of sea salt flakes. 
9. Bake for 13-15 minutes until the edges are just golden. 
10. Leave to cool completely before serving. 

It’s officially that time of year again; the lights are up, the ads are out, the nights are getting boozier… it’s Christmas whether you like it or not.

Sure, some might say it’s a bit early to get the Christmas paraphernalia out, but I for one am all over it – give me a gingerbread latte with a shot of whisky and I’ll be marvellously content cozied up in my Slanket* with Home Alone 2 on repeat.

(Also, December: the only month where you can get fat gracefully.)

You may remember last year I posted a similar recipe and moaned about how broke I tend to be at this time of year (I absolutely needed three of those cashmere jumpers, didn’t I), so it’s fair to say I get a little resourceful with my gift giving. Enter these beauties, chocolate covered and deliciously decadent. These really aren’t as daunting as they may seem, it’s more a case of patience and trying not to burn yourself, the caramel, or your pan.

So there you have it, I’ll leave you with this bomb recipe to add to your budget Christmas 101 repertoire – plus a pretty great soundtrack to go with it (courtesy of Cereal Magazine)

*the best gift ever received, not giving it up never ever ever

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Dark Chocolate Covered Caramels

Makes 60 caramels

Ingredients

150g soft light brown sugar

125g golden syrup

100g unsalted butter, cut into cubes

250ml thick double cream

150g caster sugar

200g dark chocolate

Decorative sugar pieces (if using)

Method

You’ll need a candy thermometer for this recipe.

1. Firstly prepare a tin for your caramel to set in by lining it with parchment paper.
2. In a pan add the brown sugar, golden syrup, butter and cream and place over a low heat. Heat the mixture until smooth and hot, stirring occasionally. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
3. In a heavy duty pan add the caster sugar and 3 tablespoons of water, and start to dissolve over a low heat. Once dissolved you can bring the heat up a little, keep melting the sugar syrup until it caramelises and turns amber in colour. NOTE: You don’t want to stir the syrup unless there are specific spots where the sugar isn’t melting, rather whirl the pan.
4. Once the sugar syrup has caramelised and turned a gorgeous dark amber colour, remove the pan from the heat and pour in the cream mixture, while exercising caution – this stuff is H O T.
5. Put the pan back on the heat and pop your candy thermometer in. Bring the mixture up to 260°f and then immediately remove from the heat and pour into your prepared tin (if you fancy it you can sprinkle all or half with salt flakes).
6. Leave (out of the fridge) for at least 5 hours or overnight before cutting into small squares.
7. To chocolate coat the caramels, melt the dark chocolate in a glass bowl set above a pan of simmering water. Once melted, use a fork to dip a caramel square into the chocolate, then lift it out and let the excess chocolate drip off. Place the square on parchment paper to set, and decorate with sugar pieces if using. Continue with the rest of the caramels.

These will keep for a good 2 weeks stored in an air-tight container.