cashew nut and white chocolate chip cookies

I'm struggling really for anything much to say today. I think my 9am conference call has used up pretty much all my words.

Instead, I'll just leave you with some pictures and a few brief comments on the recipe. 

I've been thinking about my hazelnut butter cookies ever since I made them. When I happened upon some cashew butter in my local grocery store, I couldn't resist the idea of experimenting with it.

It is the same basic recipe as the hazelnut cookie recipe (and don't, as I did, forget that the dough requires a couple of hours in the fridge before baking unless you want to be still standing over your oven at 1am) although those cookies were made with buckwheat flour and here I have just used plain/all purpose flour. Something about the smell and taste of the cashew butter seemed to lend itself more to a handful of white chocolate chips running through the batter rather than their dark chocolate cousins and I also threw in some chopped cashew nuts as well. To compensate for the sweetness of the white chocolate, I upped the amount of salt in the recipe slightly and decreased the amount of vanilla. You can easily reverse any of my changes though; this recipe seems ripe for adaptation.

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Cashew and white chocolate chip cookies

Yield: Approx 40 cookies
Adapted from my hazelnut butter cookies

Ingredients

• 170g (3/4 cup) cashew butter
• 140g (1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
• 110g (1/2 cup) caster/granulated sugar
• 90g (1/2 cup) light brown soft sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
• 170g (1 1/2 cups) plain/all purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda/baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 
• 3/4 teaspoon salt (plus optional extra for sprinkling)
• 150g (1cup) white chocolate chips
• 120g (1 cup) chopped roasted cashew nuts (unsalted if possible; if you can only find salted cashew nuts, leave the salt out of the recipe).

Cooking Directions

1. Beat together the butters and sugars until soft and creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and continue to beat until combined. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and fold them into the dough. Fold through the chocolate chips and cashew nuts.
2. Cover the dough and chill for at least two hours.
3. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and line a baking tray with non-stick paper.
4. Shape a tablespoon's worth of dough into a ball with your hands, place on the baking tray and squish down. If wanted, sprinkle with a touch of salt. This recipe makes quite a few cookies so, unless you have a giant oven, store the dough in the fridge in between rounds of cookies.
5. Bake for 10 minutes until golden brown. Leave the cookies to cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.