by Antonia Williams

Created on: January 02, 2011

Everyone loves cookies, and gourmet cookies, as the name suggests, are the very best of cookies. One thing’s for certain: a gourmet cookie must taste as good as it looks and look as good as it tastes. What makes them so good? First priority is the high quality ingredients; only the best full cream butter, sugar and chocolate find their way into gourmet cookies. The second requirement is that the cookies must look professional, even if they have been baked in the tiniest of home kitchens.

 But, here’s the secret: they are not difficult to make. Here are some of the best recipes I have found:

 ANNE’S COOKIES  (This recipe makes about 100 small cookies; you can halve the quantities)

 2 cups granulated white sugar

2 cups soft brown sugar

2 cups butter

24oz chocolate chips

4 cups flour

2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp salt

18oz grated milk chocolate

5 cups fine oatmeal

4 eggs (choose large, free-range eggs)

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups chopped nuts

Mix the white and brown sugar together in a large bowl.

Add the butter and cream them together.

Add the eggs, one at a time, making sure each one is blended before you add the next.

Add the vanilla essence.

Blend in the oatmeal, flour, salt, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.

Add the grated chocolate, chocolate chips and nuts.

Add a little flour to your hands, then roll the cookie dough into small balls between your hands.

Place the cookies about two inches apart on a baking sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes at 180 degrees C, or 357 degrees F.

 SOUR CREAM LEMONS

 4 cups flour

1 cup butter

½ tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 cups granulated white sugar

1 cup sour cream

2 eggs (choose large, free-range eggs)

3 tsp lemon juice

½ cup icing sugar (confectioner’s sugar)

Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl.

Add the eggs, one at a time and beat until light and fluffy.

Add one teaspoon of the lemon juice. Mix the flour, salt and baking soda together in a separate bowl. Add some of the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture and blend it in.

Then add a little of the sour cream.

Continue to add flour and sour cream alternately until all the ingredients are combined.

Lightly flour a smooth board and roll out the dough to about 0.5cm thick.

Cut the dough into neat rounds with a cookie cutter.

Sprinkle the cookies with white sugar and bake at 190 degrees C, or 400 degrees F, for ten minutes.

Remove the cookies from the baking sheet as soon

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