Nothing beats home made...

What amazing weather we are having here right now, I love summer!  I do really enjoy these 36C days (unless it's really humid & my evap aircon doesn't work too well)... today I have been spring cleaning (or summer cleaning I guess)... and it feels so good to be getting my room sorted, junk removed, freshly vacuumed and inspired to actually finish decorating - if you don't know, we built this house just over two years ago, and still haven't finished it off completely lol.  Our bedroom has been one of the three most neglected rooms in the house, until now!  I'm even inspired to paint on that canvas I found sitting next to my bookshelf :)  I love it.  Now all I need is the money to finish decorating... ah the dreams...

Back to reality, and being a school week I have been in the kitchen baking some goodies for the boys to pack in their lunchboxes.  Mr R found this recipe in a Christmas book he borrowed from the school library, they're called Christmas Choc Chip Cookies, although they don't seem to be overly "Christmasy".  Mr F and I baked a batch on Monday, we made 28 cookies, and by Tuesday morning there was none left!  So on Tuesday I baked another lot (while Little D was napping & both boys at school) and made a batch of 32... and today, Wednesday afternoon, there are none left... although I did take 12 to the church staff meeting yesterday... so they are delicious!  So good that I had to share the recipe with you.  So easy too!

Christmas Choc Chip Cookies
115g butter (at room temperature)
115g caster sugar
170g self raising flour
1 Tbs golden syrup (I didn't have any so I used treacle)
1 Tbs milk
1 tsp bi-carb soda
50g choc chips

1. Heat oven to 165C.  Prepare two baking trays (I just use baking paper, no greasing/flouring).
2. In mixing bowl, cream butter & sugar.  Sift in flour. Combine.
3. In saucepan, heat milk & syrup until warm.  Add bi-carb and stir (this will foam up a little).  Add to mixing bowl with other ingredients.  Combine all with wooden spoon.
4. Add choc chips, stir through with metal spoon (this helps distribute the choc chips evenly).
5. Roll spoonfuls of mix into balls and place on trays 5cm apart.  Squash lightly with a floured fork (I just used my finger tips).
6. Bake in oven 10-15mins or until golden brown.  Let cool on tray for 3 mins, then move to wire cooling rack to cool completely.  EAT!

They really are delicious, and the kids loved them.  I don't normally make food with chocolate for the kids to take to school, I usually use dried or fresh fruits, oats, pepitas etc, but this was a very exciting exception for them :)  Be careful, my first batch crumbled after one day (ie those few left for morning tea on Tuesday fell apart).  But the second batch made on Tuesday held together perfectly today... not sure why, perhaps the storage?  I used a zip lock bag on Monday night, but a take-away container last night... hmm

Let me know if you enjoy them!