Living in this era where everyone is constantly busy and has no time, whether we’re working, chasing our dreams or after our kids, it’s good to take the occasional moment, to pause and breathe, and to make and sit down to a carefully prepared meal you can be proud of calling your own.
But sometimes time is just not on your side, and all you have the energy for is to make something with as little ingredients as possible. And if it’s quick and delicious, even better.
So, if your kid tells you about that class potluck party tomorrow at the very last minute, our 4 ingredient chocolate cookies are here to the rescue.
Yes, you read that right. A simple set of 4 ingredient and a little bit of time is all you need to make these little yummy bites of cookies with an irresistible chocolatey flavour. It stays firm in the bottle but crumbles in your mouth, and is the kind of cookie kids of all ages will love, be they 9 or 99.
And just because they’re super easy to make, does not mean these chocolate cookies are not worthy of a festive season cookie spread, or as a special homemade gift. No one but you needs to know that you didn’t break much of a sweat to make this, right?
These 4 ingredient chocolate cookies are also the kind of treat you can get your kids involved in making, if they’re the sort with enough patience to roll the chocolatey dough into balls and make little fork-marks on them. And because these cookies contain no eggs, you don’t have to worry too much about them getting a tummy ache from eating uncooked dough.
Sold or just plain curious? It’s time to give this recipe a try!
Ingredients
- 600g self-raising flour
- 60g unsweetened cocoa powder
- 500g unsalted butter, softened
- 250g castor sugar
Method
- Preheat oven to 170°C.
- Sift self-raising flour into a mixing bowl.
- Then, sift cocoa powder into the same mixing bowl.
- Stir until thoroughly combined.
- Cut softened butter into smaller cubes and place it in a mixing bowl, along with the sugar.
- Cream butter and sugar mixture, either with a handheld or countertop mixer, beginning with low speed until the mixture is more or less combined.
- Then, increase the speed to medium and cream until the mixture is pale, soft, fluffy and creamy. Don’t forget to scrape the sides down occasionally, especially if you’re using a countertop mixer. You want the sugar to disintegrate as much as possible. The total creaming time should take about four to five minutes.
- Add flour and cocoa powder mixture to the creamed butter about two or three tablespoonfuls at a time, mixing it with a spatula until it is somewhat combined.
- Once all the flour and cocoa powder mixture has been added, use your hands to knead the dough for two or three minutes until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined. You’ll know it’s ready when the dough is smooth and looks almost like chocolate ice cream!
Shaping & baking chocolate cookies
- Using your hands, shape dough into little round balls of about 5 or 6g in weight and roughly 1.5cm in diameter.
- Arrange dough balls on a baking sheet lined with silpat or baking paper roughly 2-3cm apart.
- To give the chocolate cookies its pattern, press a dinner fork into the dough, flattening it as you apply a gentle pressure. The dough is quite soft, so there is no need to press too hard. Leave about 5mm from the bottom unpressed, so the cookie can hold its shape.
- To lift the fork neatly, start by lifting the fork from the handle to the tip in a single swinging motion.
- Once all the dough balls have been marked, bake cookies in the oven at 170°C for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, turn the heat down to 150°C and bake for another 11 minutes.
- If you’re making another batch, don’t forget to turn the heat back up to 170°C before popping the next tray or two of cookies in.
- After baking, let the cookies rest on the baking sheets for a minute or two before transferring them onto wire racks to cool.
- Let chocolate cookies cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
Extra tips
- Get your kids to help shape the dough into balls and flatten them with forks.
- Whether you’re using a silpat sheet or baking paper, there’s no need to wash or use new baking paper for each bake, especially if you’re making a large batch. Just dust the crumbs off and give it a wipe with a dry cloth or kitchen paper after every few bakes.
- This recipe makes a large batch of cookies. Feel free to halve it if you don’t want to make too much. But, who are we kidding, after tasting these and knowing how easy they are to make, you’ll probably want to double, triple or quadruple the portion instead!
Isn’t this 4 ingredient chocolate cookies recipe crazy easy? It’s an especially good recipe to try if you’re a first time cookie baker as the ingredients are simple and method quite fool proof.
Just don’t forget to switch the temperatures and you’re good to go. This recipe is also a good one if you’re a regular baker and feel like whipping up a little something on the whim, as you’ll most likely have self-raising flour, cocoa powder, butter and sugar stocked in your pantry.
And even if you don’t, these are fairly standard ingredients you won’t have trouble getting your hands on at any supermarket or baking store, unless it’s cookie-making peak season and everyone has gotten their hands on them first!
Even then, most places will stock up on these when it’s Chinese New Year, Raya or Christmas! For, you know, baking emergencies such as these.
So, what are you waiting for? Go make these 4 ingredient chocolate cookies stat and let us know what you think! Share your pictures on Instagram or Facebook with us by using the #butterkicap hashtag so we can have a look!
