Salty white chocolate & coffee cookies

Does the world need another miso cookie recipe? Probably not, but I don’t think you’ll regret making these

Whoops, a couple of busy weeks and it’s been a month since I shared anything here. Back in my blogging days I used to start most posts with an apology for my sporadicity so in the interest of personal growth, I will resist the urge to justify not writing in a while. In summary: we were busy, we were teething, then we were busy and teething again.

That’s life at the moment, and as everyone likes to remind me, the juggle is set to get juggl-ier when we add nursery and my return to work into the mix in a few months time.

If I’m honest, I’ve also had a subtle dose of self-doubt whispering in my ear lately. Does anyone want to read what I write? Does the world really need more recipes, particularly from someone who doesn’t have the time or inclination to turn them into glossily produced and slickly-edited reels? I’m still not quite sure, but I enjoy what I’m doing here, so I’m going to keep doing it for as long as that’s the case.

Putting my faltering ego to one side (don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll come back to it all too soon) I also go back and forth on how much to talk about the highs and lows of being a new parent.

As someone who was child-free until very recently, I know that parenting and babies are not something everyone wants to read about. Maybe it’s too close to home, maybe it’s a stage you’ve gone through and moved on from, or maybe it’s Just. Plain. Boring. God knows, I regularly bore myself with my endless internal (and now, external, I’m sorry) monologue about sleep, weaning and milestones - and I’m living and breathing it at the moment.

But I guess that last point is the important one; these things are my reality right now, so if I’m going to write about my life, it would feel disingenuous not to mention the small person who’s will and wants currently govern my 9-5 (…and, well, 5.01-8.59). I’ve worked in PR for well over a decade so am used to spending my days problem solving. And top of our list of problems of late: teeth.

Jesus. Holy. Christ. I thought teeth only became a problem in your late twenties when a decade of skipping the dentist started to catch up with you (still one of my biggest regrets, if you’re also picking hype restaurants over the hygienist, learn from my mistakes).

Who knew teeth could cause so much angst before you are even biologically able to consume food. Just when we were getting comfortable feeling like we were on the descent, two tiny - and as yet, uncut - incisors are ruling our tired little lives. Poor Rose is feeling it and my god, aren’t we all.

Making these cookies was an emotional and physical juggle for all concerned

They say everything’s a phase - and thank goodness, because the arrival of perma-drool and incessantly chewing everything (phones, TV remotes, anything else unsafe and unhygienic to put in ones mouth) have been accompanied by the return of several old friendships we had been happy to see fizzle - constant holding, nap refusal and my very favourite, multiple night wakings. I know that this too shall pass, but every descent back into chaos seems to hit that little bit harder now we’ve had a taste of a return to the straight and narrow.

I’m learning that that is, well, parenthood. One thing after another - many joyful things, but many hard things, too. My usually linear approach to problem solving doesn’t really work in this role - so I’m trying my best to enjoy the good moments, and not let the ones my brain and biology will inevitably delete anyway get to me.

One thing that has helped immeasurably this week is these cookies. In a week where we’ve been back to contact naps - read: me sitting in a dark, white noise filled room with a baby fretfully sleeping on me in an incredibly uncomfortable position - I have felt the need to reward myself with frequent doses of dopamine. Sure, I’ve been enjoying a scroll with the best of them, but I’ve also been craving sweetness. These cookies are rich with creamy sweet bites of white chocolate, but the coffee and miso brings a welcome umami savoury-ness to the equation, too.

Does the world need another white chocolate and miso cookie recipe? Probably not, but I don’t think you’ll regret making these.

A charming chip was about as much food styling as I could manage, thanks teeth

Salty white chocolate & coffee cookies

These cookies are adapted from my recipe for tahini & milk chocolate cookies, which you can find - along with 60 other recipes - in my cookbook, Postal Bakes.

100g unsalted butter, soft

120g light or dark brown sugar

1 egg

1 tbsp treacle

30ml strong coffee

1 tbsp miso paste (I used white miso)

180g plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

120g white chocolate buttons / chopped white chocolate

Flakey sea salt, for sprinkling

Heat the oven to 180C and line a couple of baking sheets with baking paper.

Cream together the butter and sugar, then once fluffy, add the egg and cream again until smooth.

Add the treacle, coffee and miso, and mix until combined. Add the flour and bicarbonate, and mix until combined. Add the chocolate, reserving 12-15 pieces to place on top, and stir through.

Put the bowl in the fridge for 30 minutes - an hour. This isn’t essential if you’re in a rush, but is worth doing if you have the time, as allowing the mixture to firm up makes it easier to scoop into cookie portions.

Use a releasable ice cream scoop (or two spoons if you don’t have one) to portion the cookies out onto the trays, ensuring you leave enough space between each scoop for the cookies to spread during baking. You will need to bake these in a couple of batches unless you have lots and lots of baking sheets!

Top with the reserved chocolate and a sprinkle of salt, then bake for 8-12 minutes, until well spread and starting to crisp ever so slightly at the edges. Leave to cool and firm up on the sheets for 5-10 minus, then transfer to a wire rack. Repeat with the remaining cooking dough.