Gingerbread & white chocolate cookies

This is my homebaked version of the viral M&S cookies. Soft and chewy, warmly spiced cookies studded with creamy white chocolate and puddles of melted salted caramel. Everything you love about the original, only better because nothing beats a cookie fresh from your own oven.

Time to prep : 15 minutes + 1hr chill time

Time to bake : 12 minutes

Makes : 10

Ingredients

120g butter

80g light brown sugar

80g caster sugar

1 tbsp black treacle* (optional)

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

220g plain flour

2 tsp ground ginger

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

½ tsp fine salt

100g white chocolate bar, roughly chopped

100g soft caramel fudge pieces* (I like Werther's soft caramels), chopped

Method

1. In a saucepan over a low heat (or in the microwave), melt the butter.

2. Add both sugars to a large mixing bowl and then pour in the melted butter, whisk until smooth with no clumps. Add in the black treacle, egg and vanilla. Whisk together again until combined.

3. In a separate mixing bowl, add the flour, ground ginger, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Mix until combined.

4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold together with a spatula until a soft dough forms and no flour streaks remain. Fold in most of the white chocolate chunk and caramel pieces (reserving some for topping).

5. Use an ice cream scoop or large tablespoon to scoop out the dough into10 portions (around 90 - 100g each), roll each into a ball and arrange on a lined tray or plate. Press a few extra white chocolate and caramel pieces on top, then chill for at least 1 hour* (or overnight).

6. Pre-heat a fan oven to 160ºC and line two baking trays with baking paper.

7. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes until the edges are set and just turning golden, but the centres still look soft and underbaked. This is the perfect timing for soft and chewy centres, the cookies will continue to bake and set on their hot trays, even outside the oven.

8. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool on the tray for 10 minutes before moving to a wire cooling rack (the caramel will be very hot).

Nutritional Information

(per cookie)

320 calories

4g protein, 36g carbs, 15g fat

Good to know

• Black treacle is common in gingerbread and sticky toffee bakes. It adds a really deep, caramel/molasses flavour but it's optional if you don't use it often. If you do, the squeezy bottle versions (like this) are SO much less messy than the original tins!

• Chilling the dough is a key step. Please don't skip it. It firms up the melted butter and helps rehydrate the dough for cookies that spread a lot less in the oven and hold their shape better, as well as improving texture and flavour.

• Use any 'soft caramels' (M&S, Werther’s, Tesco own-brand etc.). They melt down completely in the oven so chop them into small pieces so they melt into little puddles within the cookies, instead of leaking out and causing the cookies to spread.

• Once fully cooled, store the cookies in an airtight tin or container for up to 5 days. The caramel helps keep them soft, so they stay chewy and gooey for days.

• For that just-baked texture, warm in the microwave or air fryer for 15 seconds, the caramel will melt again into those lovely puddles.

• Freeze unbaked dough balls on a tray until solid, then transfer to a freezer bag or container for up to 3 months. Bake straight from frozen, adding 2 extra minutes if needed.

• You can also freeze the baked cookies for up to 2 months. Defrost at room temperature, then warm briefly in the microwave to bring back the softness.

• Use gluten-free flour to make these GF and check your white chocolate and caramel pieces are also GF.