Marmite & White Chocolate Cookies

No hate for my mate, please

If you know someone who doesn’t like marmite don’t waste your time, or your cookies, trying to convince them it’s a beautifully salty, umami addition to these cookies, just eat their share. The fact is without the wobble of extra yeast extract over the top, as an optional final flourish, you probably wouldn’t immediately recognise the salty contrast to the sweet white chocolate as Marmite, but you will definitely appreciate its presence. It adds a mouth-watering depth of flavour that instantly elevates a humble chocolate chip cookie. Damn it, I hope I haven’t converted any haters, I really don’t like sharing these.

Makes 12

INGREDIENTS:

1 large egg

110g unsalted butter

80g soft brown sugar

80g white granulated sugar

25g marmite or another yeast extract

250g plain flour (280g gluten free plain flour + a pinch of xanthan gum if you have it)

1/2 tsp bi carb

1/2 tsp baking powder

100g white chocolate cut into chunks

HOW TO:

• Add the softened butter, sugars, egg and Marmite to a large bowl and mix together, the butter should be soft enough that you can easily do this with a spoon. If you’re making these coeliac-friendly make sure your yeast extract is safe, Marmite isn’t, but other yeast extracts are gluten free.

• Add the chocolate chunks and mix.

• Add the flour (and xanthan gum if gluten free), bi carb and baking powder and mix to a soft dough.

• Put the dough in the fridge for an hour or the freezer for 15 minutes to chill so it can be easily handled.

• Divide the dough into 12 equal amounts (approx 60g each) and roll into balls with your hands.

• Line two baking sheets and bake 6 on each, spacing them well apart so they don’t meet when they spread.

• If you have a piping bag with a fine nozzle, pipe a very thin wobble of extra marmite over the top of each ball of dough. This is really gilding the lily and completely optional because anything more than a fine drizzle over the top, say a dollop or a flick of marmite off a spoon, is overkill and you’ll lose the delicate flavour in the cookie itself.

• Bake in the middle of the oven at 175ºc for 12 minutes then leave the cookies to cool on the tray.

• Enjoy!

Tat x