Sixty-Second Chocolate Chip Cookie! Pin.008

I originally wanted to try out the Nutella cookies that I had pinned a little while ago (love Nutella!). However, the recipe required an entire jar and we only had a 1/3 of a jar left. Also all the Nutella recipes I came across were American, and it gets really tricky to calculate cups into metric measurements, especially for things like Nutella.. I will attempt these at some point but for now I settled on this pin: Microwave Chocolate Chip Cookie.

The pin I posted led me to.. surprise surprise.. nowhere! This seems to be a common theme with my pinterest pins.

I googled the recipe and found two possibilities. One was from 'Zoomyummy' and the other, from 'No. 2 pencil'. I decided to go with the latter as it made less cookie and suggested using only egg yolk rather than whole egg to avoid a 'cakey' consistency.

                                               
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp Butter
1 Tbsp Granulated White Sugar*
1 Tbsp of firmly packed Dark Brown Sugar*
3 Drops of Vanilla Extract
Small Pinch of Salt
1 Egg Yolk (discard the egg white)
1/4 cup (that's about 37g) of All Purpose Flour
2 Tbsp of Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
*I didn't have any brown sugar so just used 1.5 tbsp of granulated white sugar.


1. Put the butter in your cup and melt in the microwave on a low heat.

2. Add the sugars, vanilla and salt and stir to combine. 

3. Separate the egg and add only the yolk to your cup. Stir to combine. Add flour, then stir again. Add the chocolate chips, and give a final stir.

4. The cookie will need to microwaved for anywhere between 40-60 seconds. Cook in the microwave on full power for about 40 seconds and see if the cookie is done. Depending on your microwave, it may need longer, but be careful not to overcook.

I really wanted to like this.. especially after the success of my Microwave Mug Brownie post. But.. it failed to impress. I mean it was full of butter, sugar and chocolate so believe me, it didn't taste bad... But the problem was the consistency. I was very aware of over-cooking it so it was only in the microwave for 40 seconds. As you can see from the pics, the cookie was undercooked on the top but was well cooked at the bottom. Any longer in the microwave and the cookie would have been too dry. On the upside it was quick and easy to do, and used ingredients from the cupboard.

I think next time I will try the recipe from 'Zoomyummy' and compare the two. I may also use brown sugar next time and see if it makes a difference. Ah well, you win some, you lose some!

Next up.. Another crafty post! But it's a surprise so you'll have to wait and see! ;) 

Microwave Chocolate Mug Brownie! Pin.003

Time for pin number three.. I've been looking forward to trying this for ages as it looks yum! The recipe asks for ingredients that most people have already. You'll be pleased to hear that I kept to the instructions this time.. well... pretty much.. bit of a theme here!

This pin is originally from Food.com. The recipe says "Total Time: 2 mins". Hmmm... that's optimistic! Well, we shall see!

Microwave Chocolate Mug Brownie:
Ingredients:
2 tbsp melted butter (I used 'Utterly Butterly')
2 tbsp water
1/4 tsp vanilla extract or double the amount (1/2 tsp) if using vanilla essence.
1 dash of salt
4 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
4 tbsp all-purpose flour

UPDATE: You HAVE to try this with chocolate chips! Heavenly!

You'll need a microwave and a fairly big mug to put your ingredients in. I used the biggest one I had:

But in reality one half the size probably would have been fine. Because you cook the brownie in the microwave and the mixture doesn't contain baking powder the brownie doesn't rise very much.

1. "In a 12 oz coffee mug, add water, butter, vanilla and dash of salt. Whisk well."
You need to melt the butter first, so weigh out the butter then put in the microwave on a low heat for about 5 seconds. I put mine on for too long and got butter all over the top of the microwave.. woopsie.

Then add all the other ingredients. I did this brownie twice (Lucky Hungry Husband!), the second time I used 1/2 tsp of vanilla essence, because I found 1/4tsp wasn't enough. If you're using vanilla essence, you need to double the amount. I wasn't sure how much a 'dash' of salt was so I just put in a sprinkle. I whisked it with a fork.

2. "Add cocoa powder, whisk well. Add sugar, whisk well. Add flour, whisk well."

It uses quite a bit of cocoa powder which is a downside to the recipe. With a standard size (125g) pot of cocoa powder you'd only get 8 microwave chocolate mug brownies... I very rarely use cocoa powder so maybe this isn't so unusual? I find flour very messy, I always get it everywhere... as you can see! If you are going to use chocolate chips, add them now!

Stir well and you should get a stodgy consistency that looks something like this: 

3. "Microwave for 60 to 90 seconds. Center should be slightly molten. Careful not to overcook." This is where it went a bit pear shaped... 

There's a note on the webpage that says that they used a 1500 watt microwave and put it in for 60 seconds. I have an 800 watt microwave so I figured I'd try 40 seconds. This is what it looked like:

It's difficult to see from the picture but it really was not cooked. So I put it in for another 30 seconds...

Oh dear. One very overcooked brownie. It was edible, but it was pretty dried out in the middle and there definitely wasn't a molten centre!

I did the second brownie for 60 seconds and it looked like this:

It was much better! The middle was all gooey and yum. As there isn't a big margin for error, I suggest putting the brownie in the microwave for 40 seconds and then doing 10 second increments, checking it each time, but you probably won't need more than 60 seconds.

4. "Enjoy with a spoon. Careful brownie will be hot." 
(In case you were considering trying to drink it!) that did make me laugh!

UPDATE: Having done this recipe more times than I'd like to admit.. I definitely recommend the addition of chocolate chips... *drool*...

It is easypeasy, microwaving times aside, you can't go wrong. Just remember, 40 seconds in the microwave and increments of 10 seconds 'till it's done. It's best when it's all gooey. Don't cook it 'till it has the consistency of cotton wool like I did.

It was tasty! Especially the second time. However I would call it more a chocolate pudding than a brownie. It didn't have that sugary fudgy texture that a brownie has. Timing wise.. 2 minutes was optimistic, the quickest I managed was 6 mins, 45 secs! (including microwave time). I reckon that's still pretty quick though. Can any of you do it quicker? It's a great recipe when you're craving something sweet, don't have any chocolate in the cupboard and you don't have a lot of time.

Hungry husband was feeling a bit camera shy but let me get his moosetache in the pic. He's doing Movember by the way!

'It doesn't have quite the 'wow' factor' that the nutella cupcakes had. However, It's an extremely tasty dessert, to give it four stars, it needs chunks of chocolate chips or marshmallows.' 


Cor! He doesn't ask for much does he? ; ) Hungry Husband will need to go on a diet at this rate, teehee!

Hungry Husband and I are getting in the Christmassy mood, we don't have space for a tree but here's our efforts so far:

Have you got your Christmas decorations up yet? Click on the image below to see my first Christmassy Pin Post. 004: 'Ribbon Christmas Card Holder!'... Exciting! I love Christmas!