Hans Sloane chocolate beads cookies with cranberry or ginger

I love cookies. They are my favourite baked goods and I love experimenting with different flavours and textures. A classic chocolate chip cookie is my all time favourite and it's a very versatile base to start from. I looked in my store cupboard to see what I could use as additions and found an opened pack of crystallized ginger and a pack of dried cranberries that was nearing it's expiry date. As I'm not a fan of ginger I decided to bake 2 types of cookies - one with ginger and one with dried cranberry. The cookies were absolutely delicious. The dark chocolate beads gave an intense chocolate flavour and paired well with the dried cranberries and the crystallized ginger. J tested both and it was difficult to pick a favourite but the ginger one won out in the end. The best thing about this recipe is it's versatility as you can add any additions you like to this cookie - dried fruit, nuts, coconut, candy. 

 adding chocolate beads to the mixture 

 adding dried cranberries

 adding crystallized ginger 

 cranberry and chocolate cookie 

 ginger and chocolate cookie 

Recipe adapted slightly from BBC Good Food
Makes approximately 40 cookies depending on size of cookies.

150g butter
80g brown sugar
80g caster sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
225g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
100g Hans Sloane rich dark chocolate beads
100g dried cranberries or ginger or other additions

Note - I made 1 batch of cookie dough then divided it into half. I added 50g of dried cranberries to one half and 50g of crystallized ginger to the other half.

• Preheat the oven to 180C and line 2 baking trays with parchment paper. 
• Cream the butter and sugars until pale and fluffy. 
• Add in the egg and vanilla bean paste.
• Sift in the flour and bicarbonate of soda.
• Stir in the Hans Sloane dark chocolate beads.
• Add in any additional flavours - dried cranberries or crystallized ginger. Alternatively you can just use chocolate beads.
• Use a small ice cream scoop to scoop out cookie dough and place them spaced apart on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
• Bake for approcimately 8-10minutes or until golden brown. 
• The cookies will still be soft but will harden once it's cooled on the baking tray for about 5 minutes.
• Place on a cooling rack until fully cooled then store in an airtight container. 

Disclaimer: I was sent some Hans Sloane drinking chocolate beads for review purposes to create a recipe. A positive review was not required and all opinions expressed are my own. This is not a sponsored post.