Sweetened Condensed Milk Cookies

I had half a can of sweetenend condensed milk left, the other half I used for Martha Washington Candy that I made on George Washingtons Birthday, which was last friday. I don't like to waste things, so I looked up recipes which use sweetened condensed milk, and I ended up making this recipe for sweetened condensed milk cookies. There are only 3 main ingredients, and then you can add in anything you want, such as chocolate, cranberries, cocoa, nuts, and more.

 

 made half of the original recipe, since I only had half a can left, and divided that in 3. I added chocolate chips to one part, cranberries and pistachios to another and I tried to make s'mores cookies by adding marshmallows and graham crackers to the third part.

I loved the cookies. They're different from "normal" cookies, in texture and taste. I liked the ones with the cranberries and pistachios the best. I fell in love with that combination after I made these cranberry and pistachio biscotti, and it really worked out in this cookies. A friend of ours ordered cookies with pistachios from me for her birthday, and she chose these. She really loved them.

And yes, I've started/am trying to start a little "company", called 'Natuurlijk Katja' in dutch (which means something like 'Naturally Katja'). I've had a few orders, one for speculaas, one for 2 christmas cakes (at christmas offcourse), one for those biscotti, and some other cookies. My mother had organized a little winterfair about a month ago and I also had a marketstall there and sold cookie boxes. I sold them all! But that was it, really.

Now, I'll just leave you with the cookie recipe.

Condensed Milk Cookies (with Chocolate Chips, Sprinkles or Coconut)

from Raspberri Cupcakes

(makes a LOT of cookies, based on several recipes available online: 1 2 3 4)

400g (3.5 sticks) butter, softened (I used some salted butter, you might want to add a pinch of salt if using unsalted butter)

1 can (395g) sweetened condensed milk

4 cups (about 500g) self-raising flour (you can make your own using plain flour + baking powder, just follow instructions on baking powder pack)

Toppings of your choice: I mixed 200g chocolate chips into half the dough, and coated 1/4 of the remaining cookies with coconut, and the other 1/4 with 100s & 1000s (rainbow sprinkles), you can also use nuts, sultanas, milo, cocoa powder, candied fruit, all kinds of stuff! If you want to make plain cookies you might want to add some extra sugar or vanilla because the dough needs a little extra something to go with it.

 

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and line two cookie sheets with baking paper. Place butter in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on high until smooth and fluffy. Add condensed milk and beat until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl every now and then to ensure it mixes evenly. Stir in flour until just combined. The mixture should come together easily as a dough that is soft but still easy to handle with lightly-floured hands. (You may need to add extra flour, a tablespoon at a time if the mixture is too sticky). Take care not to overmix or you will make your biscuits tougher.

Add your desired toppings. As mentioned, I split my mixture in half and stirred chocolate chips into one half. Roll balls of cookie dough (I used a heaped tsp amount for small bite-sized cookies, and a heaped tbsp for larger cookies), press into discs and arrange on prepared trays. Leave at least a cm around each cookie. For the cookies I coated in toppings (sprinkles or coconut), I rolled them into balls with unfloured hands, then pressed them flat into a bowl of the toppings to coat the cookie.

Bake until cookies are light golden (about 12-15 mins for small cookies, 15-20 for larger cookies). If baking in hot weather, keep the uncooked cookies in the fridge until ready to go into the oven. Remove from oven and cool on tray for 5 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for several days.

This recipe makes a large amount of cookies, you can stir in the toppings and then roll the mixture into logs and wrap in clingfilm. These logs can be refrigerated for up to a week and sliced and baked at your convenience. Alternatively you can freeze the cookie dough logs to store it for longer, just defrost in the fridge for half an hour and do the same thing.