As you know I'm a BIG fan of The Shire Bakery Sprinkles. They bake really well without losing their colour. Please don't miss out the banging stage as this gives that fab gooey texture. Also a very important thing to remember, the cookies will firm as they cool so don't over bake as they can look under-baked when first out of the oven.
100g unsalted butter, softened
100g light soft brown sugar
50g caster sugar
1 large eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
200g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
A pinch of sea salt
180g smarties (I freeze mine for at least 2 hours before baking)
You will also need 2-3 baking sheets lined with baking parchment.
Preheat the oven to 170ºC/325ºF/gas mark 3
Cream the butter and sugar together in a free-standing machine until pale, light and fluffy. If you don’t have a free-standing machine you can use a hand-held electric whisk. Gradually add the beaten eggs, mixing well between each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, add the vanilla extract and mix again.
Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt into the bowl and mix until well combined, fold in 3/4 of the frozen smarties and sprinkles into the cookie dough.
Use either a small ice-cream scoop or 2 teaspoons to scoop the dough into even sized mounds. Place 6-8 cookies on each baking sheet, allowing plenty of space between each cookie as they will spread during cooking.
Bake the cookies in batches on the middle shelf of the preheated oven for about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and sharply bang the baking tray on the work-surface to deflate the cookies and then stud with the remaining smarties and sprinkle the remaining sprinkles, return to the oven for a further 5-7 minutes until pale golden brown.
Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 15 minutes before transferring to wire racks until cold.