Cookies & Snow

That morning, rolling up the blinds from our roof-windows didn’t really help to let in the light: the windows were covered in snow. It was a Saturday in January and for me the first time I saw proper snow in Vienna. Before it had usually just been a thin layer of powder. After breakfast it was time to head out of the city and take a closer look at the snowy world.
We decided to go for a hike in one of the wine areas just outside of Vienna, so after a short tram ride we arrived at the start of our hike. Going uphill through the vineyards, it was a real winter-wonderland.
We hiked for a while alongside the vineyards until we arrived at the forest. According to our route, we had to take a small path leading downhill from the road to a larger hiking path. That turned out not to be easy. In the meantime, it had slowly started snowing again. It gave this romantic feeling, where all nature seems to be calm and at peace. But it also made that the path down was completely covered in snow and hard to follow.
Fortunately, we made it down without slipping. Only to discover that the hiking path was closed down with large warning signs because of wood cutting works.
As it was weekend and snowing, obviously no work was being done. And since we didn’t really have an option, we took the path anyway to get out of the forest and closer to a village again. What we realized was that our hiking speed was much slower than usual. So we decided to cut a part of the route and have a break on top of a hill overlooking the area. There we had the tea and chocolate cookies we brought from home. It turned out the best decision to have taken tea and cookies. We surely needed this extra energy as during the last part of the hike it got even more beautiful, but also the snowfall was getting heavier and it slowly got colder. Fortunately we managed to end our hike before it got dark. The last station: the hut of a winery, which happened to be open and serving mulled wine.

Of course, cookies are not only a good idea as a snack when doing a snowy hike. They are equally good during any kind of hike. Or also when just hanging out at home!

Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients (for around 20 cookies)

• 130 grams of softened butter
• 200 grams of sugar
• Vanilla extract – 1 teaspoon
• 1 medium egg
• Bicarbonate of soda – half a teaspoon
• 190 grams of flour
• Salt
• 200 grams of chocolate chips
• Seasalt flakes (optional)

Cream the butter and the sugar together in a large bowl. Once they are mixed well, add the egg and the vanilla extract. Mix this together again. Next, add the bicarbonate of soda, a small pinch of salt and the flour into the bowl. Stir with a spoon until this has been well mixed and comes together into a dough. Add the chocolate chips and divide them with your hands all through the dough. Cover the bowl and place it into the fridge. Leave to chill for at least half an hour, until the dough has firmed up.

Preheat your oven to 190°C. Cover a baking tray with baking paper and take the dough out of the fridge. Take a bit of dough out of the bowl and roll into a ball. The ball should be around 3cm in diameter. Place on the prepared baking tray. Usually, around 9 to 12 of the balls fit onto a baking sheet. Be careful not too make them too large and keep enough space in between, the cookies will flatten and therefore spread out a lot. Place the tray in the oven and bake the cookies for 12 minutes, until flattened out and golden brown on the edges. Take out of the oven and, if you want, sprinkle some seasalt flakes over the top. Carefully transfer the sheet with baking paper onto a wirerack and let the cookies cool down. They will be very soft when you take them out of the oven so in case some are stuck together, this is the time to carefully separate them. The cookies will set quickly while cooking down. Prepare the tray with some new baking paper and repeat the process until all the dough has been used up.

Let all cookies cool down completely before storing them. Enjoy!