Makes 8 cookies

When hosting a dinner party, I always ensure that some of the items can be made well ahead of time. This eliminates pressure on the night, and for me, its almost always the dessert item. With after-dinner sweet treats, you often needn’t do anything fancy, sometimes delicious cookies for your guests to enjoy with their coffee will perfectly hit the sweet spot. I used chopped walnuts in these decadent chocolate cookies but use whichever nuts you have on hand. Chopped pecans or macadamia nuts will all be tasty alongside the chocolate.


20g walnuts
35g milk chocolate
60g unsalted butter, softened
30g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
50g plain flour
10g cocoa powder

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Line a large baking tray with a sheet of parchment paper.

Use a sharp knife to chop the walnuts and the milk chocolate into small pieces. Combine and set aside.

Place the softened butter, icing sugar and vanilla essence into a small-medium bowl. Use an electric hand mixer to cream the mixture together until light and fluffy.

Tip in the plain flour and cocoa powder into the bowl and continue to mix until well-combined. Stir through the chopped walnuts and chocolate.

Form 8 small balls of the mixture and place onto the parchment-lined tray, allowing plenty of space between each one. Use a fork to gently press each one down.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes before removing and allowing to cool. Delicious with just about anything, but dipping into your after-dinner-coffee sounds like the best plan!