Imagine you’re curled on a sheepskin rug in  front of a roaring fire.  Imagine you’re snuggled in the arms of your significant other, both clad in chunky woollen jumpers.  Imagine a pot of spiced coffee bubbling away over the fire, the air rich with the scent of cinnamon and nutmeg.  Now imagine all of that in cookie form.  You’re welcome.

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

• 125g dark chocolate
• 150g plain flour
• 30g cocoa
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 125g/4oz unsalted butter
• 75g light brown sugar
• 50g golden caster sugar
• 1tsp finely ground coffee
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 free-range egg

For the chestnut buttercream:

• 100g pre-cooked chestnuts
• 100mls double cream
• 50g unsalted butter
• 150g icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 – 3 grinds of black pepper (trust me)

Method:

For the cookies:

Preheat your oven to 170C

Melt the chocolate in a pan set over barely simmering water, stirring occasionally.

Place the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda, cocoa and coffee in a large bowl and mix together.

Cream the butter and sugars together in a separate bowl using an electric mixer on a high setting until pale and fluffy, then mix in the melted chocolate.

Stir in the vanilla extract and the egg, then stir in the dry ingredients until combined.

Divide into 12 equal portions (I used a small icecream scoop) and place on two lined baking trays.

Bake in the oven for 15 – 20 minutes until beautiful and cracked on the top but still slightly gooey.  Allow to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

For the chestnut buttercream:

Place the chestnuts and cream in a small pan and heat on a medium heat until the chestnuts are soft and easy to mash with the back of a wooden spoon (about 10 minutes)

Pop the chestnuts and cream in an electric mixer and mix on high with the paddle attachment until smooth-ish (it will retain a ‘nutty’ texture).  Add in the butter and blend until incorporated before adding in the icing sugar (add the sugar in in two or three goes to prevent a sugar blizzard!).  Leave to blitz away for a few minutes until light and fluffy and finally add in the spices towards the end.

To finish:

Sandwich two cookies together with a generous dollop of chestnut cream.  Serve with a mug of strong coffee and eat whilst wearing a big woolly jumper.

This recipe was developed from lovely Nigella Lawson’s Intense Chocolate Cookies recipe.