NOW PLAYING: WITCHES OF EAST END WITH DOUBLE CHOCOLATE ESPRESSO COOKIES

 “Most people buy the highest quality television sets, only to watch the lowest quality television shows.
”

― Jarod Kintz

 

Next in my list of shows I'm watching is Witches of East End, a sort of Charmed beta version. I loved Charmed when I was a pre-teen with no friends and an embarrassingly high CGPA in New York. Alyssa Milano's crop tops and wedge heels held more sartorial significance for me than Sarah Jessica Parker ever would.

 

So back to Witches of East End, 2 sisters with little in common (one works in a library, the other at the local dive - yeah they aren't subtle on this show) discover they're actually witches. Their powers have been kept secret by their mother for a very complicated reason I'll let you watch the show to figure out. Unsurprisingly, upon discovering these powers the sisters set about trying to navigate love and life while fulfilling their destiny to be super-duper queen bee witches. A process which costs them a few friends - people die quite regularly on the show but the tone never dips below cappuccino froth. The show would drown in its own clichés if it wasn't for the hot, hilarious (and oft naked) Aunt Wendy who lights up every scene she's in.

 

The women are the usual, as witches on TV go, but their characters are more full and funny than most. Unfortunately the men are mere props for them to cast spells on, around or for. Basically a good old fashioned soap that doesn't take itself too seriously for when you want to swap out your day to day drama for some magical gobbledegook.

 

Will you be entertained? 4/5

Does it make sense? 2/5

Is it full of good looking people? 4/5

Is anyone going to get an Emmy? 1/5

 

Just like Witches of East End, these double chocolate espresso cookies make for a great guilty pleasure. The coffee offers a nice, strong, background for the crunch of the cookie and the puddles of chocolate chunks to play.

Makes more than a dozen big cookies

Recipe adapted from the Naptime Chef

 

What you’ll need:

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup chocolate chips
2 eggs
2 ½ cups flour
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tbsp espresso powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

How to:

1. Preheat oven to 170°C.

2. Throw butter and sugars into a big bowl and whisk till light and fluffy. Add an egg at a time, mixing till you have a smooth batter.

3. Mix together all the dry ingredients in another bowl and whisk nicely so it’s all well combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet slowly making sure everything is nicely mixed in.

4. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Note: I don’t use chocolate chips because I find them too waxy. This might be because I haven’t found a good brand to use yet. I prefer taking cooking chocolate (try Morde) and chopping it up as small as possible. If you don’t want to chop so much then put the chocolate slab in a bag and beat it with a hammer till it splinters into small enough pieces. This has 3 benefits – 1. You can use up the chocolate sitting in your fridge and don’t need to buy another product because lord knows baking is expensive enough, 2. The random shapes give the cookie a much more grown up and rustic look instead of the preciousness of those silly little chocolate chips, and 3. The uneven chunks melt into puddles of chocolate within the cookie for a much richer taste.

5. Roll into cookies and bake for 10 to 12 mins.

Note: I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, rolling these bastards into cookies isn’t as easy as it seems. Stick them in the fridge for a little while to firm the batter up, use a spoon to scoop the batter out and keep your hands floured. With all these precautions you’re still going to end up making a mess but you’ll realize how much harder it would have been without doing all this.

 
6. Let them cool completely before devouring.