Raspberry and White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Okay, I seem to be getting a bit lax in my updates, which I really have no excuse for since I don't have a job at the moment.  So here's that other white chocolate biscuit recipe I mentioned in the last post, only this one has condensed milk as a core ingredient and also contains raspberries, something that my darling fiancé really likes.  Hence when I got a chance to go to the big supermarket in town, I snapped up a box of them for making biscuits.  I was also pleased to find that that particular supermarket did in fact sell the tubes of condensed milk, meaning I didn't have to break open my large tin of it.  Now I can save that for something else.  (I was amused that the tube had the recipe I was using on.  Pleased too, since it meant I didn't have to sit my laptop in the kitchen to read the company's website I had originally found the recipe on.)

These biscuits are quite soft.  I may have made mine just a little too big, since they're extra soft in the middle whilst the rest is just right and the base is nicely brown but not burnt.  Next time I would make them a little smaller.  I would probably put fewer on the tray too since they do spread a lot.  Since they're so soft when they come out, it's easy to separate them all but you end up with funny square biscuits rather than round ones.  I also tampered with the amount of raspberries and chocolate, because I didn't have quite the numbers needed for each.  But I still feel there was plenty of each per biscuit.

The fiancé loves them though.  They rank high on his favourite things that I've baked.  He likes how the raspberries taste since there is just something about them when they've been slightly cooked that makes them better than when they're raw.  Since they have condensed milk and white chocolate in, they are generally a sweet biscuit, but the tartness of the raspberries will compliment the sweetness. 

Recipe - adapted from Carnation
Makes about 30

• 225g/8oz unsalted butter
• 225g/8oz caster sugar
• 170g/6oz tube Carnation Condensed Milk
• 350g/12oz self-raising flour
• 100g/3.5oz white chocolate
• 150g/5oz raspberries 

1.  Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 and line 2-3 baking sheets with greaseproof paper.
2. Cream together the butter, sugar and condensed milk in a bowl until smooth and pale.
3. Add the flour and mix to form a sticky dough.
4. Chop up the chocolate into chunks and work into the dough.
5. Take a piece of dough about the size of a walnut, roll it into a ball and then flatten it in your hand.  
6. Put 2-3 raspberries in the middle and then fold the dough up around them to form a rough ball.  Place on the baking sheet.
7. Repeat with the rest of the dough and raspberries, making sure to keep the biscuits spaced far apart on the tray (you'll get 6 - 9 on a tray depending on size).
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes.  The edges should be starting to turn golden brown but they will still be a bit soft in the middle.
9. Remove and leave to firm up on the tray for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.  If they have spread and joined up whilst baking, use a knife or similar tool and run it between them once they come out the oven to separate them.