Jade: Bitemycraisins

I remember reading about berries in my Enid Blyton book collection~strawberries and cream..blueberry pies..blackberry picking..In my 6-year old head, berries were akin to magic fruits. They sounded so mouthwateringly juicy and sweet...I imagined them to be like the best grape soda, the best strawberry jelly and the sweetest candy all rolled into one giant flavour explosion. And then I had my first real strawberry.........it was sour, mushy and not very juicy...I nearly cried. I've never liked berries since....and every time I come across an Enid Blyton story detailing how much of a treat berries are, I give the offensive passage the evil eye.

So when I came across a pack of craisins/ dried cranberries today, it took me a good 10 minutes to decide whether or not to reopen old wounds and give berries a second chance. My love of festivities won....they just looked so red and shiny and christmasy! And as much as it pains me to say this, they are actually quite good~soft and moist...sweet with a slightly tart ending...and a lovely change from the usual raisins. Just the dried ones though...baby steps...

White chocolate and craisin cookies~ so Christmasy!

227g butter

3/4 cup sugar [ I still found mine too sweet...but that's just me. I drink my coffee without sugar]

230g cream cheese

250g flour

1 cup white chocolate chips/chunks

1 cup craisins, roughly chopped

Pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees.

2. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy

3. Add softened cream cheese and mix. The thing about cream cheese is it becomes really runny if you overbeat it. So do what I do, beat it with your mixer for about 5 seconds and then use a spatula to mix it properly, smooshing it into your butter and sugar mixture.

4. Add flour and fold.

5. Fold in chocolate and craisins.

6. Form balls..depending how large you want your cookies to be, flatten them and place on a cookie sheet.

7. Bake for about 15-20 minutes.

8. These cookies smell amazing...but be patient..let them cool completely. And try not to finish them in one go ;)