cheap eats : mocha cookies

every 3 or 4 weeks i miss a shop and try and 'get by' on what we have in the cupboards. not only to save a couple of pennies, but also to use up those stray meal base packets hanging around at the back of the shelf, and to even try and get creative with what ingredients we do have. look, i'll be honest with you, it normally ends in a phone call to nan asking what i can make with such and such. but if i'm not calling nan, i normally dig out the cheap eats recipe book {women's weekly}.

this recipe is from that book. be warned, it's not the healthiest of foods and probably not something you would pack in your child's lunch box. but if you're a coffee and biscuit lover, you'll probably love it!

150g butter, softened
3/4 cup {165g} firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons instant coffee granules
1 tablespoon hot water
1 1/2 cups {225g} plain flour
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
20 dark chocolate melts

{1} preheat oven to 180/160c fan-forced. grease and line two oven trays with baking paper.

{2} beat butter, sugar, egg yolk and combined coffee and water in small bowl with electric mixer until smooth. transfer mixture to large bowl; stir in sifted flour and cocoa, in two batches. knead dough on floured surface until smooth.

{3} roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls; place 5cm apart on trays, flatten slightly. press 1 chocolate melt into centre of each cookie; bake about 12 minutes. cool cookies on trays.

next time i will use milk chocolate instead of dark chocolate melts, the dark was too much for me. and my oven isn't the best, so my cookies were in there for about 20 minutes.

do you have a favourite 'cheap' meal you like to cook? or a recipe book you use often? does anyone use the 4 ingredients book? i see there is a kids version of that out now too.