Rosemary, lemon and white chocolate cookies

I received the Flavour Thesaurus by Nicki Segnit for Christmas and I was thinking about making cookies with a savoury twist so I looked up flavour combinations with rosemary. We have lots of rosemary growing in the garden (I moved it to a new location yesterday – I hope it survives the move!) so I went and picked a bit and added it to these delicious cookies. No cookie would be complete without chocolate, and according to the flavour thesaurus, lemon goes with rosemary and chocolate – so that is how these cookies were born (with a little help from a Hummingbird bakery recipe, to form the basis of the cookie batter)!

Rosemary, lemon and white chocolate cookies

Makes 10–12 cookies


135 g unsalted butter
80 g caster sugar
80 g soft light brown sugar
1 egg
190 g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
zest of half a lemon
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
100 g dried cranberries
70 g white chocolate chips
3 sprigs of rosemary (about the size pictured), finely chopped.

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius (325 degrees Farenheit) and line to baking trays with parchment or greaseproof paper. Cream together the butter and both sugars, then break in the egg, add the lemon zest and rosemary and mix well.

Sift together the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda, then add to the creamed mixture in two batches, mixing thoroughly until a dough forms. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Break off pieces of the dough (about 2 tablespoons in size) and toll them into balls before placing them on the baking tray. Allow about six cookies per tray and space them as far apart as possible. Place in the oven and bake for 15–20 minutes until the cookies are a light golden on top. Leave on the sheet for about 10 minutes to cool and set (if you can resist it!) before transferring to a wire rack.

Pad Thai

I love Pad Thai – the delicious sweet and savoury noodle combination is always a winner. I love that there's filling egg mixed in with the noodles! You could use silken tofu in place of the egg to get that eggy texture. I haven't tried that yet... I have made my version with firm tofu (in addition to the egg) and, although it may not be the most authentic, it is made using ingredients that are available from most supermarkets.

Like most stir-fry-type recipes, this is pretty fast-paced so have all your ingredients to hand and be prepared to give it your full attention! It does mean that a delicious dinner can be on the table within 20 minutes – faster than an oven-baked ready-meal! I can't beat that pesky microwave though...

Pad Thai
Serves 2


120 g rice noodles
1/2 a bell pepper
1/2 a pack of firm tofu cut into cubes
4 spring onions (or "scallions" to my American readers)
2 eggs

1 lime
1 tbsp Thai fish sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
Peanuts (unsalted or roasted and salted - your choice; chopped)
Coriander (or "cilantro"! to serve)


Start by chopping the bell pepper, spring onions and tofu, taking care to dry the tofu cubes on some kitchen roll. Boil some water in a pan and soak the rice noodles (they should be cooked by the time you need to use them – you could soak them in a saucepan and if they're not quite done, boil them for a minute or two).

Warm up a wok with a couple of teaspoons of oil. When hot add the spring onions and peppers and fry for a minute. Add the tofu and fry for a further 2 minutes. Add the fish sauce, sugar and rice-wine vinegar. Add the noodles and stir to coat. Move the contents of the wok to one side and quickly add both eggs. Leave the noodles where they are while the eggs cook – stir them to scramble them. When they're separated into egg-bits (after a minute or two), stir them through the noodles. Taste and add more sugar or fish sauce.

Serve in bowls and squeeze a quarter of a lime over each bowl. Put the other quarter of a lime at the edge of the noodles. Sprinkle the peanuts and coriander over the top in an artistic flourish!

NB: I just realised this isn't vegetarian - darn that fish sauce! For Veggies, use soy sauce instead.