White Chocolate, Cranberry and Pistachio Cookies

The Journey of The Magi

T.S. Eliot, 1888 – 1965

A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.’
And the camels galled, sorefooted, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
and running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty and charging high prices:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arriving at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you might say) satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.

White Chocolate, Cranberry and Pistachio CookiesWhite Chocolate, Cranberry and Pistachio CookiesWhite Chocolate, Cranberry and Pistachio Cookies

My son was rearranging our nativity set today, and sagely placed the wise men a few yards away, because, as he said, “They didn’t arrive yet.” The Journey of the Magi. Some say it’s a Christmas poem, and I suppose it is. It certainly sheds a different light on the story of the three wise men, and their journey to find the infant king in Bethlehem. I recently read a synopsis on-line that suggested the poem is less about the Magi than it is about all of us, navigating the scariness of change and transition. Sounds about right to me!

White Chocolate, Cranberry and Pistachio CookiesWhite Chocolate, Cranberry and Pistachio CookiesWhite Chocolate, Cranberry and Pistachio Cookies

Change in one form or another is a constant, but I was reflecting just the other night, how this past year has been a year of firsts. Not that every year as a parent isn’t; it’s just that you get accustomed to having your child constantly with you, dependent on you… and then before you know it, they’re off to preschool and you have some time to yourself. Then, another year, another transition as they grow ever more independent, and they’re ready for school… which opens up all kinds of possibilities for the stay-at-home mum.

White Chocolate, Cranberry and Pistachio Cookies

These changes, rarely chosen but always inevitable, can be exciting and scary all at once; for any one of us, children and adults alike. In any change, but especially the deepest kind – transformation – there is both birth and death. The last few lines of the poem resonate.

“… were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.”

White Chocolate, Cranberry and Pistachio Cookies

Every ending is also a new beginning.

White Chocolate, Cranberry and Pistachio Cookies

White Chocolate, Cranberry and Pistachio Cookies
These wonderfully chewy chocolate chip cookies are loaded with the cheerful colours of Christmas and easily veganised!

Makes about 48

Ingredients
115g (1 stick/4 oz) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature*
6 tablespoons sunflower seed oil or other neutral oil
1 ½ cups brown sugar, firmly packed
½ cup white (granulated) sugar
2 large eggs or 6 tablespoons aquafaba**
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups plain wholemeal (whole wheat) flour
1 cup plain (all-purpose) flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking (bicarb) soda
½ teaspoon sea salt
240g (1 ½ cups) white chocolate chips or a block, coarsely chopped (I used both)***
¾ cup dried cranberries, coarsely chopped
¾ cup pistachios, coarsely chopped
Sea salt flakes for the tops (optional)

Method
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees F). Line a baking sheet with baking paper or a silpat.

With an electric hand mixer, or in an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream your butter, oil, and sugars on medium speed until fully incorporated.

Add the eggs and vanilla and mix on medium until everything is well blended.

In a medium bowl, sift together wholemeal flour, plain flour, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt.

Dump the flour mixture into the butter mixture and mix on low until the cookie dough is barely blended. You still want to see streaks of flour. Take the bowl out of your stand mixer and fold in the chocolate, dried cranberries and nuts until just mixed.

Roll into balls of about 2 tablespoons each and allow about 2 inches of space between the dough balls. Freeze the dough balls for about 10 minutes prior to baking (while this step is optional, it helps the cookies maintain their shape whilst baking).

Bake the cookies for about 12-13 minutes, rotating trays halfway through cooking time. Fresh out of the oven, sprinkle with the sea salt flakes. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes post baking and then move to a cooling rack to finish cooling down.

Notes
Adapted from the Displaced Housewife

I’ve made a vegan version of these, and they are very, very good. I would have done so again, but couldn’t find dairy-free chocolate in time for this blog post!

*unsalted butter can be replaced with vegan butter or margarine
**aquafaba is an excellent substitute for eggs in this recipe
***use dairy-free white chocolate, if desired

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