biscuits

Chocolate Viennese Sandwich Biscuits

14 Comments / biscuits, chocolate, The Ordinary Cook, vegetarian /

You could be genteel and call these Chocolate Viennese Sandwich Biscuits, or you could be my husband and ask me how I made the Bourbons.

Either way they are really good.  They manage to be very light and very chocolatey all at the same time.  Viennese biscuits are usually piped but I tried and failed on that score.  The mixture refused to come out of the piping bag.  I think the nozzle might have been too small, or the mixture too stiff, I couldn’t decide.  So plan B was put into action and teaspoonfuls were flattened by the tines of a fork.  Maybe not so beautiful but perfectly adequate.

I was feeling in need of an indulgent treat (to be fair it’s not often that I don’t feel the need for an indulgent treat) so I made a frosting to sandwich the biscuits together, but you could just make the biscuits and they would still be delicious.

They were a big hit with Mr OC and the girls and so will be regularly produced from now on, of that I have no doubt.

For the biscuits:

110g (4oz) butter
50g (2oz) icing sugar, sifted
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
25g (1oz) cocoa powder
110g (4oz) plain flour
25g (1oz) cornflour

Method
Cream the butter and the icing sugar together until fluffy.  Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat well.  Sift together the cocoa, plain flour and the cornflour over the mixture and mix well to form a dough.

If you can pipe it, then pipe it into pretty rosettes, or if you are like me, then drop teaspoonfuls onto a lightly greased baking sheet and flatten slightly with a fork.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180°c, gas mark 4 or on the middle of the Baking Oven of the Aga for 12-15 minutes.  Allow to cool on the tray for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire tray to cool completely.

For the frosting:

50g (2oz) butter, softened
110g (4oz) icing sugar
25g (1oz) chocolate, melted

Method
Beat the  butter until smooth and then add the icing sugar and beat together well.  Add the melted chocolate and beat again until smooth and fluffy.

Use this frosting to sandwich two of the biscuits together for a proper indulgent treat.

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Chocolate, oat and almond biscuits

1 Comment / biscuits, chocolate /

choc oat cookie

These are really good substantial biscuits with big chunks of chocolate.  They are easy to make and quick to cook, so a batch can be made in half an hour.  I have invented this recipe to suit people who cannot tolerate flour in their diet, they do contain oats though so if these are a no-no too you could just up the amount of ground almonds that you use to 7 oz (200g) instead of the mixture of oats and almonds.  Doing this will mean that the cookies won’t have such a satisfying texture but I am sure they will be just as good.

I am always in search of the perfect chocolate biscuit recipe, some are just too sweet, but not these they are just lovely and chocolatey and crunchy.

Makes about 15 biscuits

4oz (110g) softened butter
40z (110g) dark soft brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
4oz (110g) ground almonds
3oz (75g) porridge oats
1 oz (25g) cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
4oz (110g) chopped chocolate (dark, milk or white or a mixture, whichever floats your boat)

Method
Preheat the oven to 180°c (gas mark 4, 350°f) and grease two baking sheets with a smear of butter.

Cream the softened butter and sugar together by beating either with an electric whisk or with a wooden spoon until the mixture is light and fluffy.  Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat again until well combined.  Add the ground almonds, porridge oats, cocoa and baking powder and mix well.  Add the chopped chocolate and stir until combined.

Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto the greased baking sheets, leaving room between for the biscuits to spread.  Place the trays into the centre of the oven and bake for about 12-14 mins until the mixture looks set.  Leave the biscuits on the trays for 10 minutes and then place onto a cake rack and leave to cool.

Make a cup of tea, sit down and enjoy!

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