Emma, from the UK, shares a new recipe with us…
What did you make?
A lovely treat for all the family. Mine are sandwiched together with a white chocolate ganache but there are so many different fillings that could go with this delicious biscuit. I’ve put some examples in the TIPS section below.
Ingredients:
- 225g butter, softened
- 140g caster sugar
- 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 250g plain flour
- 25g cocoa powder
- 100g plain chocolate, very finely chopped
For the filling:
- 125ml double cream
- 200g white chocolate, broken into pieces
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 190°C and line baking trays with greaseproof paper.
- Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and mix well with a wooden spoon. Beat in the egg and vanilla until combined.
- Sift in the flour and cocoa powder and mix. Add the plain chocolate and mix together until thoroughly combined.
- Scoop up tablespoons of the mixture and roll into balls. Place them on the prepared trays, spaced well apart. Make sure you have an even number of cookies.
- Using the back of a spoon, gently flatten and smooth the tops of each biscuit. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, until light golden brown. Leave to cool on the trays for 10 minutes before gently transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the filling: put the cream and chocolate together in a microwavable bowl and microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring each time, until the mixture is completely melted. Leave to cool then put in the fridge for 4 hours (ideally overnight).
- Whip the mixture with electric whisks for a couple of minutes or until thickened slightly and spreadable.
- Spread the mixture onto one of the cookies and place another one on top to sandwich them together. Keep in a sealed container and eat within 3 days.
TIPS:
The mixture will not resemble a thick cookie dough so don’t worry if yours looks soft. You don’t want to scoop heaped tablespoons of the mixture, they don’t want to be too big as they mix will spread slightly and you will have some giant cookie sandwiches. They want to be around the size of a walnut. When flattening them, I found dipping your spoon in water helped to stop the mix sticking to the spoon.
After sandwiching the biscuits together, I put them in the fridge for about half an hour just to let the filling set. Ganache is usually made by boiling the cream in a pan and stirring in the white chocolate once removed from the heat. If you would prefer to do it this way that’s fine! I just find making ganache in the microwave a lot easier and quicker. 🙂
Different fillings you could use: sticking with the white chocolate, add a splash of lemon juice to add a citric burst. For a more sweet tooth, try adding caramel. Or finely chop up some strawberries for a fruit hit.
Don’t like white chocolate, milk or dark chocolate will be fine, just slightly adjust the amount of chocolate added by putting in 160g instead. (If the mix feels too thin, just add in a bit more melted chocolate). You could then add some orange for one of my favourite flavour combinations ever.
If you are not a fan of ganache, buttercream will work just fine.
Happy baking and stay safe.
Tell us a bit about yourself…
I’m Emma and baking and cake decorating is my passion. I’m hoping to one day turn this into a business, but at the moment, I’m enjoying sharing my treats with family and friends.
How are you finding these recent weeks being indoors a lot?
As the weeks go on, we have slowly started to get into a nice routine in the lockdown. Get up, get dressed, breakfast, dogs walked, school work, craft time, lunchtime, and so on, and so on. This does, however, mean all the days are blending into one! Haha, this is now starting to feel like normal life – I keep having to remind myself it isn’t, so I’m not shocked when we do back to our more accustomed lifestyle.
Do you have any tips that may help others in the Housebound With Kids community?
What I do have to keep telling myself at the minute, while I break up the 10th argument of the day, while I tidy the living room from toys and clutter for the 4th time, while I’m trying to do a grown-up task which keeps getting interrupted with a very loud “MUM” from another room. I tell myself to breathe, count to ten, and breath. The children don’t want to be under each other’s feet, the children don’t want to be bored, none of this is their fault or choice. Just breathe, keep calm, take five, and try to carry on the best you can. No one is handling this perfectly.
Housebound with kids is a great community where you can find projects, tips, and ideas to keep the children entertained during these hard times.
