No-egg Chocolate Cracked Cookies

With our holiday fast approaching and K concerns about her blog falling asleep I thought I would cast my hat into the ring also to give her a hand. As the male of the house I am usually the mysterious figure in the background in this blog so it’s nice to make a guest ‘in person’ for in this instance.

As K has alluded to previously I have a small (ok . . . large) sweet tooth. So when the regular work morning tea came around again I felt obliged to find another variation of a gooey chocolate delight to share. There were so many choices but I have always been fascinated by the look of the white ‘cracked’ biscuits. They always remind me of been a child and making Christmas decorations with my mum by spray painting pine cones etc to decoration the house or for the wreath on the front door.

The tricky part for the morning tea was that K decreed that I must make enough for her to take some also to work. The only very ‘easy’ limit she placed on my choice of recipe was that it must not have egg in it. Grrr, so rather than throwing out my plan (and everyone knows that with me being a Taurus I am bloody stubborn) I pulled out the no-egg replacer powder and continued un-phased. I was pleasantly surprise that the cookies turned out perfect and would thoroughly recommend them.

There were numerous recipes online for this type of cookie, but many just seemed more fiddly than I wanted for 10pm at night or had nuts (which would also not work due to other work colleagues). In the end the one below was the one I went with; available from taste.com .au at http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/544/chocolate+crackle+top+biscuits

It so easy and quick. The best part it looks cool and is nice and gooey soft.

Enjoy,

R

Ingredients

50g butter, chopped

100g good-quality dark chocolate

1 egg, at room temperature (obviously, I used egg replacer here)

1/2 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup plain flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

2/3 cup pure icing sugar

Method

1. Place butter and 50g chocolate in a heatproof, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave, uncovered, on medium-high for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring every minute with a metal spoon, or until melted and smooth.

2. Using an electric mixer, beat egg and brown sugar in a small bowl on high speed until thick. Stir in chocolate mixture.

3. Sift flour, baking powder and cocoa over chocolate mixture. Mix well.

4. Chop remaining chocolate into small pieces. Stir into dough. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until firm enough to roll.

5. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Roll heaped teaspoonfuls of dough into balls. Roll in icing sugar to coat. Place biscuits on trays, allowing room to spread.

6. Bake biscuits for 12 minutes or until firm. Stand on trays for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool. Serve.

Tupperware Biscuits

Not actually, you know, made of tupperware. I found this recipe lurking down the back of a tupperware brochure called 'Healthy Lunch Choices'. I admit it. I had a tupperware party. My second! Nobody every asked me to host one, or even invited me to one before I got married. I'm beginning to think of tupperware as a late symptom of a wedding. You know, somewhere between the honeymoon and the children.
Anyhoo... the recipe is actually pretty good. Reminiscent of Anzac biscuits, but a lot more interesting.
Nutty Oat Biscuits
1 Cup plain wholemeal flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/4 Cups rolled oats
1/3 Cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 Cup chopped walnuts
2 1/2 Tbsp pepitas
2 Tbsp sunflower seed kernels
4 tsp sesame seeds
100g olive oil
1/4 Cup golden syrup
2 Tbsp water
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Preheat the oven to 160 C. Line 2 large baking trays with baking paper.
Sift the flour and cinnamon together, returning any husks to the flour. Stir in the rest of the dry ingredients.
Combine the margarine, golden syrup and water in a small saucepan. Warm gently over a medium heat until the margarine melts. Remove from the heat and stir in the bicarb. Add immediately to the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until combined.
With damp hands, roll into walnut sized balls and place about 5cm apart on the trays. Flatten each ball and bake for 20 minutes or until cooked through.
Keep on trays for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.