Double Chocolate and Crunchy Nut Christmas Biscuits
These delicious chocolate biscuits, topped with intense melted chocolate and crunchy caramelised nuts, are perfect for pre-Christmas gatherings.
Chocolatier’s Tip
You can get creative with your cookie cutters and create other festive shapes such as stars and angels. You can also use rounds and hearts if you are enjoying these biscuits at other times of the year.
Makes 25-30 biscuits
Lindt EXCELLENCE Dark 70% Bar 100g
Medium
Ingredients
- 250 g butter, diced
- 150 g caster sugar
- 1 large egg
- 400 g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- Pinch of salt
- To decorate:
- 200 g roasted and salted peanuts
- 2 tbsp runny honey
- 2-3 tbsp water
- Pinch of cinnamon
- 150 g Lindt EXCELLENCE 70% Cocoa Dark Chocolate, chopped
- Edible gold flakes, optional
Method
Step 1.
In an electric mixer, bring together the butter, sugar, egg, flour, cocoa powder and a pinch of salt until you have a smooth dough. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for about 1 hour.
Step 2.
Preheat the oven to 180C/160 Fan. Line a couple of baking sheets with greaseproof paper.
Step 3.
Roughly chop the peanuts and tip into a heat-proof bowl.
Step 4.
Pour the honey into a saucepan with the water and cinnamon. Bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and pour over the chopped peanuts. Stir to coat.
Step 5.
Tip onto the prepared baking sheet and spread out in an even layer. Bake in the oven for about 8-10 minutes until caramelised and golden. Leave to cool completely.
Step 6.
Lightly dust a work surface with flour before rolling out the dough to about 5 mm thick. Stamp out Christmas tree shaped cookies and transfer onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving a couple of cm between each one.
Step 7.
Bake for about 12 minutes or until cooked. Leave to cool on the sheets for 5 minutes before using a palette knife to carefully transfer onto wire racks to finish cooling completely.
Step 8.
Meanwhile, put the chopped chocolate in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for 15 minutes.
Step 9.
Brush the melted chocolate over the cooled cookies, sprinkle with the caramelised nuts and edible gold flakes, if using. Leave to set.
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