RECIPE: Mini Chocolate-dipped Viennese Cookies

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls… it’s time for a new recipe!

Rather than sticking to my usual Chocolate Chip cookies, I decided to try something new. Well, I’m glad I did, because the recipe was a success!

Presenting to you my rendition of Mini Chocolate-dipped Viennese Cookies.

Phew, that was quite a mouthful. But, fret not, these cookies will fit into your mouth without a problem.

I’ll start off with the recipe, rather than keeping you twitching impatiently on the edge of your chair. I would recommend that you keep reading though, as I leave some tips in the later parts of the post.

Mini Chocolate-dipped Viennese Cookies
by Antoliya
(Recipe based on Choc-tipped Cookies from Fabulous Cookies by Hilsire Walden)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup margarine (I used SoftBrand)
3 slightly heaped tablespoons of light muscovado sugar, sifted
1 1/4 cups plain flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
100g milk chocolate

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 180 Celsius.
2. Line your baking tray(s) with baking paper. You don’t need to grease the sheets. (but you can if you have loads of time on your hands, I chose not to)
3. Cream the margarine and sugar until very soft. Then mix in the sifted flour and vanilla essence.
4. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a mini star-shaped nozzle and pipe the cookies into the shapes you desire.
5. Bake the cookies for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Let them cool completely.
6. Melt the chocolate in a small bowl submerged in a larger bowl filled with boiling water. (This is so simple really, you can’t go wrong!)
7. Dip the cookies into the melted chocolate, coating as much as you desire. You could coat both ends or just one end, or the entire cookie!
8. Place the dipped cookies on the baking paper, and leave in the fridge for the chocolate to set.

Switch things up!
-You could dip the melted chocolate in sprinkles to make it even prettier
-Make round cookies, and sandwich the melted chocolate in the centre instead
-Add cocoa powder to the batter to get double chocolate viennese cookies

Antoliya’s notes:
-You can just use a normal sized nozzle if you are making normal sized cookies
-If your batter is a little dry and crumbly, add in milk till the batter becomes jsut firm enough to stick together, but make sure it’s not too wet.

I decided to make them mini, since they would be easier to pop into your mouth. Just be careful not to count how many there are, cause before you know it, half of them will be in your tummy. You could always make them with whatever sized nozzle you have. But if they are larger, you may have to bake them for awhile longer to ensure that they are crisp.

I used a star-shaped mini piping nozzle, and simply piped the cookie batter into thin lines. I even decided to unleash my artistic skills as you can see in the photo above. I’m particularly proud of the two squiggles on the top left. They look so elegant, don’t you think?

After baking, they look something like this. You see the darker coloured cookies at the bottom? I just added some cocoa powder into the batter to get chocolate flavoured cookies.

Okay, my guilty conscience won’t let me go. I was just pulling your leg. I actually over-baked those cause I got distracted when I was watching the telly. BUT, I’m sure you could stir in some cocoa-powder if you want to make these double chocolate-dipped viennese cookies.

After dipping your cookies in the melted chocolate, line them up neatly on your baking paper like I did above. Then place them in the fridge before you go crazy and eat them all. Of course, you must reward yourself for your hard work, so feel free to pop a few cookies while the chocolate is still warm and melty. They taste divine. Trust me, I tell you this from experience.

They look like adorable little matchsticks. These cookies turned out really well, I would go as far as to say that they are the best cookies I have ever made. My mother even said that they tasted as good as the store-bought versions. Marks and Spencers’ Chocolate Dipped Digestives anyone?

If you are big on health, why not dip your cookies into dark chocolate instead? You can even dip the dark chocolate into dessicated coconut for some added nutrition! (Not to mention how pretty they will look)

Hope you guys will enjoy making this recipe, and do tag me in your creations so that I can see the yummy designs you guys have created! If you have instagram, just #antoliya if you want me to check out your recipes 🙂

More importantly, just have fun, you can never go wrong with cookies.

HEALTHY IN A HURRY: Chewy Fudgey PB-Naner bake.

Its time for another recipe!

Chewy Fudgey PB-Naner Bake
Tweaked from the creative gingergirl

Here’s what you’ll need:
2 tbsp oats
2 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
Sprinkle of cinnamon
1 small banana (about 1/3 cup mashed)
1 tsp ground peanuts
1 tsp peanut butter

Instructions:
1) Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius. (Or if you’re using a toaster oven like I did, just preheat it)
2) Grease your baking tin.
3) Mix the oats, flour, baking powder and cinnamon together before adding the mashed banana and ground peanuts.
4) Spread it out on your baking tin and bake for 10 minutes. (If you’re using a toaster oven, bake for <10mins)
5) Top it off with the peanut butter while its hot so it can melt nicely. Enjoy while its fresh out of the oven!

Disclaimer: This makes a very small portion.. So I recommend doubling it or even tripling it 🙂

Switch things up!
-You could make a double portion, and layer with PB and Jam.
-Add fruits between layers for bursts of sweet juiciness.
-Throw in some chocolate chips to up the decadence level.

HEALTHY IN A HURRY: Pesto Pasta and Garlic Roasted Carrots

Starving? Now, wait just a minute before you reach out for that pack of crisps or that bar of chocolate. This delicious recipe comes together in mere minutes, and the only cooking you’ll be doing is boiling the pasta. So put all that processed junk food down, and whip up something that your body will thank you for.

Pesto Pasta and Garlic Roasted Carrots

Here’s what you’ll need:

For the pesto pasta

1 serving of cooked pasta

1 tbsp of pesto (more or less to your liking)

Garlic powder

Parmesan Cheese

For the garlic roasted carrots

Garlic powder

1 carrot (sliced into carrot coins)

Ground basil

Olive oil

 

Instructions:

For the pesto pasta

1) Put the cooked pasta and pesto in a heated pan and give it a good ol’ stir

2) Sprinkle some garlic powder and parmesan cheese for extra flavor.

3) Plate it, and dig in 🙂

For the garlic roasted carrots

1) Steam the carrot ‘coins’ for about 10 minutes

2) Pat dry the carrots, and coat in olive oil, basil and garlic powder

3) Roast the carrots in a small toaster oven for about 5-10 minutes

-Serve the carrots along with the pesto pasta, and top with more parmesan cheese (if you like).

 

Switch things up!

-Feel free to add other toppings like cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach etc.

NOW DIG IN TO YOUR HEALTHY AND SCRUMPDILLYUMPTIOUS MEAL.

What’s best about this recipe is that you can just tweak it to suit your tastes (notice how I didn’t give specific measurements?) That’s what cooking is about! Experimenting with flavors that you love.

The sharpness of the cheese and garlic pairs perfectly with the crunchy carrots and al dente pasta, is a sure fire way to get your taste buds tingling.

Hope you enjoy this meal as much as I did.