Chocolate Dipped Pepper Biscuits Food

CHOCOLATE-DIPPED BROWN SUGAR SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Arrange two racks evenly spaced in the oven.
• Place the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on medium speed just until the butter and sugar are combined so you don't whip a lot of air into it. With the mixer on low, add the vanilla and scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and salt. With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter and sugar mixture and mix just until the dough comes together.
• Scoop out 1-ounce pieces of dough (about a tablespoon), roll each one into a ball, then roll it into a 2 1/2-inch-long log. Place the logs 2 inches apart on two sheet pans lined with parchment paper and bake for 15 to 17 minutes, until the cookies start to brown around the edges and spring back when lightly touched. Set aside to cool on the pans.
• For the coating, place the chocolate and the butter in a heatproof bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir the mixture vigorously and continue to microwave in 30-second increments until the chocolate is just melted.
• Drag half of the rounded top of each cookie through the chocolate and place it, chocolate side up, on a piece of parchment paper. While the chocolate is still warm, sprinkle on the pecans. Repeat with all the cookies. Set aside for at least 30 minutes for the chocolate to firm.

CHOCOLATE-DIPPED PEPPER BISCUITS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix the flour, salt, baking powder and pepper in a bowl. Set aside. Grease 2 cookie sheets with 1 tablespoon of the butter. Cream the remaining butter. Gradually add the sugar and continue beating until incorporated. Add the egg, vanilla and 1 tablespoon milk. Add the flour mixture all at once. Beat until smooth.
• Drop a heaping teaspoonful of dough onto the cookie sheets. Shape it into thin strips, 2 inches long. Bake until golden brown, about 10 to 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.
• Place a rack on top of a cookie sheet. Set aside.
• Melt the chocolate and milk together in a double boiler over low heat. Stir until blended.
• Dip the tip of each cookie into the melted chocolate. Lay each cookie on the rack. Refrigerate until the chocolate hardens, about 10 minutes.

DOUBLE-DIPPED SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Beat the butter with the icing sugar using an electric whisk until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and flour (the mixture will stiffen and look like crumble as the flour is added). Add the milk and keep beating until the mixture softens and sticks together (add some more milk if needed).
• Scoop the dough into a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle and pipe swirled rings onto a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. If the mixture is too stiff to pipe easily, you can roll the dough into balls and put them on the sheet instead. The cookies will spread as they cook so don't worry if there's a small gap in the centre of the piped swirls, but ensure there is enough space between each cookie so they don't stick together as they cook. Bake for 15 mins, or until lightly golden, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• Put the white and milk chocolate in separate bowls and microwave each in 20-second bursts until melted. Dip the cookies into each chocolate, milk at one end and white on the other, then let any excess drip off before returning them to the rack to set. Will keep in an airtight tin for up to four days.

EASY CHOCOLATE BISCUITS

Steps:

• Beat the butter and sugar together with an optional pinch of sea salt in a bowl until light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Sift over the flour and cocoa powder and beat into the butter mix, then fold through the chocolate chips. The mix can be made up to 2 days ahead and chilled or frozen for a month, or used straight away.
• To bake, heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. If the mix is at room temperature, place evenly spaced spoonfuls on parchment-lined baking sheets, allowing 2 tbsp for each cookie. If the mix is fridge cold, you can roll it into 40g balls before baking. The balls can be frozen and the biscuits baked from frozen, but they'll need a few minutes more. Bake for 12-15 mins until spread out and crusty around the outside. Leave to cool slightly and enjoy warm, or leave to cool completely and eat cold. The biscuits will keep in a tin for three days.
• As an optional extra, the biscuits can be dipped in chocolate. To do this, melt your chosen type of chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water or in the microwave. Leave to cool a little, then dip half of each biscuit in the chocolate and leave them on parchment-lined trays somewhere cool to set. Again, the dipped biscuits will keep for up to three days in a tin or lidded plastic container.

CHOCOLATE-DIPPED COOKIES

Steps:

• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to medium low; beat in the flour mixture in 2 batches until combined.
• Transfer the batter to a resealable plastic bag and snip the corner to create a 1/2-inch opening. Pipe the batter into 1/2-by-3-inch strips, about 2 inches apart, on the prepared baking sheets. Bake, switching the pans halfway through, until the cookies are golden around the edges, about 15 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment. Put the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring, until smooth. Dip the cookies halfway in the chocolate, letting the excess drip off, then place on the prepared baking sheet. Refrigerate until the chocolate just sets, 10 to 15 minutes.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE SHORTBREAD FINGERS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and line 2 baking sheets with baking parchment. Put the butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric hand whisk for about 5 mins until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and beat again until fully incorporated.
• Sift in the flour, cornflour and baking powder, and fold into the mixture using a spatula until combined (the dough should have a tacky consistency). Spoon the dough into a piping bag fitted with a large star-shaped nozzle. If all the mixture doesn't fit, do it in 2 batches.
• Pipe 10cm long, 1.5cm wide fingers onto the baking sheets, making sure there are 3cm spaces between each finger. Bake for 8-10 mins, swapping the trays over halfway through the cooking time, until pale golden and cooked through. Leave to cool on the baking sheets for a few mins, then transfer to wire racks.
• Melt the chocolate separately over a pan of gently simmering water (making sure that the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water) or in the microwave in short bursts, stirring every 15 secs or so. Dip 1 end of the shortbread fingers into the bowl of milk chocolate and the other end in the white chocolate. Leave to set on baking parchment before serving.