Sunday, December 20, 2015

Dark Chocolate Fingers


I do like to dunk cookies and donuts into coffee. However, one is not to take the whole "dunking" thing too lightly when it comes to cookies.There is special consideration to be taken before you undergo this task. The first choice you have to make is the beverage...an ice cold glass of milk or tea versus hot tea or coffee. Then choose a cookie that will withstand the dunk. It will need to have some snap and crunchiness to it. No one enjoys soggy cookies crumbs floating in their drink.

With these crispy cookies, you will have the best of both ends.They have is a plain end for dunking and the another end for enjoying double the chocolate. The chocolate coated end is a not only delicious but the texture clash of creamy vs crunchy is hard to resist.

This recipe makes about 26 cookies. Now let's move on to the recipe so you will have that chocolate fix....

Dark Chocolate Fingers
adapted from The Perfect Afternoon Tea Recipe Book

Ingredients
4 tbs corn syrup
1/4 cup butter/cubed
5 oz dark chocolate (bar or chips)
chocolate sprinkles
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup flour
pinch of baking powder
2 tbs dutch cocoa powder

Whisk together the cocoa powder, baking powder, flour and sugar in a medium size bowl. Pour in the corn syrup and add the butter cubes. Combine using a pastry cutter or wooden spoon. Mixture should form a chocolate dough. If it is too dry, add 1 tsp of corn syrup and blend until dough consistency is achieved.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Then cover the bottom interior of 2 baking sheets using parchment paper. Also, roll out 20 inches in length of parchment paper and cut. Fold over and place on a flat surface.

Place the dough between the folded parchment paper. Roll dough until it forms an even 7 x 9 inch rectangle. Unfold parchment and trim edges of dough so it is a perfect rectangle. Take the scraps and place on top of rectangle and roll lightly to smooth out top. This will keep you from wasting dough.

Next, cut the dough in half by running a sharp knife across the center, parallel to the longest side. The cut each half into 13 slices. Each slice will be a little under 3/4" wide and 3 1/2 inches long. Place 13 slices on each baking sheet, spacing evenly apart.

Place each sheet in oven to bake until crisp, which is about 15 minutes. Rotate pans halfway through baking. At the end of the baking time, transfer cookies from sheet to cooling rack.

Set up a double boiler to melt the chocolate. Once the water starts to simmer, fill the top pot with the chocolate. Also lay a sheet of wax paper on a flat surface. After the chocolate is melted and the cookies have cooled, dip one end of the cookies into the chocolate. Then lay on the flat surface to dry and put some chocolate sprinkles on top, you are ready to dunk and enjoy some chocolate!
                                              **LAST YEAR: Eggnog Chiffon Pie**