Sunday Independent (Ireland)

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To make these into mint sandwiches — just sandwich the mint filling between two biscuits and dip the entire biscuit in melted chocolate.

Makes 30 cookies.

For the biscuit base, you will need: 220g (7 ¾ oz) ground almonds, plus extra for dusting 3 tablespoon­s coconut oil, at room temperatur­e 1 egg, lightly beaten 3 tablespoon­s honey or maple syrup 1 teaspoon vanilla essence Pinch of sea salt For the mint layer, you will need: 4 tablespoon­s extra-virgin coconut oil or coconut puree 1 tablespoon honey 1 teaspoon spearmint or peppermint extract For the raw chocolate, you will need: 140g (5oz) raw cacao butter, chopped 45g (1 ½ oz) raw cacao powder 4–5 tablespoon­s maple syrup 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180°C, 350°F, Gas 4. Line two baking trays with non-stick

baking paper. To make the biscuit base, put the ground almonds in a large mixing bowl and rub in the coconut oil with your fingertips

until you have fine crumbs. Add the lightly beaten egg, the honey or maple syrup, whichever you’re using, the vanilla essence, and the pinch of sea salt, and mix everything together using your hands. It

should make a wet dough. Sprinkle a clean board with ground almonds. Tip the dough out onto the board and knead it a few times to bring it

together. Pat out the dough until it’s 1 ¼ cm ( ½ in) thick, then cut out 20 biscuits with a cookie cutter, or use the rim of a

small glass. Place the biscuits on the lined baking trays. Using your thumb, gently press a well into

the centre of each biscuit, being careful not to press the whole way through. Bake them in the oven for 20 minutes, until they are golden on top. The centre dip may rise a little, but don’t worry, it will drop when the biscuits cool; if it doesn’t, gently press it back down. Cool the biscuits on a wire

rack for at least 15 minutes. Meanwhile, put all the ingredient­s for the mint layer in a bowl and mix together until it forms a smooth paste. Using a teaspoon,

fill the wells of the cooled biscuits with the mint paste, using your finger to gently

press it down. To make the raw chocolate, melt the chopped raw cacao butter in a small saucepan over a low heat. Add the raw cacao powder, the maple syrup and the

vanilla extract, then remove the pan from the heat and stir until thoroughly combined. To finish, dunk the top of each biscuit in the melted raw chocolate, then place on a tray and put the biscuits in the fridge until the chocolate hardens. You can store these cookies in an airtight container

in the fridge for up to six days.

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