GLUTEN-FREE CHOCOLATE MACADAMIA BISCUITS
These are chocolate chip biscuits for grown-ups.
They’re enriched with home-made crunchy macadamia butter and sandwiched together with dark chocolate ganache combined with more macadamia butter.
Sounding a bit complicated? Not so. The macadamia butter takes minutes to prepare, as does the ganache. And the biscuits are pretty quick too.
All can be made in advance and sandwiched together at the last minute for a crunchy delivery, or ahead of time for a softer ending.
Then try keeping them away from the children.
Rosie
CHOCOLATE MACADAMIA BISCUITS
Thanks to Kirsten Tibballs for the inspiration
Makes approximately 34 biscuits or 17 pairs
For the Crunchy Macadamia Butter
140 gm macadamia nuts, roasted and cooled
1 tablespoon caster sugar
Pinch salt
Process 120gm of the roasted macadamia nuts, the caster sugar and salt in a food processer until smooth (2-3 minutes). Use a spatula to wipe down the sides of the bowl and circulate the mixture from time to time. Don’t worry if the mixture is quite runny.
Finely chop the remaining 20gm of the macadamia nuts and fold into the macadamia butter.
For the Macadamia Ganache
135 gm dark (around 55%) couverture chocolate, roughly chopped
200 gm pouring cream
40 gm crunchy macadamia butter
Place the chocolate in a heat proof bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the cream and macadamia butter to a boil. Immediately pour over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture well combined.
Allow to cool to a spreading or piping consistency (3-4 hours), stirring from time to time.
For the Biscuits
90 gm unsalted butter, cold
65 gm brown sugar
65 gm caster sugar
1 whole egg, whisked
95 gm crunchy macadamia butter
180 gm Revenge No. 2 Gluten-free Almond Plain Flour Mix
20 gm almond meal
¼ teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
75 gm dark (around 55%) couverture chocolate, chopped
Line two baking trays with baking paper. When ready to bake the biscuits, preheat the oven to 170°C fan-forced (190°C conventional).
Combine the butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer and mix until just combined.
Measure out 30gm only of the whisked egg (discard or use the remaining egg for another purpose) and add to the butter mixture. Mix until just combined.
Add the crunchy macadamia butter and mix until just combined.
Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in the chopped chocolate.
Divide the mixture in half and place one half on a piece of baking paper and roll into a cylinder shape approximately 3cm in diameter. See our photos below demonstrating a nifty way to achieve this. Repeat with the second half. Refrigerate the rolls for 2 hours or until firm.
The biscuit dough can be frozen at this point. Defrost in the fridge before slicing.
When ready to bake, cut the rolls into slices approximately 1cm in width and place, on the prepared baking trays, leaving 3-4 cm in between each biscuit.
Bake for 7-10 minutes, checking after 7 minutes, until lightly golden brown.
Allow to stand on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool.
To Assemble
Pipe or spread some ganache over the bases of half the cold biscuits. Top each one with another biscuit.
The unfilled biscuits will keep in an airtight container for several weeks.
Store the filled biscuits at room temperature in an airtight container. The filled biscuits will start to soften after 5-6 hours. 24 hours after filling, the biscuits will have softened but will still hold their shape and will still be delicious.
TIPS:
Make a double or triple batch of the macadamia butter and keep it in the fridge.
To form a perfect roll: Roughly spread half the biscuit dough along the long edge of a piece of baking paper. Fold the baking paper over the top of the dough allowing about 20cm overlap.
Firmly hold a ruler on the two layers of baking paper at the base of the dough. Hold firm the other long edge of the baking paper which will be sitting on the bench and pull it away from you. You will see the dough form a perfect roll. The more you pull, the narrower the roll will become.