Thursday, July 30, 2015

Chocolate Animal Biscuits



I don’t know what it is about Cadbury Animal biscuits that makes them so moreish.
 
It’s not just the Cadbury chocolate on one side, but the biscuit itself – which is actually made by Burton’s, who also make Wagon Wheels, Maryland cookies and Jammie Dodgers – which I love. They are so cute too – shaped like different animals and the chocolate side – if I remember correctly, as I haven’t bought them in a while – has a distinctive ridged pattern.
 
I was sent some products not long ago by Mein Cupcake which trades in the UK as Cake Mart and among the items I chose was this cute little cow cookie cutter. It’s a nice cutter – very robust so it won’t get squashed out of shape, and you get enough detail without it being too fiddly.
 
I decided to make animal biscuits and kept the recipe fairly simple; I used:
250g butter, softened
150g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla flavouring
1 egg
250g plain flour
Pinch of nutmeg
100g milk chocolate
 

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl until you have a dough. Wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least half an hour.
 
Preheat the oven to 180C, and roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface. If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour and work it in.
 
Use your cookie cutters to cut out the shapes and place on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden but still slightly soft.
 
Allow to cool.
 





Melt 100g milk chocolate in a bain marie or microwave and spread over the back of each biscuit. Use a fork to run through the chocolate before it has set to make the vertical marks. Refrigerate until the chocolate has set.



 
These were lovely – not quite the same as the Burton’s/Cadbury’s biscuits (I wish I knew their recipe!) but really good, and they would be fun for children to make too.