Chocolate Linzer Biscuits
Servings: 20 biscuits
Super chocolatey, these Chocolate Linzer biscuits are to die for! A crisp buttery biscuit sandwiched between chocolate ganache.
INGREDIENTS LIST
- 125 g butter
- 100 g caster sugar
- 1 medium egg
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract or 1/4 tsp of vanilla paste
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- 20 g unsweetened cocoa powder
- 200 g plain flour (all-purpose)
Ganache
- 100 g chocolate (milk, dark or white chopped)
- 100 ml double cream or heavy cream
Chocolate coating
- 100 g chocolate (chopped)
Preparation
- Biscuits: In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Then add the egg, vanilla and salt and mix thoroughly.
- Finally, add the cocoa and the flour and gently bring it together until the mixture forms a soft dough.
- Divide the dough into two equally sized discs. Wrap each piece tightly in clingfilm and place in the fridge for 1 hour. (You can also keep it in the fridge for up to 5 days, if you want to make them at a later stage.)
- Preheat the oven to 190°C / 170°C fan / 375°F / Gas 5 and line two baking trays with baking paper or silicone mats.
- Shaping: Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to around 0.5cm (¼ inch) thick.
- Using a 6cm (2¼ inch) round, fluted cookie cutter, cut as many circles out of the rolled dough as you can. Then from half the cut outs remove the centres using another cutter. (I used a large round piping nozzle to remove mine.) You can also change the centre cut-out to match a theme, such as a heart shape for Valentine's. Repeat the process until you've used up all the dough. Place them on the lined trays, you don't have to leave a huge gap between the biscuits, as the dough doesn't really spread much.
- Bake the biscuits for 8 to 10 minutes. Let them cool on the baking trays for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Ganache: Chop the chocolate and place in a small heat proof bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan and once it comes to the boil pour it over the chopped chocolate. Leave to stand for 2 minutes, then give it a stir until all the chocolate is melted and the ganache is nice and creamy. Place in the fridge to cool completely.
- Chocolate coating: Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water (double boiler method), making sure it doesn’t touch the water. Once melted, remove from the heat and you can either dip the biscuit tops into the chocolate or create a zigzag pattern using a piping bag or spoon to drizzle over the tops.
- Once the biscuit tops are dry, remove the ganache from the fridge and give it a good mix, so it's nice and creamy for spreading or piping. Spread the ganache over the bottom biscuits and then sandwich them together with the tops.
