Chocolate Sandwich Biscuits

So today I am grateful for two things. 1.) That I managed to get a blog post together for this week, and 2.) that I am able to string a coherent sentence together. It has been a rough couple of days you see, with the entire family being struck down with an assortment of germs and lurgies. Currently my kitchen counter looks more like a pharmacy than anything else and we are all lacking in the sleep department which is less than ideal. The timing was also unlucky as we had planned to go away this past weekend for a wedding. We did manage one night away in the end but we were not on best form. Never mind, grumble grumble. 

The trip did remind me, however, of how lucky we are to live in such a scenic part of the world. We stayed in Stanford, a neat and pretty little town about an hour and a half from Cape Town. (About a two hour drive when you factor in time needed to make extra bathroom stops, adjust kiddie car seats and slow down to take in fascinating sights like landing aeroplanes, grazing cows and tractors bouncing along the N2.) And after that terrific storm on Friday night we enjoyed two beautiful autumn days which certainly helped to lift our spirits. 

What does all of this have to do with today's recipe? Hmm... well this recipe is my version of a popular South African biscuit and whether you need some fancy padkos (food for the road), a chocolate fix after a difficult week or simply something delicious to serve at tea time then these ought to do the trick. Don't forget, this recipe is also available in my free ebook which you can download here. 

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CHOCOLATE SANDWICH BISCUITS

Makes 18

100g butter, softened

1/2 cup treacle sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup desiccated coconut

1/4 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

3 tbsp cocoa

80g dark chocolate

Step 1.) Preheat your oven to 180°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.

Step 2.) Cream the butter and treacle sugar together until combined. Mix in the vanilla extract.

Step 3.) Add the flour, coconut, baking powder, salt and cocoa and mix until everything has combined and you have a soft dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Step 4.) Roll small balls of the dough, about the size of a large marble, and arrange them on the tray. Press each ball down lightly to make little discs that are roughly 5mm thick. Bake for 12 minutes until starting to crack a little on top. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

Step 5.) Melt the dark chocolate in a small bowl. Sandwich two cooled cookies together with a teaspoon of melted chocolate. Leave to set. Store the cookies in an airtight container.