I've been feeling really old the last few days...I'll be 29 later on this month, which yes, I know is not really very old at all. But I went out clubbing (to a rock club, of course) for the first time in over six months on Saturday, spent most of the night dancing and had a brilliant time; aaand it's taken me four days to recover from it... I woke up the morning after and everything hurt! I like to think that I'm fairly fit, I walk at least six miles every day (dogs are brilliant for fitness), and do kettlebell/bodyweight workouts three times a week (how else do you think I get away with baking so much...?!); and yet a bit of dancing has completely done me in! Not to mention the bit where I didn't get to bed till nearly 4am, that left me zombified for two days; I dread to think how awful I would have felt if I'd had a hangover as well...
So, needless to say, I haven't really been in the mood for blogging this week; or baking, or much of anything for that matter, except sleep and Game of Thrones. Which is why I chose to make these chocolate, coffee and cardamom biscuits, as it is such a simple recipe. You just blitz everything together in a food processor, shape it into a sausage, chill, slice and bake. That doesn't mean that they taste simple though, they have quite a deep, complex flavour. They don't taste strongly of coffee, it is more of a back-note which enhances and intensifies the chocolate, and both the chocolate and coffee work perfectly with the warming cardamom. The texture is crisp, melt in the mouth and very addictive... I devoured four of them within seconds of removing them from the oven, and then four more as soon as they had cooled...They are definitely a grown-up kind of biscuit (and they do contain caffeine - win!), and are perfect with a cup of coffee for a double caffeine hit...The dominant flavour is the cardamom, I used a teaspoon of it, if you want a more subtle taste then reduce it to half a teaspoon.
They are super easy to make, and take under ten minutes to bake, but you do need to chill the dough well before slicing and baking them as it is quite soft. The brilliant thing about these kind of biscuits that are shaped into a log in clingfilm and sliced into rounds rather than rolled out, is that you only need to bake what you want to eat - the log of dough can just be stored in the freezer and you can slice bits off whenever you are in the mood for a biscuit. Theoretically saving you from overindulging... - you want two biscuits? Fine, just bake two... Not that that worked for me...
Chocolate Coffee Cardamom Biscuits
Ingredients
- 200 g (1 + ⅔ cup) plain flour
- 50 g (scant ½ cup) cocoa powder
- ½ to 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 4 teaspoon finely ground coffee
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 150 g (½ cup + 2tbsp) cold butter, diced
- 150 g (¾ cup + 2 tbsp) light brown soft sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 medium egg
Instructions
- Place the flour, cocoa powder, cardamom, coffee, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a food processor and pulse until combined. Add the butter and blitz until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, mix in the sugar then add the vanilla extract and egg and blend until the dough comes together. (If you don't have a food processor you can rub the butter into the dry ingredients by hand.)
- Shape the dough into a rough log and place it on a long piece of clingfilm, fold the clingfilm over the dough and roll it into an approx 4cm wide sausage, twist the ends of the clingfilm tightly to seal. The dough will be quite soft at this point but will firm up after chilling so don't worry if you can't get it very neat at this point, you can always reshape it after it has been in the fridge for a while.
- Place the log in the fridge for at least an hour, or in the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5 and line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper.
- Once the dough is firm, use a sharp knife to cut it into slices approx 5mm wide and place them fairly well spaced apart on the baking sheet. Re-wrap the leftover dough and store in the freezer.
- Bake the biscuits for 8-10 minutes until slightly risen and beginning to firm around the edges, they will crisp up upon cooling. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Notes
I am sharing these with Totally Talented Tuesdays, Create Link Inspire, CookBlogShare, Foodie Fridiy, Fiesta Friday, Friday Favourites, Foodie Friends Friday and Fabulous Foodie Fridays
Sandhya
These look awesome. I love the flavor of cardamom but have not had it with chocolate- this will be fun to try!
hannahhossack
They work really well together 🙂 I love cardamom, it's such a versatile spice!
Malinda (@MBPaperPackages)
What a wonderful flavour and I love your idea of freezing it and just baking a couple at a time.
hannahhossack
Thank you 🙂 It saves you from having a whole tub of biscuits that you *have* to eat!
patisseriemakesperfect
These look great and I love the pictures. Pussers rum is something I have heard people talk about, but never tried it, the tin cups are great. I love cardamom in anything, I'll bet these are delicious. #FabulousFoodieFridays
hannahhossack
Thanks Angela 🙂 the cups are from a holiday to the British Virgin Islands when I was 12! I dug them out of my parents cupboard recently and nicked them because I've always loved them. I've never actually tried Pussers rum (being 12...), I've looked for it but have never seen any for sale in the UK...
lucyparissi
Oh Hannah at 29 you are still a baby – especially compared to me. I feel exhausted just living at this point. No joke. Happy birthday for when the big day comes – wonder what cake wonders you will unleash?
These cookies tick all the boxes for me – coffee, chocolate, cookie – the triad of awesome!
hannahhossack
Ha! I imagine my tiredness is NOTHING compared to having children! Seriously cannot imagine how parents cope...coffee I suppose :p
tentimestea
What beautiful photos! These biscuits, with a little bit of bitterness, sound delicious. Haha, though I think being sore doesn't always correlate with one's age! I was volunteering at a book sale last month and after only four hours of walking and crouching my feet hurt so much (I really didn't feel like standing for a few days afterwards)... and this was only one shift compared to the people who ran the book sale and were there everyday for weeks. They were mostly older ladies, all of whom were so energetic and very spry (and had tough feet!)
hannahhossack
Thank you 🙂 Old ladies are often incredibly tough! They put me to shame...
Margherita
I have saved this recipe before reading the recipe! Chocolate, coffee and cardamom sound as a prefect combination for cookies... Just let me enjoy the freshness of the summer fruits and I will give your recipe a try! Fantastic!
hannahhossack
Thanks Margherita 🙂 I've been craving fresh fruits too, perhaps a peach galette should be my next bake...
Jhuls
These are the most beautiful cookies I have ever seen today. You make everything perfect, Hannah. I love the addition of cardamom - must have been so good. Thanks for sharing these at FF. I hope you have a great weekend. Happy FF. 🙂 xx
hannahhossack
Lol!Thanks Jhuls 🙂 I absolutely love cardamom, and it goes so well with chocolate and coffee 🙂 x
Michelle @ Giraffes Can Bake
I know how you feel, I turned 29 a couple months ago and just cannot keep up anymore! I went on a hen party weekend the other week and we had two nights of drinking/partying in a row. The first night we stayed in for Eurovision with lots of drinking games and I actually felt okay in the morning (probably because I'm boring and stopped drinking pretty early) and then the next night we went to a club and I went "home" at midnight, just couldn't hack it haha!
These biscuits definitely look like the perfect bake for a sluggish week though, so yummy too!
hannahhossack
I struggle to drink two nights in a row! Although I seem to be ok at festivals, maybe it's something to do with being outside...
Honest Mum
Haha I wish I was still 28/29 and I hear you, it took me a week to get over the Cannes Film Festival and dancing until 4 for those 3 nights, I'm 34 but still feel 18! These are just dreamy! Cookbook please for you lady! Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays x
hannahhossack
Ha ha! I struggled with one night! Kudos for managing three! 🙂 x
Must Love Home
Hi Friend, thanks for sharing at Friday Favorites! I really love your use of spices!!I hope to see you at our next party! Hugs - Christine @ Must Love Home
hannahhossack
Thanks Christine 🙂 You can count on me being there!
Helen at Casa Costello
Oh wow Hannah, you are sooo young! The thought of a 4am bedtime makes me shudder however! Love the 10 min baking time for these cookies #Bakeoftheweek
hannahhossack
Ha ha! I don't really feel it! 🙂