Double Chocolate Biscuits

If you're looking for a gorgeous rich and chewy chocolate biscuit, then this is the recipe for you. These beauties are the Rolls Royce of choccy biccies, but cheap and easy to make, and can be tasty presents piled up ontop of eachother and wrapped in ribbon. So very moreish.

Recipe

Makes 25-30, so serves a greedy 8 if you ask me!

Adapted from a recipe from a tiny book by Marks and Spencer called Easy Baking.

Buy the book online at Marks & Spencer here.

140g caster sugar

225g plain flour

225g unsalted butter, softened

1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

2 tsp vanilla extract

55g cocoa powder

200g dark chocolate, 70% solids

pinch of salt

90g sugar sprinkles or chocolate vermicelli

1. In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar together, then beat in the egg yolk and vanilla extract.

2. Next sift the flour, cocoa powder and salt into the creamed mixture. Mix until well combined.

3. Split the dough in half, before wrapping each part in cling film and placing in the fridge for an hour.

4. Meanwhile turn the oven to 190C (170C fan ovens), and get out 2 large baking sheets (or if you're like me and don't have any, normal baking trays will do). Butter the sheets and line with baking paper.

5. After an hour, take out the biscuit dough. Place the dough between 2 sheets of greaseproof or baking paper (this stops the rolling pin from the touching the dough therefore preventing tearing), and roll out to about a quarter of an inch thick. Using a two and a quarter inch round cookie cutter, carefully cut out about 30 biscuits.

6. Place the dough biscuits onto the prepared baking sheets, making sure to leave plenty of space between them to allow them to spread.

7. Bake for 10-12 minutes, then leave to cool on the sheets for another 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

8. When the biscuits are completely cool, break up the dark chocolate into small pieces and melt carefully in a bain mairie, a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water.

9. Once the chocolate is melted, remove it quickly from the heat, and spread a spoonful over the middle of each biscuit. Let the spread chocolate cool briefly on the biscuit, before sprinkling the sugar sprinkles or chocolate vermicelli ontop. Leave to set for half an hour.

These biscuits were idly baked to the sounds of Wild Beasts' brilliant album Smother