Chocolate & Hazelnut Palmiers

These little chocolate treats are the easiest thing to make AND don't involve much washing up :-)

Makes ~ 20 palmiers:

- 1 ready rolled puff pastry
- approx. 8 TBSP hazelnut & chocolate spread
- 50g roasted chopped hazelnuts (you can also mix roasted chopped hazelnuts with ground almonds)
- 2 TBSP caster sugar

1. Pre-heat the oven to 220C.

2. Roll out the puff pastry and spread with the chocolate paste. Sprinkle with the chopped hazelnuts/ground almonds.
3. Tightly roll from both ends and make them meet in the middle. Dampen the inside edge with water to make both ends stick together.

4. Slice thinly and place onto baking sheets. Flatten with a palette knife and sprinkle with sugar.

5. Bake in the oven for 10-15 min until golden brown.

Wholemeal chocolate-coated biscuits

These are fairly 'healthy' biscuits and are really tasty.


Makes about 18 biscuits

75g butter
100g demarara sugar
1 egg
25g quinoa flakes (or wheatgerm, or any other tiny cereal flakes)
125g wholemeal self-raising flour
60g plain self-raising flour

150g chocolate for the coating

1. Beat the butter and sugar with a whisk until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat well. Stir in the quinoa flakes (or wheat germ) and flours. Bring the mixture together with your hands.

2. Make little balls of mixture and place onto prepared baking trays. Flatten the balls with the back of a fork.

3. Bake in a preheated oven (180C) for 15-20 min until golden. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack.


4. Once the biscuits are cold, melt the chocolate (bain-marie) and dip the biscuits into the chocolate.

5. Leave to cool upside-down onto the baking sheets and you can make some drawings onto the chocolate coating.


If like me you have some chocolate left, you can drop some onto a baking sheet and top it with various nuts, it will make fantastic treats!

Chocolate duo crunchy bites

These were very popular, I was even offered money for a second/third helping!

Makes ~30 bites

Ingredients:

175g white cooking chocolate
175g dark cooking chocolate
100g digestive biscuits, broken into pieces
100g nuts, chopped (brazilian, macadamia, hazelnut, walnut, pecan, cashew...)

I have used brazilian nuts on this occasion but have made them with pecan before.

1. Melt the white chocolate and mix in the broken biscuits and chopped nuts.

2. Spoon out mouthful of the mixture and arrange on a tray covered with baking paper. Leave to cool down then place into the fridge for 30 minutes.

3. Melt the dark chocolate and cover each bite with it. Leave to cool down and refrigerate. Best serve from the fridge, and before it starts melting!

Apricot and chocolate twirl

Makes 12-15 twirls

Ingredients

DOUGH
75g butter
450g self-raising flour
50g caster sugar
2 eggs, beaten
150ml milk

FILLING
25g butter, melted
150g dried apricots, chopped
100g dark chocolate chips
2 TBSP milk to glaze

1. Rub the butter into the flour until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar, eggs and milk to form a soft, non sticky dough.

2. Roll out to form a 35cm square.

3. Brush the melted butter over the square. Spread the apricots and chocolate over the dough within 2.5cm of the top and bottom.

4. Roll up the dough tightly like a Swiss roll and cut into 2.5cm slices. Place the slices onto a baking tray. Brush with a little milk to glaze.

5. Bake in a 180 degrees preheated oven for 30 minutes until cooked and golden.

6. Best serve warm!

Hazelnut and chocolate cookies

I had a jar of hazelnut butter in my cupboard and a spare egg which needed using up. So, I made some cookies! Using 50% butter (well, it's not even proper butter!) and 50% hazelnut butter make the biscuits easier to digest and much healthier too! Less fat, more fibre and more proteins. I also used 50% millet flakes and 50% flour instead of just flour, and it makes the texture really nice.


The following recipe will make 18 cookies:

90g millet flakes
90g plain white flour
1 tsp baking powder
60g hazelnut butter
60g butter
100g muscovado sugar
50g caster sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g dark cooking chocolate, grated

1. Mix it all in a bowl until well blended.
2. Place spoonfuls on a baking tray and cook for 10 minutes in a preheated oven (180 degrees)

Yum yum!

Poached pears with Mascarpone Chocolate sauce

Simple and delicious, you must try this dessert.

Serves 6

6 firm ripe pears
100g caster sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
rind of 1 orange
2 cloves
1 bottle rosé wine

Chocolate sauce:
175g dark cooking chocolate
250g mascarpone cheese
2 tbsp Cointreau

1. Peel the pear, leaving the stalk intact.

2. Place the sugar, cinnamon, orange rind, cloves and wine in a saucepan big enough to hold the 6 pears.

3. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved, then add the pears to the liquid and bring to a simmer. Cover and poach gently for 20 min. Leave the pears in the hot liquid whilst preparing the chocolate sauce.

4. To make the sauce, melt the chocolate. Beat together the cheese and the Cointreau. Beat the cheese mixture into the chocolate.

5. Remove the pears from the posching liquid and place on serving plates. Pipe a generous amount of sauce on the side of the plate. Serve the remainder separately.

(Photo not availabe yet. Did not have a camera available last time I made this)

Poires pochées sauce Mascarpone au chocolat

Pour 6 personnes

6 poires fermes mais mures
100g sucre fin
2 batons de cannelle
zeste d'une orange
2 clous de girofle
1 bouteille de rosé

Sauce chocolat :
175g chocolat noir á cuire
250 mascarpone
2 tbsp Cointreau

1. Peler les poires en gardant le trognon intact.

2. Mettre le sucre, cannelle, zeste d'orange, clous de girofle et le vin dans une casserole.

3. Chauffer doucement jusqu'á ce que le sucre ait fondu. Y ajouter les poire. Couvrir et pocher les poires pendant 20 min. Laisser les poires dans le liquide chaud pendant que vous préparez la sauce au chocolat.

4. Pour faire la sauce, faire fondre le chocolat. Mélanger le mascarpone et le Cointreau ensemble, puis y incorporer le chocolat.

5. Placer les poires dans des assiettes á dessert et servir avec une portion de sauce chocolat.