Fun Friday ~ Shortcrust Biscuits

This experiment turned a super hit and the preparation, a fun filled one for my daughter and so I thought of presenting it though I had planned something else for today. My daughter seems to have become a fan of Master Chef India show even though she doesn't pay an iota of attention to what the participants are cooking. She watches it so religiously that she doesn't miss even the weekend cooking where the winning dish of the week is presented. Her enthusiasm has rubbed on me too and this recipe is a result of one of those watching sessions.

I took the basic version of the original recipe and created these chocolate - sprinkles biscuits. It didn't use nuts or the chocolate glaze. The girl who made them called it shortcrust fingers though the dough is not made in the traditional shortcrust style. I am sticking with her title though I am calling them biscuits as I have made them into chubby rectangles. I decided to try the recipe on the spur of the moment going by the judge's praises for the dish but in the haste, I conveniently forgot that it was one of the elements of a three part dish. The slip proved to be a blunder when my family after the taste test started complaining that they were utterly bland. The other two elements in the original dish must have complimented these shortcrust fingers with their sweetness and probably why there was basically no sugar in the recipe. I hadn't paid any attention to the other parts of the dish to recreate and the experiment seemed flop when the cookies remained in the jar untouched for two days.
 
These cookies were all buttery and flaky though sweetness was missing. To salvage the situation, I thought of serving them as strawberry shortcakes and then realized that I had to stuff myself with all those calories and none at home would be interested. Next came the idea of dipping them in chocolate sauce and at the last moment I changed the idea to the chocolate drizzle and sprinkles since the latter would add sweetness and the former adds the temptation factor. My prediction proved right and my daughter polished them off as quickly as she could saying that they looked cute and tasted really good. She is waiting for another batch to be baked. :)

Servings: 18
Ingredients:
150 gm / 1 & 1/3 cups all purpose flour / wheat flour
90 gm butter (about 6.3 tbsp)
1 tbsp. oil
1 tbsp. caster sugar
1 tsp. orange zest
Coarsely chopped mixed nuts (optional. the original recipe didn't use any.)
2 - 3 tbsp. chocolate chips / chocolate chunks
Sprinkles as needed
 
Method:
* Preheat the oven at 210 deg C / 400 deg F.
* Heat butter, oil, sugar and 3 tbsp. water together in a sauce pan on stove top or in a glass bowl in microwave. Add flour and stir just until combined. Turn off the stove. 
* Add orange zest to the mixture and if desired, mixed nuts can also be added at this point. 
* Transfer the mixture to a lightly floured surface and knead just until the dough is formed.
* Roll the dough into about 1/2 cm thickness. Sprinkle nuts if using and gently roll once so that nuts stick to the dough. (I sprinkled nuts only on few.)  
 
* Cut into rectangles or in any shapes you like. Prick with a fork all over the biscuits. (The original recipe made bar kind of biscuits. )
* Bake for about 10 - 15 minutes and remove them from oven.
* Melt the chocolate in a microwave when the cookies are cool. Drizzle melted chocolate over the biscuits and spread the sprinkles immediately over the chocolate to set.

Check here to learn what other marathoners are cooking during this blogging marathon.

Comments