My DS adores anything that involves mint and chocolate, so I devised these biscuits for him.
Ingredients:
125g butter
75g white sugar
50g brown sugar
85ml milk
1 teaspoon vanilla paste
5-6 drops culinary grade peppermint oil, or to taste (see note below)
225g plain flour
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
75 g (dutch processed) cocoa
100g choc chips
Peppermint M&M's, optional
Method:
Preheat oven to 180C
1. Cream the butter and sugar for 3 minutes on speed 3, scraping down halfway through.
2. Add milk, vanilla and peppermint essences and mix on speed 5 for 10 seconds.
3. Add flour, salt, baking powder, cocoa and choc chips and knead (interval setting) until combined.
4. Roll teaspoons of mixture into balls and place on a lined baking tray. Flatten balls down with the heel of your hand and top each biscuit with a peppermint M&M if using.
5. Bake for 12-15 minutes, let sit on tray for 5 minutes to harden and then remove to a cake rack to cool.
Yields about 3 dozen biscuits
Notes:
~The dough is quite soft, so if it's a warm day or your hands run hot, rest the dough in the fridge for 15-30 minutes before rolling out.
~I have used Tastebom's excellent (
http://www.tastebom.com/essential-oils-culinary-grade/) peppermint oil which is very potent. If you are using peppermint essence, you may need as much as 1/2 to 1 teaspoon. Add the peppermint a few drops at a time and let your taste buds guide you (as you can always add more) until you are satisfied with the minty taste.
~I always reduce the amount of sugar when I'm baking, so you may find that these are not sweet enough. You could easily increase the white sugar to 100g and the brown sugar to 75g.
