Top Ten Most Popular Chocolate Truffle Recipes and more...

source: http://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/best-chocolate-truffle-recipe/

Truffle Fillings Recipe Quantities:

Ginger Chocolate Truffle Recipe

 Makes 12 squares of ganache filling in the size shown
3 tablespoons (45ml) cream
6 thin slices of peeled fresh ginger
100g (3.53 ounces) chocolate (milk, dark or white)

Set in a plastic container 6.5cm (2.56 inches) x 10cm (3.94 inches)
tempered chocolate for covering, see top of post for details

Chocolate transfer sheet for decorating

Chocolate Mint Truffle Recipe

Makes 7 truffles in the size shown

3 tablespoons (45ml) cream
4 fresh mint leaves
100g (3.53 ounces) chocolate (milk, dark or white)

unsweetened cocoa powder for rolling

Chilli and Sea Salt Truffle Recipe

Makes 12 squares of ganache filling in the size shown

3 tablespoons (45ml) cream
1 teaspoon crushed chilli
100g (3.53 ounces) chocolate (milk, dark or white)

Set in a plastic container 6.5cm (2.56 inches) x 10cm (3.94 inches)
tempered chocolate for covering, see top of post for details

pinch sea salt flakes for decorating

Popping Sugar Truffle Recipe

Makes 12 squares of ganache filling in the size shown

3 tablespoons (45ml) cream
100g (3.53 ounces) chocolate (milk, dark or white)

Set in a plastic container 6.5cm (2.56 inches) x 10cm (3.94 inches)
tempered chocolate for covering, see top of post for details

Coffee Truffle Recipe

Makes enough filling to pipe into 16 truffles in the size shown
3 tablespoons (45ml) cream
1/4 teaspoon instant coffee granules
100g (3.53 ounces) chocolate (milk, dark or white)
chocolate mold

tempered chocolate for covering, see top of post for details

Pistachio Chocolate Truffles

Makes 12 squares of ganache filling in the size shown3 tablespoons (60ml) cream
1 tablespoon pistachio nuts
100g (3.53 ounces) chocolate (milk, dark or white)
optional – extra 15 pistachio nuts lightly roasted and cooled to put on top of the ganache squares before dipping

Set in a plastic container 6.5cm (2.56 inches) x 10cm (3.94 inches)
tempered chocolate for covering, see top of post for details

cocoa nibs for decorating

 

Chocolate for coating truffles

You will need your chosen truffle fillings (recipes below and demonstrated in the video above) plus tempered chocolate for dipping the truffles.  Read this post first on what chocolate to use and how to temper chocolate.
300g (10.58 ounces) of tempered dark chocolate covered 20 truffles (6 of them in a mold and 14 dipped), with 90g (3.17 ounces) of chocolate left over (you need the extra so you have enough to dip the truffles).
10. Nutella Truffles

(makes 12 cubes)
180g (6.35 ounces) nutella
15g (0.53 ounces) or 14 whole hazelnuts
tempered chocolate for coating (see top of post for quantities)
If you have a mold you can pipe nutella into the mold, if you don’t have a mold then put some nutella into a small container, use a knife to mark the surface so you can see where your squares will be and push a hazelnut into the top of each one.
Freeze overnight.  In the morning it will be firm enough for you to cut into squares using a hot knife.   Dip your frozen cubes into tempered chocolate (see this post on how to temper chocolate).  Then use your fork to scoop it out and tap it on the side of the bowl to get off any excess chocolate.
Garnish with a piece of hazelnut on the top of each truffle.
9. Coconut Truffles  (recipe developed by Ann Reardon)

(makes 50 triangles)
2 tablespoons glucose syrup
1 1/4 cups or 300g (10.58 ounces) sugar
75ml water
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup cream
25g (0.88 ounces) butter chopped
3 cups or 255g (8.99 ounces) desiccated coconut
tempered chocolate for coating (see top of post for quantities)
Place your sugar, glucose syrup and water into a saucepan and heat over high heat stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
Once the sugar is dissolved wash down the sides of the pan using a wet pastry brush and leave over the heat, unstirred until the syrup starts to turn golden, approximately 365F (185 degrees Celsius).
Stir in your cream, coconut milk and butter, hot steam will rise suddenly so stand back and then stir until it is smooth.  Add a candy thermometer to the side of the pan and and heat without stirring until it reaches 230F (110 degrees Celsius).
Remove from the heat and stir in your dessicated coconut.  Pour into a lined brownie tin and allow to cool at room temp.
Once cooled remove from the tin, cut into long slices and use two knives to shape it into a point at the top.   Refrigerate for at least an hour.  Slice into small bite sized pieces and then drop into your tempered chocolate.
Scoop out with the fork and tap on the side of the bowl and then place onto baking paper, sprinkle the top with coconut.
8. Hazelnut Truffles 

(makes 30)
200g (7.05 ounces) milk chocolate
60ml cream
100g (3.53 ounces) hazelnuts
2 cups or 480g (16.93 ounces) sugar
1/2 cup or 125ml water
1 tablespoon glucose syrup
tempered White and Dark Chocolate for dipping
Place chocolate into a bowl and pour over the hot cream.  Leave for a minute and then stir until smooth. Set aside.
Spread you hazelnuts onto some baking paper.  Place your sugar and water and glucose syrup into a saucepan.
Stir until the sugar is dissolved then brush down the sides of the pan and leave it to bubble until it starts to go golden.  Immediately pour it over the hazelnuts and leave it to cool completely.  When it is cold it will be solid, snap it into pieces and place into a strong bag.  Smash it with a rolling pin, pour the pieces into the ganache and stir well. Cover with plastic wrap and leave overnight at room temperature to go firm.
Once it is set take spoonfuls of the ganache and roll it into balls.
Dip the balls of ganache into the white chocolate and tap on the side of the bowl to remove any excess. Place onto some baking paper to set.  Once set hold the base of the truffle and dip the top into dark chocolate, tap your hand to help shake off excess chocolate and then turn it up the right way and place back on the paper.  Once they are set put some white chocolate into a ziplock bag and pipe swirls onto the top.

7. Orange Truffles  (recipe by Ann Reardon)

(makes 10 balls)
150g (5.29 ounces) white chocolate shavings
100g (3.53 ounces) milk chocolate
2 oranges
additional tempered chocolate for coating see top of post for quantities
Grate the rind of two oranges on a fine greater.  Juice the oranges and place the juice and rind into a saucepan.   Let it boil for approximately 6 minutes to concentrate the juice. Pour through a sieve.
Pour 2 tablespoons of hot concentrated juice over the chocolate. Stir until smooth (microwave for 10 seconds if chocolate not completely melted)  Place that in a container in the freezer overnight.
Roll your cold ganache into balls then drop into the chocolate. Scoop out and tap on the side of the bowl then drop into the white chocolate shavings. Cover and place on baking paper to set.
6. Peanut Butter Squares

(makes 12 cubes)
130g (4.59 ounces) peanut butter
70g (2.47 ounces) jam
tempered chocolate for molds
Take some peanut butter and some jam and mix together to make a sweetness that you like.  Place in a small container lined with baking paper and freeze over night.
Using a finely serrated knife cut into cubes.
Spread some white chocolate thinly onto a piece of nonstick baking paper and make a pattern in it. Spread dark chocolate over the top and then once it is starting to set cut it into squares. Leave to set completely and then peel off the paper.
Dip your squares of frozen peanut butter and jelly into the chocolate and then top with a patterned square.
5. Peanut Butter and Jelly Chocolates

To make 10
30g (1.06 ounces) Jam
50g (1.76 ounces) Peanut Butter
tempered chocolate for coating
Fill the molds with tempered chocolate scrape off the top, leave for a moment and then pour it out and scrape clean.  Leave that to set up.  Using a ziplock bag pipe a small amount of  jam into each mold, top that with a small amount of chocolate to seal over the first section.  Pipe in some peanut butter into each mold.
Then fill the mold with chocolate scrape off the excess and leave to set.

4. Strawberry Truffles Recipe  (recipe developed by Ann Reardon)

(makes 300ml of filling, each truffle will use approx 5ml depending on the size of your mold)
250g (8.82 ounces) strawberries, washed, hulled and halved
200g (7.05 ounces) white chocolate (for a thicker ganache use more chocolate)
white and dark tempered chocolate for molds, optional oil based food colour
Place strawberries in a saucepan and place over a medium heat with a lid on to stew. Stir often to make sure they do not burn on the bottom. Once the fruit is very soft remove from the heat and stir in the white chocolate.
If you want it totally smooth strain through a fine metal sieve. Place in the fridge overnight to cool completely.
Take two small bowls and put a spoon of white chocolate in each, mix in some oil based food colour into each. Using your finger place smudges of each of the colours on the inside of the mold.  Fill the molds with dark chocolate, scrape clean, leave for a moment and then tip out the excess.
Pipe in some strawberry ganache into each mold.  Cover with chocolate and scrape off the excess and leave to set then turn out of the mold.

3. Raspberry Truffles Recipe (recipe developed by Ann Reardon)

(makes 300g (10.58 ounces) of filling, I used 5g (0.18 ounces) per chocolate mold)
200g (7.05 ounces) frozen raspberries defrosted
4 Tablespoons cream
25g (0.88 ounces) butter chopped
1 1/4 cups or 300g (10.58 ounces) sugar
2 tablespoons glucose syrup
75ml water
tempered chocolate for molds
Blend your fresh or frozen defrosted raspberries in a blender with the cream until smooth. Push through a fine sieve to take out the tiny seeds.  Measure your mixture and you should have around 240ml or just a little less than 1 cup.
Heat your sugar, water and glucose syrup in a saucepan until the sugar has dissolved, wash down the sides of the pan using a wet pastry brush  and then leave it to bubble unstirred.  Keep an eye on you sugar mixture, you are waiting for it to start to turn golden, then add your raspberry cream mixture and the butter. Stir until well combined.
Return to the heat and add a candy thermometer to the pan and heat it until 230F (110 degrees Celsius) if you don’t have a candy thermometer take a small amount and let it cool on a plate to see roughly how thick it will be.  Pour into a heat proof bowl and leave to cool completely
Then fill the molds with white chocolate, tip the excess and let it set up.  Take some of your gooey raspberry filling, put it in a ziplock bag and pipe into each mold. Gently tap it to smooth it out and using a knife scrape off any that has gone on the edges as that will prevent the chocolate from making a seal.  Top with you white chocolate and scrape off any excess. Leave to set then tip out of the mold.
2. Runny Caramel Truffles Recipe


Dulce de leche
tempered chocolate for mold
Gold luster dust (available from cake decorating stores)
Fill your mold with chocolate and scrape of any excess, tap it on the bench to remove any air bubbles.
Leave it to sit for a moment, the longer you leave it the thicker the outside chocolate will be.   Tip out the excess chocolate, tapping on the back of the mold, then scrape off the excess.  Place some dulce de leche into a ziplock bag and pipe it into the centres.  Cover with chocolate, scrape off the excess and leave to set.  Tip out of the mold.  Using some gold luster dust on a clean dry paint brush dust a stripe onto each chocolate.
1. Chewy Caramel Chocolate Truffle Recipe  
*THE MOST POPULAR TRUFFLE*

(makes approx 40 caramel rectangles)
75ml water
2 tablespoons glucose syrup
1 1/4 cups or 300g (10.58 ounces) sugar
1 cup or 250ml cream
25 g (0.88 ounces) butter chopped
tempered chocolate for coating
Line a container with non stick baking paper, get a pastry brush and additional water for washing down the sides of the pan and a candy thermometer ready.
Place your sugar, water and glucose syrup into a sauce pan and bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
Once it is dissolved wash down the sides of the pan using a pastry brush dipped in water and then leave it to boil without stirring.
While it is bubbling measure out your cream and butter.  Keep a watch on the saucepan and when one spot starts to go golden, stir in the cream and butter, take care not to get burnt by the steam.  Keep stirring until it is well combined then let it bubble away unstirred.
Add a candy thermometer to the pan and heat it to 255F (123.89 degrees Celsius).  If you don’t have a candy thermometer see video for tips on how to know if it is ready.
Immediately pour it into a lined heatproof container and leave it to semi-cool. Once it s cool enough to handle, is firm but still  slightly warm pull it out of the container and cut it into rectangles.  Then cool completely.
Drop into your tempered chocolate, decorate with a squiggle of extra chocolate.

Biscuits vitraux de Noël

source: http://www.marmiton.org/recettes/recette_biscuits-vitraux-de-noel_81873.aspx


Temps de préparation : 20 minutes
Temps de cuisson : 10 minutes

Ingrédients (pour 6 personnes) : - 100 g de beurre
- 125 g de sucre
- 1 oeuf
- 300 g de farine
- 1 zeste de citron
- 1 cuillère à café de vanille (ou une gousse)
- 120 g de bonbons durs acidulés

Préparation de la recette :

Prévoir des emportes pièces aux formes de Noël.

Mélanger le beurre ramolli et le sucre. Ajouter la farine, la vanille, le zeste et l’œuf. Mélanger encore et encore, faire une boule en ajoutant un peu d’eau si besoin.

Laisser reposer 1h au frigo en couvrant la pâte.

Pendant ce temps, réduire les bonbons en poussière à l’aide d’un marteau, couleur par couleur.

Etaler la pâte pour qu’elle fasse environ un 1/2 cm d’épaisseur.

Découper des formes avec des emportes-pièces ou un couteau.

Evider le centre de chaque forme avec un emporte-pièce plus petit et placer chaque biscuit sur une plaque recouverte de papier cuisson.

Avec une paille faire un trou pour passer le ruban.

Remplir chaque partie évidée de poudre de bonbon, puis enfourner 10 min dans un four préchauffé à 190°C (thermostat 6).

Lorsque vous les sortez du four, laissez-les bien refroidir une dizaine de minutes, le temps que le bonbon durcisse, avant de les déplacer, de les accrocher au sapin ou de les manger!

Remarques :

J’utilise parfois les bonbons entiers, que je place dans la partie évidée, mais il faut alors faire cuire tout doucement pour éviter les bulles qui gâchent un peu l'effet vitrail.

mini pepparkakshus

source: http://www.notmartha.org/archives/2009/12/18/a-gingerbread-house-that-perches-on-the-rim-of-your-mug/

I made tiny gingerbread houses that are meant to be perched on the edge of a mug of hot chocolate.

I had been thinking about those sugar cubes that hook on the rim of a teacup earlier this month, and I was also thinking about 3-D cookies and how they fit together and figured it would be pretty neat to make cookies that hang on the edge of a mug. I thought I was being so brilliant but it only took a few seconds to discover that a flat cookie on the edge of a mug has already been done. So I started wondering what else I could do. At the time I was making a bunch of gingerbread recipes trying to find one that would hold up for my partridge in a pear tree cookie, so a gingerbread house was on my mind.

I made a few versions to figure out how to make one that wasn’t so top heavy that it would flip off the mug, and how small I could get away with and still fit on both large and small cups. I generally followed the size of my The Mini Gingerbread House Kit (though, those pieces don’t fit together as nicely as I’d have liked).

I’ve made a PDF pattern of gingerbread house pieces which you can open or download right here. My only instruction is that you should make sure that the wall pieces are to be sandwiched on the inside of the door pieces, that way the roof fits on properly. I included two door pieces you can choose from, one at 3/8ths inch wide and one at 1/2 inch wide. I found that a 3/8ths inch door, or slot, fits most mugs but the 1/2 can be used for your really big and heavy mugs. I traced the pieces onto this template page at 9:54 in the evening, please forgive the sloppiness but I’m getting tired, let’s just call the untidy lines charming.

I used the Gingerbread Snowflake and the Royal Icing recipes from marthastewart.com.

I rolled it out onto a sheet of tin foil at 1/8th inch thick. I skipped a silicone mat because I use a paring knife for the corner details and didn’t want to accidentally cut down to the layers of glass fibers, and after some trial I found that parchment paper will warp after being chilled and then stuck in an oven which can distort some shapes.

I used a dull sewing pattern roller (like a small pizza cutter) to go around most sides. You can do all of one side than turn the entire sheet of tin foil 90 degrees to do all of the next side, this makes the process go a bit faster. Try to fit all the pieces for each individual house in the same batch, I found my batches browned differently from each other. Lift the excess dough up from the tin foil, not moving your cut out shapes at all, this will help them keep their shape. Then slide the tin foil sheet onto a cookie sheet and put both in the freezer for about 15 minutes, you want the dough really well chilled before baking.

I used a (well cleaned) flat head screwdriver to get in the detail around the doors, then a paring knife to make sure the corners are cut cleanly.
Here are some tips, most of these are in the recipe but I don’t want you to overlook them:

• After making it divide the dough into thirds (I made half a recipe) wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least an hour, preferably overnight. Make the royal icing while it’s chilling, you’ll need it before you make all the gingerbread you are planning on.
• Roll the dough out to 1/8th of an inch. It seems impossibly thin but you be cutting the shapes and pulling the excess dough from around them so your pieces won’t be too disturbed. Feel free to nudge your shapes back into squares before chilling them again.
• Preheat the oven, roll the dough out on tin foil, cut your shapes and lift off the excess dough, slide the tin foil onto your cookie sheet, now put the cookie sheet into the freezer for at least 15 minutes before baking. This will keep the gingerbread from spreading too much.
• Make a single test house with your chosen door width. This sounds like a pita, and it will be, but it will be far less trouble than the frustration of finding none of your finished houses fit on mugs. Knowing now that you need to cut a wider door is worth it.
• I found that dough chilled for only an hour puffed up quite a bit, but didn’t necessarily spread if the cut out shapes were chilled in the freezer. Dough that had been in the fridge overnight, or even the second day (it’ll keep for a few days) puffed up quite a bit less, perhaps because the baking powder had lost it’s mojo by this time?
• If you suspect your intended mugs are thicker and sturdier than usual grab some cardstock or a magazine insert and cut a few different slots — 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 inch wide, about two inches deep (or tall). The one that slides easily onto the edge of you mug and even has a little wiggle room is the width you want for your door.
• If your gingerbread should spread and the doors look too narrow to you, you can trim them when the gingerbread is just out of the oven before it sets and cools too much. I suggest a paring knife and trimming just a bit from either side of the door.

I decided to only decorate the roofs for now. I might make these again next year and get more detailed with the decorations. I used a variety of sugars and sprinkles. One note, I discovered that candy cane dust will stick together so well that it will not show any piping detail beneath it. I liked the way regular sanding sugar made the roof sparkle a bit, though I couldn’t capture the cuteness in my pictures.

Don’t fill your mug of hot chocolate too full, you don’t want the bottom of your gingerbread house to get soggy.

Can you tell the crushed candy cane one was my favorite?
I would be these would be fantastic made out of sugar cookie or shortbread dough. You could certainly leave them undecorated, or perhaps press sanding sugar into the roof pieces before baking. On the other hand I’m curious to see what one would look like covered in pieces of tiny candies. I’m also planning on making house-shaped marshmallows that will fit on the edge of the mug.

update: I made a few variations including a chimney and a version made out of sugar cookie dough which you might be interested in.

Pepparkakor

source ;http://svenskarecept.wordpress.com/2011/10/28/pepparkakor-og-hus/

 

Ingredienser til pepparkakor hus

1,5 dl	socker
1 dl	sirap
50 g	smör
2 tsk	kanel, malen
2 tsk	ingefära, malen
2 tsk	kryddnejlikor
1,5 dl	mjölk
1 tsk	bikarbonat
8-9 dl	vetemjöl, cirka

Karamellag:

2 dl	socker
1 dl	vatten
1 msk	glykos

Kristyr:

1 st	äggvita
1 tsk	ättikssprit
4 dl	florsocker
	(karamellfärg)
	strut av smörpapper

Tillagning

1 Blanda samman socker, sirap och smör i en kastrull. Värm det tills smöret smält. Tillsätt kryddor och mjölk. Rör om och låt kallna.

2 Tillsätt bikarbonaten blandad med lite av mjölet och arbeta in det till en deg. Tillsätt mera mjöl tills degen blir fast och smidig. Lägg degen i plastfolie och låt den ligga svalt till nästa dag.

3 Knåda degen smidig på nytt, eventuellt med lite mera mjöl. Degen ska vara ganska fast.

4 Pepparkakor: Kavla ut degen tunt. Måtta ut kakor med pepparkaksmått och lägg dem på en plåt med bakplåtspapper. Grädda i ugn, 175 grader, i cirka 7 minuter. Låt kakorna svalna på plåten.

5 Pepparkakshus: Kavla ut degen som ovan, men inte så tunt som till pepparkakor. Lägg den utkavlade degen på bakplåtspapper på en plåt. Skär ut de olika bitarna efter mallarna och tag bort överflödig deg. Grädda i ugn, 175 grader, tar ca 10 minuter för större delar att bli färdiga och 5–7 minuter för de mindre. Låt delarna svalna på plåten.

6 Karamellag: Koka ihop socker, vatten och glykos till en tjock ljusgul lag. Doppa de olika bitarnas kanter som skall fogas ihop i lagen och foga dem genast samman. Vill man klistra på till exempel godis eller mandelspån kan man också använda sig av karamellagen. Dekorera med kristyr.

7 Kristyr: Rör äggvita, florsocker och ättikssprit till en jämn och blank massa. Färgsätt den eventuellt med karamellfärg.

8 Häll kristyren i en strut och dekorera dina julgodis.

Emergency Cookies

If you’re someone who bakes a lot, or are the recipient of home baked goods, you’ll know what I mean when I say store-bought cookies just don’t cut it any more. No matter how nice the brand is, nothing compares to fresh cookies right out of the oven. Which is always a problem when cookie-craving-hour unexpectedly strikes. You know buying cookies for the moment is just going to lead to disappointment, but baking an entire batch of cookies seems like so much effort. If you manage to conjure up the energy, then you have to work out what to do with the rest once the craving is satiated. If you live in a full household baking an entire batch of cookies mightn’t be an issue. But if, like me, your household is tiny, you’re left with more cookies than anyone has the stomach for. It’s often not long before I decide the effort is just too much and wallow in cookie-craving-self-pity instead.

Lately I’ve spent so much time making fancy stuff that it had been months since having anything simple, like cookies. Increasingly so, a little voice kept popping into my head going, “Ooh, cookies. Must have cookies.” It was always defeated by the effort involved when I just wanted one or two. Eventually I decided I needed a solution to the dilemma and dedicated an afternoon to what I call Emergency Cookies at home.

“What are emergency cookies?” you might ask. They’re pre-prepared packages of cookie dough that can be stored long-term and baked on an as-needed basis. Any time someone in the household gets hit by the cookie cravings, I can throw as many cookies as required in the oven with minimal effort required. The best part is the amount of variety you can get out of one or two batches of dough: definitely everyone’s favourite part of emergency cookies.

There’s lots of different doughs that are suitable for emergency cookies. One of my favourites are log cookies. Their shape makes them really easy to find freezer space for, and you can simply cut off as many cookies as you need.

This recipe is one of my favourites. The dough is made with icing sugar, which makes the resultant cookie really short and buttery — very similar to shortbread.

It begins with creaming the butter and sugar, then folding in the flours until you end up with a giant batch of dough. This recipe yields a lot of cookies normally, but I doubled it for even more emergency cookie fun.

Once you have the plain dough, this is where the fun really starts. Now you get to invent all the flavour combinations. I usually start by raiding the pantry and seeing what odds and ends I have. The dough is really forgiving so you can add most anything. You do need to be careful to not make the dough too moist or too dry, but otherwise you can throw in anything: citrus, cocoa, booze, fruit, spices… anything that compliments a sweet cookie.

The first choice is obvious: chocolate chip cookies. No batch of emergency cookies is complete without adding chocolate chips.

I had caramel choc chips on hand, so I began with those. The choc chip portion is the easiest and only involves kneading a handful of chips into the dough. You don’t want to go too overboard with the chips for this recipe, as they can get in the way when slicing the dough later.
Once it’s complete you’ll roll it into a long log shape, as wide as you want your resultant cookies to be.
Next I went for orange and poppy seed cookies, another of my favourite flavour combinations.

For the citrus flavour you have a number of options. You can use the rind and/or juice of an orange. I didn’t have any fresh oranges on hand so I used a flavouring essence.

I could have kneaded in the poppy seeds as well, but I went for something a little less conventional. If you want to border your cookies in any seeds, sprinkles or other decorations, simply place a heap of them on baking paper and roll the dough sausage in it until it’s well covered. Wrap it up and set it aside.

The third cookies I called cherry ripe flavoured: chocolate, cherry and coconut. I knew I wanted one of the batches to be chocolate, and once I found some glacé cherries in the cupboard the rest followed suit.

To make any of the batches chocolate, simply knead in a little cocoa at a time until the dough is as dark as you like. Try not to do too much at once because the cocoa does love to go flying if it gets a little puff of air during kneading.

To make the kneading process easier, and to avoid drying out the dough, you can mix it with a little milk first to form a thick paste. But because I was adding glace cherries, which pack a lot of moisture, I didn’t have to worry about it.

Last of all I went for another citrus flavour: lemon and cranberry. I has some dried cranberries left over from a chicken stuffing I made, and lemon just felt like the right accompaniment.

I used lemon flavouring essence again for this, then kneading in the chopped up cranberries.

Once your doughs are all wrapped up, place them on a tray or flat surface in your fridge, and chill for at least an hour.

The dough needs to be firm enough to slice without buckling.

When it’s cold enough, slice off as many cookies worth of dough as you want and place them on a baking tray.

20 minutes later you’ll have a batch of cookies that are as rich in variety as they are in freshness and flavour. I used about 1/8 of each log and got 28 cookies, so you can expect to get about 100 cookies out of the total batch of dough. To store the logs you can wrap them in foil and/or place them in an air tight container to keep them safe from freezer smells.

But the emergency baking doesn’t stop there. Because, there’s another favourite recipes of ours that I love to have on hand. These chocolate chip cookies are so light and fluffy, and when they’re fresh out of the oven with all their oozy melted chocolate chips no one can say no.

Storing cookies this way will work for any dough made using the creaming method. That is, one where you beat the butter and sugar together first, then add in the rest. You need a firm dough, so any cake-batter-like cookies (e.g. madeleines) won’t freeze well.

Again, because I need variety in my life, I divided this dough up again. This time in half. To one half I added cocoa and white chocolate chips, the other I left plain vanilla and added dark chocolate chips.

I roll tablespoons of dough into balls, place them on a tray and flatten slightly. This cookie recipe doesn’t necessitate refrigerating first, but I prefer to. I let them chill for about half an hour, then I bake as many as we want straight away. The rest I put in an airtight container and pop in the freezer for next time. You definitely need to chill the dough completely before transferring them into the container, as this stops them from sticking to one another. It then becomes as simple as taking out individual potions any time you want a few cookies. Though, once you taste these cookies you may be immediately digging in for more.

They’re one of our favourite chocolate chip cookies recipes ever, partially owing to the coconut in them, but mostly to how light and cake-ey they are.

Any butter-based cookie dough, like these, will store really well in the freezer. Most will last in the fridge for a week, and in the freezer for 6 months to a year (if you somehow make it stretch that long). For accurate baking times, it’s best to let the frozen dough defrost in the fridge. But these are emergency cookies, and no one has time for that, right? You can bake these straight from the freezer, though you will need to adjust baking times. The chocolate chip cookies, for example, cook perfectly after exactly 15 minutes straight from the fridge, but took 17 minutes from the freezer (15 minutes left the inside a bit too moist, whereas 20 minutes made the inside a bit too dry).

You can also freeze cut out cookies, which I haven’t baked lately so I don’t have any examples. To store them in the freezer for one-by-one bakeability, you’ll want to roll it out and cut them into shapes as you usually do. Refrigerate them as we did with the chocolate chip cookies, then freeze them. If your dough is still sticky after being in the fridge, put a layer of baking paper between the cookies before freezing to ensure they don’t stick.

Log Cookie Blank Canvas Recipes

Ingredients

500g (17.6oz) unsalted butter, room temperature400g (14.1oz) icing sugar 2 tsp vanilla extract 600g (21.2oz) plain flour 150g (5.3oz) rice flour 100g (3.5oz) cornflour (corn starch) 4 tbsp milk NB: This recipe is enough to make around 100 cookies. For a smaller recipe, this recipe can be freely halved, quartered as needed

Method

Cream butter and icing sugar together in a large bowl until light and fluffy; fold in flours a third at a time, alternating with the milk Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth, then divide into quarters. Knead in chosen flavourings* into each dough portion. Roll the dough portion into a long long (approx 30cm long). Wrap each tightly with plastic wrap, then refrigerate until firm (about an hour). Preheat oven to 160°C (140°C fan-forced/320°F). Line a baking tray or cookie sheet with baking paper. Remove dough from the fridge, remove plastic wrap and cut as many slices of dough as required into 1cm thick slices. Place on baking tray and bake for 18-20 minutes. Cover the remaining dough in foil and freeze until required next. Allow to cool on wire rack. * flavourings I used: Chocolate chip: Knead in about 50g (1.8oz) of chocolate chips into the plain dough Orange and poppy seed: Knead in 1tsp of either orange flavouring essence or finely grated orange rind. You can knead in 3 tbsp of poppy seeds, or roll the dough long in them as shown above Cherry Ripe: Knead in enough cocoa to make the dough a rich chocolate colour. I used around 1/3 of a cup. Knead in 100g (3.5oz) of chopped glacé cherries and about 1/3 cup of desiccated coconut Lemon and cranberry: Knead in 1tsp of either lemon flavouring essence or finely grated lemon rind, then knead in 100g (3.5oz) of chopped dried cranberries.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

250g (8.8oz) unsalted butter, room temperature220g (7.7oz/1 cup) caster sugar 2 eggs 85g (2.8oz/1 cup) desiccated coconut 450g (15.9oz/3 cups) self-raising flour 2 tbsp dutch processed cocoa 1/3 cup white chocolate chips 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips

Method

Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy; beat in eggs and vanilla. Fold in coconut and self raising flour a third at a time Divide dough in half. To one half, fold in the cocoa and white choc chips. To the other half fold in the dark chocolate chips. Roll tablespoons of dough into balls, place on a tray and flatten slightly. Place in the fridge to chill for around 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced/355°F). Line a baking tray or cookie sheet with baking paper. Place as many cookies as you want immediately on the tray and bake for 15 minutes. Place the rest in an air tight container and freeze. Allow cookies to cool on trays slightly once baked.