Whip up a batch of delectable Chocolate Cookies and get your kids involved too. They can pipe the ganache or dip the cookies in the chocolate.

These cookies can be stored for weeks in air-tight containers kept in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Cookies

Recipe courtesy: California Walnuts

Servings: 18-20

Ingredients

For the dough

• 80 gm walnuts
• 250 gm aatta or wheat flour
• ½ tsp dalcheeni or cinnamon powder
• 150 gm cold butter, chopped into small pieces
• 70 gm icing sugar
• 1 egg
• Pinch salt

For the ganache

• 150 gm dark chocolate, preferably 60 per cent cacao
• 100 gm whipping cream
• 50 ml espresso coffee liqueur

For the decoration

• 200 gm couverture dark chocolate or dark chocolate with a higher percentage of cocoa butter (available online)
• 25 walnut halves
• All-purpose flour, for rolling out
• Baking paper
• Piping bag
• Cookie cutters

Method

For the dough

• Roast the walnuts in a pan without any oil until golden brown.
  Take off heat and cool.
  Transfer into a blender jar and grind to a fine powder.
• In a bowl, mix the flour, salt, cinnamon.
  Add the chopped butter and knead the mixture using your fingers until it forms a fine crumbly mixture.
  There should be no lumps of butter.
  Add the ground walnuts, icing sugar, egg.
  Quickly mix to form a smooth dough.
  Cover with cling wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for an hour.
• While the dough is resting, prepare the espresso ganache.
  Finely chop the dark chocolate and place it in a heatproof bowl and microwave till melted, checking all the time.
  Bring the espresso coffee liqueur to a boil and pour it over the chocolate and the whipped cream.
  Cool for about 5 minutes, then stir well.
  Cover the chocolate mixture and place in the fridge for about an hour.
  Check its firmness periodically.
  It should be spreadable for easy application on the cookies.
• Preheat an oven to 160 to 180°C.
• Roll out the walnut dough on a floured work surface to a thickness of approximately 5 mm.
  Cut out 50 cookies (it could be more or less depending on the cookie cutter used).
  Place the cookies on 2 baking trays lined with baking paper and bake in the preheated oven at 160-180°C for 8 to 10 minutes.
  Allow the cookies to cool over a wire rack.
• Melt the dark chocolate couverture by placing the bowl over a pot of boiling water.
  Make sure the water does not seep into the chocolate bowl.
• Dip the top face of half of the baked cookies into the chocolate coating.
  Place them on the baking paper and top each with a walnut half while the chocolate is still warm and gooey.
  Let set.
• Transfer the ganache into a piping bag with a large opening.
  Spread it on the remaining cookies.
  Garnish with chopped walnuts and drizzle some melted chocolate.
  Serve.

• REDIFF RECIPES