kneats:

Look, you guys, K reminded me yesterday that I’ve been really lax the past little while. I have a sort of backlog of baking pictures to post, but I though I’d start with these, because I spent all afternoon on them, and it was about as time consuming as you could imagine biscuits would be, but by the end I felt totally achieved. I’ve changed the measurements from the weights in the book to cups, because I don’t have a scale but I DO have a bunch of measuring cups, which is a set up I am led to believe lots of people have. I rounded these up/down, and they worked fine.

Chocolate & Cinnamon Alphabet Biscuits (Recipe from Bake It, which…has no listed author? Dang. It comes in a series of “[insert cooking style/technique here] it” books, I believe.)

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 & a bit cups caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups plain flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 egg white (for glazing)
1 extra tablespoon caster sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, for sprinkling.

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C (375 degrees F/gas mark 5). Cream butter & sugar in a bowl using an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, then beat in the egg and the vanilla. Sift in flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and cinnamon, then use a wooden spoon (or, if you’re lazy and have an awesome mixer like I do, the dough attachment (NOT the dough hook, it’s not that thick, just the one that isn’t a wire beater)) to stir until a soft dough forms. Wrap it in plastic (I take it out of the bowl and wrap it separately, but I suppose you could just cover it) and chill for 30 minutes in the fridge.

HERE IS WHERE I DEVIATED. If you have alphabet letter cutters, I will come round and rob you for them, but before that, you can roll out the dough to about 5mm thick between 2 bits of baking/greaseproof paper and cut the letters out with them. I only have a star cutter, so I did a few like that before shaping the letters by hand. This is quite good if you want them to look a bit like your handwriting (see the g, y, w and m on mine), but I imagine it is more time consuming. Work quickly! I can’t stress this enough. The dough becomes warm very fast, especially if you’re using your hands and they’re on the warm-ish side like mine are, and it makes it harder to get the dough off the paper.

To make the glaze, whisk the egg white until fluffy, and mix the sugar and cinnamon together. (ps: cinnamon sugar is a good thing to have on hand, in a jar somewhere. It is awesome on toast, and it’s something that, if you make a lot of biscuits, is good for coating them in, a la snickerdoodles.)

Place the biscuits on a well greased tray/s or one covered in baking paper (this is how I do all my biscuits, by the by, I never trust greasing and I find it easier to keep the trays in good condition), and brush with glaze, then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake for 10 minutes, or until brown. THAT IS TEN MINUTES, I ASSURE YOU. I overcooked my first lot by about 2 minutes, and they were black. To make the whole alphabet and then some, it probably took me about 6 trays’ worth, but it depends how big your letters/trays/oven is, I guess. Once cooked, let them cool on the tray for about two minutes (they’re slightly soft when they come out, but they harden really quickly), then transfer to a wire rack if you have one - I just took them off the tray.

LOOK, YOU’VE MADE A COOKIE ALPHABET. These would be a pretty amazing thing to take to a party, I reckon, if only because people will be all “shit son, you made these all yourself?” and try to take the letter of their name, and then maybe you will be friends. Don’t laugh, I have tempted people into being friends with me with baked goods before. They are generally crunchy and very cinnamony, more than the chocolate although there is definite cocoa overtones. Good with coffee! I defs recommend.