Baking with my little buddy - Viennese Biscuits!

Back in 2009, I hosted a Christmas Cookie Exchange with some of my friends in the Netherlands.  It was such a wonderful evening full of friendship and cookies.  One of my favorite things about that particular cookie exchange was that we were from many different countries.  The Netherlands, England, Canada and the USA were represented.  My dear friend, Sharon (a Canadian - living in the Netherlands), baked these yummy cookies that night and gave me the “Usborne Children’s Book of Baking” as a gift.  

The other night my son wanted to bake cookies all by himself.  He has been watching me bake up a storm in our kitchen and wanted IN on the action.   

 

My mom (Nanny) gave him an apron for Christmas and he really wanted to try it on and get it dirty!   

He sifted the ingredients like a pro!

Ever since Sharon gave me that cookbook, I have wanted to try out just about all of the recipes.   Seeing as it was Kid-Friendly I figured, “Why not?!”  I actually had all of the ingredients available to make the Viennese Biscuits (recipe below) and my son was excited to make a cookie that looked like a chocolate sandwich! 

What a wonderful experience, my kid and I baking together.  Well…he did most of the work.  I just tried not to stress out too much as powdered sugar soared through the air in my kitchen!  I highly recommend baking this one up with your kids when you have the time.  The biscuits, by themselves, are a little dry.  Once you sandwich the chocolate ganache between them, what a wonderful taste bud explosion!  

 And to think that my little guy baked them on his own! 

A little messy, but PERFECT in every way!  

 Thanks Sharon!

Viennese Biscuits

Ingredients:

Makes 24 biscuits – 12 pairs

(Please keep in mind that this is an English recipe – that’s why the measurements are in grams.)

For the biscuits:

175 g (6 oz) unsalted butter, softened

40 g (1 ½ oz) powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

175 g (6 oz) all-purpose flour

40 g (1 ½ oz) cornflour (corn starch)

For the Ganache:

75 g (3 oz) semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips

4 TBSP double cream or heavy cream

1 – Heat the oven to 375 degrees.  Line two baking trays with parchment paper.  Put the butter in a bowl.  Sift the powdered sugar over it.  Beat the mixture until it is creamy.

2 – Stir in the vanilla.  Sift the flour and corn starch over the mixture.  Stir them in until they are smooth.  Put a teaspoon of the mixture onto one of the trays.

3 – Put more teaspoons of mixture onto the trays, leaving spaces between them.  Flatten each blob of mixture slightly with the back of a teaspoon.

4 – Bake the biscuits for 12-14 minutes, until they are pale golden brown.  Leave them on their trays for five minutes, then use a spatula to lift them onto a wire rack.

5 – For the ganache, put the chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl and add the cream.  Then pour about 2 inches of water into a saucepan.

6 – Heat the water until it bubbles, then take the pan off the heat.  Carefully, put the bowl inside the pan.  Stir the chocolate and the cream until the chocolate has melted.

7 – Lift the bowl out of the pan and let the ganache cool for a few minutes.  Then, put it in the fridge for about an hour, stirring every now and then, as it thickens.  

8 - When the ganache is soft like butter, take it out of the fridge.  Use a blunt knife to spread some onto the flat side of a biscuit.  Press another biscuit on top.

9 - Sandwich the biscuits together in pairs until all the ganache and bicuits are used up.  Eat them straight away (I LOVE that the recipe says "straight away!") or keep them in an airtight container in the fridge.

10 - Pat your child (or self) on the back and ENJOY!