CSR Christmas Chocolate Almond Bites

When I was asked by CSR Sugar to develop some recipes using their wonderful new Buttercream Icing Mixes I immediately knew I wanted to play with a biscuit that everyone could enjoy, including those following a gluten free diet!

Made with no added colours, preservatives or artificial flavours, the CSR Sugar All Natural Buttercream Icing Mixes are gluten free and available in the three classic flavours of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry…perfect for any bake where buttercream is involved!

I cannot tell you how good these little biscuits are – it was a real struggle not to keeping having “just one more”! The flavour combination of the almonds, the lusciousness of the chocolate buttercream followed by the burst of freshness that is added by the dried berries is really crazy delicious!

Oh, and although it may look like an involved recipe, it is absolutely achievable if you take your time and take it one step at a time…trust me the results will be so worth it!

I hope you enjoy making the recipe – please tag me @mummascountrykitchen and #mckrecipes so that I can see your festive creations! H xx

Serves: 24 double decker or 48 single layer cookies
Preparation Time: 30 minutes, plus 20-30 minutes freezing time
Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 cups almond meal 
• ¾ cup CSR White Sugar 
• ¼ cup desiccated coconut 
• 3 egg whites, at room temperature 
• ½ cup glucose 
• 1 tablespoon hot (tap) water 
• 1 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste 
• 2 tablespoons CSR Soft Icing Mixture 
• 1 packet CSR Buttercream Icing Mix Chocolate, made according to packet directions 
• 300g dark chocolate, melted 
• 2 teaspoons coconut oil 
• 12 freeze dried raspberries or strawberries, finely chopped, to garnish

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160C and line two large baking sheets with baking paper. Set aside.

2. Place the almond meal, white sugar and desiccated coconut in a large bowl and whisk to break up any lumps. Set aside.

3. Whisk the egg whites until lovely and frothy before adding them to the almond meal mixture along with the glucose, hot water, baking powder and vanilla bean paste. Stir to combine.

4. Using a mini ice cream scoop, scoop the cookie dough onto the baking sheets. Dust the tops of the cookies with the icing sugar mixture and slightly flatten a little with the bottom of a mug. You may need to also dust the bottom of the mug as you go so it doesn’t stick to the cookies.

5. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes before allowing to completely cool on the baking sheets.

6. Once the cookies have completely cooled, make the chocolate buttercream in accordance with the directions on the back of the packet. Place in a large piping bag fitted with a decorative nozzle (I like to use a Wilton 1M tip).

7. To make double decker cookies, pipe a buttercream rose onto one cookie and put another cookie gently on top, just slightly pressing down to make sure they have stuck together. Set aside on another tray before continuing with the others.

8. If you would like to do what I do and mix things up, make about 15 double cookies and then make the rest single layer cookies, perfect for smaller kids or toddlers. All you need to do to make the single layer cookies is pipe a buttercream rose onto a cookie and then place on the tray. Freeze the cookies for 20-30 minutes or until the buttercream is very firm.

9. In the meantime, make the chocolate coating by melting the dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl over simmering water until it is completely smooth. Stir in the coconut oil and cool until it is only slightly warm yet still beautifully runny.

10. Take the cookies out of the freezer. For the double decker cookies, dip only the top half of the cookie (up to the buttercream) in the chocolate coating and place on a wire rack to set. Immediately sprinkle a little of the raspberries on top as the chocolate will dry quite quickly. Repeat with the other cookies.

11. For the single layer cookies, dip the whole buttercream section into the chocolate, place on the wire rack and immediately sprinkle with a little raspberries. Repeat with the other cookies.

12. Refrigerate until ready to serve. To store any leftover cookies, place in an airtight container and keep refrigerated.

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