A brilliant alternative to the store bought "two-bite brownies ", these chocolatey morsels are a definite treat for those not wanting to indulge in too-decadent desserts. Besides being calorie dense, many chocolatey desserts are too time consuming to prepare and too guilt inducing to be enjoyed as an on-the-go snack. These tiny bites can be assembled in a snap and prepared in the desired size for a quick chocolate and dessert fix--minus the need for a covert operation. A word of warning, though: these are highly addictive!
These chocolate bites are a fun recipe for kids to try: no hot ovens, no unmanageable liquids to maneuver, just a whole lot of mixing and grinding make this an ideal beginner recipe. The bonus is that the end result can hardly be messed up, even if an errant child loses interest halfway through the prep.
Note: Although this recipe calls for Marie biscuits, any other mild tea biscuit can be used. The biscuits should just be not too sweet to balance out the sweetness of the condensed milk.
Ingredients:
- 300g or 1.5 packages Marie biscuits
- 70g cocoa powder
- 1 400g can sweetened condensed milk (fat-free can be used)
- 100g pecans or walnuts, divided
Method:
1. Crush the biscuits coarsely in a food processor.
2. In a large bowl, mix biscuits, cocoa powder and fold in the condensed milk. Stir to combine.
3. Grind the pecans and set half the mixture aside. Mix the other half with the biscuit mixture.
4. Shape the sticky biscuit mixture into 1.5inch long logs or whatever shape is desired.
5. Roll each chocolate bite into the ground pecan mixture for a crunchy covering. Refrigerate logs before serving.
History of the Marie Biscuit
The Marie biscuit was created by the British bakery Peek Freans to commemorate the marriage of the Grand Duchess Maria of Russia to the duke of Edinburgh in the 19th century (Source: The Independent, UK). Due to its mild taste and simple ingredients it quickly became a popular tea biscuit ideal for dunking into a hot cuppa joe-cousin. Due to English occupation, Marie gained commonwealth notoriety so much that it is still a popular biscuit in many of England's former colonies including Southeast Asia, Australia and Spain.
Like most tea biscuits, Marie is mild flavored, and although it can certainly be eaten as is, it tends to lend itself very well to dressing up with other flavors. Another popular version of this dessert is to "stack" the biscuits together glued by the condensed milk, pecan and cocoa mixture as a sort of biscuit sandwich. Because Marie biscuits have an intricate design on them, a simple dusting of sugar on a biscuit sandwich lends a festive touch to the dessert. Healthy and mild, Marie biscuits are a perfect ingredient for many simple desserts.
Puja Gupta - Puja is a freelancer with a wide variety of interests ranging from Medieval England to modern India, from science to literature. However, ...
