I remember feeling incredibly grown up the first time I was asked if I wanted sweet aan from the paan shop.

What is Paan Masala?

Paan Masala is an Indian after-dinner mouth freshener consisting of peppery betel leaf wrapped around a filling of rose petal jam, candied fennel seeds, salted sesame seeds and sweet betel nut (areca) flakes.

You can get it in many different varieties, some containing chewing tobacco and some colourful, fun to eat and delightfully sweet.

Each specialist paan wala will have their own secret blend of ingredients.

Why Paan Masala Cookies?

I want to take my love of sweet paan to the next level by sharing a fun take on it that doesn’t require a visit to a specialist paan maker.

These sweet little cookies are such a great after-dinner sweet to pair with coffee or tea. As paan masala or mukhwas is usually an after-dinner treat, these cookies take that classic ritual to the next level.

How to make Paan Masala Cookies in 4 easy steps

1. Make the dough

Beat together butter, condensed milk and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Add your dry ingredients and use a spatula to form a soft dough.

Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate for a couple of hours.

2. Add the paan masala

Break the dough up and add the paan masala. Bring everything together using your hands to press the paan masala into the dough.

The reason we add it as this stage and not earlier is because the colours often run and we don’t want them streaking through or discolouring the cookie dough.

3. Roll and stamp out your cookies

Lightly dust a clean surface with flour and roll the dough out to around 3-4mm in thickness. Use cookie cutters of your choice to stamp out your cookies.

Gather up any dough scraps and repeat the rolling and stamping process until all of it is used up.

Tip: Try to work quickly so the dough doesn’t soften too much. If it does become very soft, wrap it up again and chill in the fridge until firm before continuing.

The warmer the dough is, the more likely it is that the paan masala colours will bleed.

4. Bake the cookies

Place the cookies on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Bake in your oven preheated at 175°C/350°F for 12-14 minutes.

The cookies will not brown a great deal so the colours of the paan masala stand out beautifully.

Where can I buy Paan Masala?

You can pick up a packet paan masala (sometimes labelled mukhwas) in most Indian shops or buy it online. The other ingredients in this recipe are things you’ll probably already have a home.

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Paan Masala Cookies recipe

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Paan Masala Cookies

The ultimate after-dinner cookie to pair with coffee. Buttery, bakery-style biscuits laced with candied fennel seed and rose petal paan masala.

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine Indian

Keyword baking, biscuits, cookies, paan masala

Servings 25 cookies

Author Sanjana

Equipment

• Cookie cutters of your choice
• 2-3 large, flat baking trays

Ingredients

• 200 g plain flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 125g g butter softened
• 100g g sweetened condensed milk
• 25g g icing sugar
• 25 g gulab mukhwas (or paan masala/mukhwas of your choice)

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 175°C/350°F.
• Place the butter in a large bowl. Beat with a whisk until very soft. Add the condensed milk and continue to beat until smooth.
• Add the icing sugar and whip until the mixture is light and fluffy.
• Tip in the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Use a spatula to fold the flour in until no more dry flour is visible. It will be a very soft dough.
• Place the dough onto a large piece of cling film and flatten into a rough 15cm x 15cm square. Wrap well and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. We flatten it so the dough chills quickly.
• Break the chilled dough into small pieces and tip the paan masala on top. Bring everything together using your hands to press the paan masala into the dough. The reason we add it as this stage and not earlier is because the colours often run and we don't want them streaking through or discolouring the cookie dough.
• Lightly dust a clean surface with flour and roll the dough out to around 3-4mm in thickness. Use cookie cutters of your choice to stamp out your cookies. Gather up any dough scraps and repeat the rolling and stamping process until all of it is used up. Try to work quickly so the dough doesn't soften too much. If it does become very soft, wrap it up again and chill in the fridge until firm before continuing. The warmer the dough is, the more likely it is that the paan masala colours will bleed.
• Place the cookies on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Bake in your oven preheated at 175°C/350°F for 12-14 minutes. The cookies will not brown a great deal so the colours of the paan masala stand out beautifully.
• The cookies will seem quite soft when they come out of the oven. They will firm up as they cool. Allow to cool on the baking trays completely before placing in a biscuit tin. These cookies taste better the next day.

Video

Notes

• These Paan Masala Cookies will keep will in an airtight biscuit tin for up to 2 weeks. Store at room temperature.
• You can make the cookie dough up to two days in advance and store it in the fridge until ready to use. Add the paan masala right before you want to bake them.
• The cookie dough freezes well. Wrap the dough (without paan masala added) it well in cling film and freeze for up to 3 months. Add the paan masala right before you want to bake them.

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If you like this, you’ll love my recipe for Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Love Sanjana

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These days I love to add rose to lots of dishes from sweet to savoury, but mostly sweet. I’ve got a tonne of rose recipes on the blog, some of my favourites being Strawberry Cheesecake Falooda, Eggless Rose Custard Creams, Pistachio and Rose Bombay Halwa, Cardamom Wreath with Rose Drizzle and Candied Lemon Peel. A dash of rose water also doesn’t go amiss in biryani, ice cream and of course, cake.

Here I’ve dunked chewy toasted coconut macaroons in a simple rose icing made with icing sugar and rose syrup – the bright pink kind you find in Indian shops. One of my pregnancy cravings has been rose milk reminiscent of my falooda-crazy days. I add a dash to cold milk and stir for a strawberry pink milkshake that’s so refreshing without the faff of having to make a true falooda.

The macaroons are eggless, switching in a trusty can of sweetened condensed milk instead of egg whites. The result is a delicious, toasty coconut cookie with a coconut ice-like centre. After they’ve cooled, the bottoms get dunked in the rose icing and chopped toasted pistachios. Pistachio and rose are a flavour combo I’d like to eat every day for the rest of my life – I’m obsessed.

If you’re looking for a quick and easy 6-ingredient cookie that’s both egg and gluten free, this one’s for you.

Dust with icing sugar for a pretty snow-topped peak. So pretty!

Eggless Pistachio-Rose Macaroons
Makes 25 macaroons

For the macaroons:
1 x 397g tin sweetened condensed milk
300g sweetened desiccated coconut
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

For the rose icing:
140g icing sugar
4 tbsp rose syrup

Icing sugar to dust, optional

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/320°F. It’s really important you do this. The oven needs to be HOT or the cookies will melt into flat puddles. Grease and line 2 large baking trays with greaseproof paper and butter.

2. In a large bowl, combine the coconut, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract and bicarbonate of soda until you have a thick pliable mixture.

3. Divide the mixture into 25 equal balls and shape each one into a teardrop shape. Arrange on the pre-lined baking sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden and toasted on the outside. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

4. To make the icing, mix the icing sugar and rose syrup until you have a thick, drippy pink icing. Dip the bottom of the cooled macaroons in the icing and then into the chopped pistachios. Sit them back onto a lined baking tray. Allow to set at room temperature for a few hours.

5. Dust with icing sugar and serve.

The macaroons will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for a week. Although I doubt they’ll last that long.

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It’ll come as no surprise that the secret ingredient in these eggless/vegan macarons is aquafaba – the vegan chickpea water that replaces egg whites in meringues, pavlovas and rich vegan chocolate mousse.

I’ve tried to nail the perfect eggless/vegan macaron for years and as soon as aquafaba came along, it was like all my baking prayers had been answered. It was the magic ingredient needed to form the basis of hundreds of recipes I’d always wanted to recreate without eggs.

I’ve tried making macarons with both French meringue and Italian meringue and each time, the French meringue would look so promising and the end results were a total disaster – they’d puncture in the oven and ooze even though they had been rested for hours, were dry to the touch and baking at a low temperature.

It had to be a problem with the stability of the aquafaba French meringue. I read online that even with regular macarons, the eggs should be aged and that Italian meringue offers tonnes more stability due to the hot sugar syrup being boiled to 115C – past the soft ball stage and verging on the hard ball stage. This means the fluffy whites hold stiff peaks, whether you’re using eggs or aquafaba. All that beating in the stand mixer allows the proteins and acids in the whipped-up whites to bond with the sugar and create a stable network to trap in air for volume that wouldn’t look out of place in a L’Oréal advert.

My recipe is based on a classic French macaron recipe in most ways – it contains equal measures of ground almonds, icing sugar and caster sugar. The changes I’ve made are that I used thick, reduced aquafaba in place of the eggs (which you absolutely cannot taste in the final product, I promise). I also made my sugar syrup for the Italian meringue with strong brewed jasmine tea for a gorgeous aroma and flavour. The rest of the changes come with baking the macarons.

I tested several batches of macarons, baking each sheet at different temperatures and found that the key to getting even ‘feet’ on every macaron depends on several things, baking temperature being an integral one. Here are some tips I learnt along the way.

How do I made vegan macarons?

1. Aquafaba from a can is rich in protein but contains a lot of water. You should reduce it by half the night before you want to make the macarons, pour it into a bowl and keep it in the fridge – the resting and cooling time is essential for a thick, viscous ‘egg white-like’ replacer.
2. Use a sugar thermometer to measure when the syrup reaches 115C – don’t eyeball it.
3. Sift the almonds with the icing sugar – I skipped this when making a previous batch and the tops weren’t as smooth as I’d have liked them to be.
4. After adding the sugar syrup to the foamy whipped aquafaba, beat it for ten minutes. It won’t be as voluminous as making French meringue with aquafaba but that’s okay.
5. Don’t hold back when combining the almond paste and Italian meringue. Add all of the almond mixture in one go. Use a spatula to make sure it’s well mixed, pressing it against the sides of the bowl and folding, 20 times or so. The batter should look like light and airy molten lava, dropping off the spatula and becoming one with the mixture within 10-15 seconds. Some people like to imagine magma oozing from a volcano.
6. Pipe the macarons straight from above, at a 90 degree angle.
7. Make sure you tap the tray hard on the surface at least 5 times to remove any air bubbles. I did it 3 times whilst working on a batch and my macarons were lop-sided.
8. Pre-heat the oven to 150C and as soon as your tray of macarons goes in, turn it down to 115C. This will give them the shot of heat they need to develop feet and also cook evenly. If your oven has hot spots, make sure you turn the tray after the first 5 minutes of cooking has elapsed.
9. Allow the macarons to cool completely before attempting to lift them off the greaseproof paper.

I chose to fill my macarons with vegan white chocolate ganache – I love the feeling of chilled, set ganache against the chewy almond texture of the cookies. This is best achieved after filling the macarons, placing them in an airtight container and refrigerating overnight.

If you want to make dark chocolate macarons, replace the white chocolate ganache with your favourite darker variety.

How do I decorate my vegan macarons?

The shells are flavoured with jasmine tea and fresh vanilla. I added a little blue colouring to some of them for a pretty watercolour effect you don’t have to. The gold was edible gold dust painted on with a clean paintbrush.

Eggless/Vegan Vanilla and Jasmine Macarons
Makes 28-30 macarons

Ingredients

For The Macaron Shells:
350g aquafaba – from 2 x 400g tins of chickpeas in water (not salted water)

180g icing sugar
180g ground almonds
100ml strong brewed jasmine tea
180g golden caster sugar
Seeds ½ vanilla pod, scraped
Blue gel food colour and gold petal dust, optional

For The Whipped White Chocolate Ganache:
200g vegan white chocolate
200g thick coconut milk

You will also need:
5 x (13in x 9in) baking trays lined with silicone greaseproof paper
Piping bags
1cm round piping nozzle
Sugar thermometer
Stand mixer with whisk attachment

Method

1. Take two 400g tins chickpeas and pour the liquids into a bowl on a weighing scale. Weigh out 350g.

2. Pour the mixture into a pan and simmer until the liquids have reduced to 150g. Pour into a bowl and cover with clingfilm. Allow to cool, and then place in the fridge overnight.

3. I like to line my trays well ahead as I draw a stencil (2cm rounds) on the reverse of the greaseproof paper so I can ensure the macarons are the right size and spaced far enough apart. For this recipe you’ll need 5 heavy bottomed trays lined with silicone greaseproof paper.

4. The next day, sift the ground almonds and icing sugar into a bowl. Add 60g of the chilled chickpea liquids and stir to combine.

5. Pour the rest of the chickpea liquids into a clean, grease-free stand mixer. Turn the mixer on to medium speed. It will start getting foamy.

6. Pour the jasmine tea into a pan and add the caster sugar. Boil until the mixture registers 115C on a sugar thermometer.

7. Turn the mixer on high speed and carefully but quickly pour the sugar syrup into the whipped aquafaba.

8. Add the vanilla and beat the mixture for 10 minutes. It won’t be massively voluminous but it’ll become thick, glossy and rather like marshmallow fluff. After 10 minutes, you should have a mixture that resembles a bird’s beak on the whisk when it’s pulled up.

9. Add the almond mixture to the meringue and use a spatula to incorporate fully. Use a spatula to make sure it’s well mixed, pressing it against the sides of the bowl and folding, 20 times or so. The batter should look like light and airy molten lava, dropping off the spatula and becoming one with the mixture within 10-15 seconds. Think magma oozing from a volcano.

10. Fill a piping bag fitted with a 1cm round tip with the macaron batter. Add any colours you might want to use.

11. Take your pre-lined trays and pipe the macarons from straight above, not on a slant. If your batter is the correct consistency, you’ll see it spread slightly and smooth out within 30 seconds or so for each round.

12. Once all your macarons are piped, give each tray a firm but steady bang on the countertop – I do it 5 times.

13. Allow the macarons to air-dry in a cool place for about 2 hours.

14. Pre-heat the oven to 150C.

15. To make the vegan white chocolate ganache, place the coconut milk and vegan white chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high power for 90 seconds and leave it to sit for 10 minutes. Give it a gentle mix. Once it’s uniformly melted, cover and refrigerate until set.

16. Once the tops of the macarons are touch-dry, bake the macarons, one tray at a time. Once the tray is in the oven (middle rack), turn the temperature right down to 115C. Set the oven timer to cook for 25 minutes. During the time they’re in the oven, pay to your oven’s hotspots and turning the tray if you need to (after the first five minutes if you do).

17. Remove the tray from the oven and allow to cool. Repeat the baking process for each tray.

18. While the last tray is in the oven, remove the ganache from the fridge and whip it until fluffy and light. Add vanilla if you like.

19. Once the macarons have cooled fully, gently peel them away from the greaseproof paper.

20. Match the macarons up by shell size. Pipe the ganache onto one half and gently press the two shells together for the perfect macaron sandwich. Decorate as you wish.

21. They taste WAY better the next day. Line an airtight container with kitchen paper and arrange the macarons in a single layer. Put the lid on and refrigerate overnight.

Try not to eat them all in one go. I struggled with that part.

Now go and make these and enjoy looking like a baking wizard in front of all your friends.

Love Sanjana

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So, I united chevdo and chocolate chip cookies and their baby turned out to be a goddamn champion.

Imagine this – the perfect balance of sweet, salty, spicy, crunchy and chewy in one little disc of happiness. The edges are slightly crisp, while the middle is soft, chewy and studded with chocolate chips, peanuts, potato chips, corn flakes, puffed rice and crispy lentils. If you love salted caramel or chocolate with chilli or sea salt, you’re going to go doolally for these egg-free cookies.

The moment when you sit down to masala chai and ‘naasto’ (snacks) is the instant your troubles and stresses fizzle away. The soothing, milky masala tea erases the furrows in your brow and the crunchy, savoury, sweet and spicy snacks fill you with the feeling of home comforts. It’s a simple pursuit that inadvertently becomes an occasion without even trying. Flawless.

Of course, there is no naasto time without chevdo. A crunchy, savoury Indian snack in which every ingredient is fried to golden perfection before being tumbled together with salt, turmeric, cinnamon, cloves, sugar and chilli. The ingredients vary from recipe to recipe but the essentials include: potato sticks, whole mung beans, corn flakes, puffed rice, chana daal, peanuts, curry leaves and sultanas.

So you’re probably thinking that this sounds similar to that notorious bar snack, Bombay mix? Yeah, well it’s definitely not the same as that.

However, Bombay mix is a derivative/form of chevdo in the sense that it’s a whole load of sweet, spicy, salty, crunchy ingredients fried and combined for a snack sensation that’ll set your taste buds alight.

Chevdo can come in a variety of forms. My favourite is the mild kind with a decent ratio of crunchy ingredients to nuts and spices to sultanas. Perfectly balanced chevdo is a tough thing to come by but once you find your brand, you’ll always be able to count on it.

You can buy it from the supermarket in the Indian snacks section, from speciality shops that are probably still using the family recipe, perfected over decades or order it online.

For my recipe, I went for a mild corn flake chevdo mix but you Kenya chevdo (mild and not spicy in the slightest) is also a delicious option. The only thing I’d say is steer clear of commercial Bombay mix packets or really spicy chevdo mixes. They will overpower your cookies and the balance of sweet, salty and spicy will be all out of kilter.

These cookies are bonkers-awesome and you should definitely make them. Your friends and family will welcome the surprise of flavours and let me tell you now, they are the most addictive things that will ever come our of your oven.

Sweet and Salty Chevdo Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 18-20 cookies

Ingredients

225g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
100g caster sugar
80g soft light brown sugar
150g milk chocolate chips
130g unsalted butter, room temperature
100g mild chevdo mix (regular or Kenya chevdo)
30g dehydrated potato powder
40g liquid from a can of chickpeas (aquafaba)
½ tsp vanilla extract
Melted dark chocolate, for dipping (optional)
More chevdo for decorating (optional)

Method

1. Whip the butter in a stand mixer until light, fluffy and pale. You can also do this by hand or use a hand-held electric mixer.

2. Add the caster sugar and brown sugar and whip for 3-4 minutes until super light.

3, Add in the dehydrated potato powder and chickpea liquids (this is the egg replacer and will make your cookies super soft, chewy and delicious – you won’t taste them in the finished cookies). Add the vanilla extract and beat for a few minutes.

4. Combine the flour, baking soda and baking powder. Gradually add this in to the butter mix in two stages. Do this slowly so you don’t overwork the mixture.

5. Fold in the chocolate chips and chevdo and use your hands to bring the cookie dough together. It should be soft, not sticky.

6. Pre-heat the oven to 160C. Line three large baking trays with non-stick baking paper and roll the dough into ping-pong ball sized rounds using your hands.

7. Space each cookie dough ball onto the trays, leaving space around each one – they will spread in the oven. Place the trays in the fridge for 10 minutes.

8. Bake the cookies for 7 minutes, remove them from the oven and use the back of a teaspoon to press them down gently. I find this results in a chewier middle. Return to the oven and bake for a further 7-8 minutes until golden. If you prefer your cookies cakey, skip the flattening step and bake for 14-15 minutes.

9. Remove the cookies from the oven – they will be super soft and delicate so leave them to cook on the trays for 10 minutes.

10. Gently lift the cookies onto a wire rack using a spatula and allow to cool completely.

Once cooled, you can serve them as they are but if you want to be fancy, dip each one in melted dark chocolate and sprinkle with more chevdo. Chill until the chocolate sets.

Store the cookies in an air-tight container at room temperature. They are best eaten fresh but will keep for 3-4 days.

I doubt they’ll last that long.

Love Sanjana

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And said bribery always involved sweets.

Chocolate Limes to be precise. She had a stash of these retro classics stowed away in her top drawer for when you answered a question correctly, or were simply doing something that was out of your comfort zone. Even though it was a single sweet you probably wouldn’t have given a toss about if your nan had offered one up at the weekend, it was the status, power and sense of achievement that came with that limey shell and chocolate middle. It made you feel like you had truly taken a step forward that day.

Don’t even get me started on the time one kid mapped the entire family tree of Henry V111 on the wall and earned himself a tidy SIX Chocolate Limes – one for each deceased wife. The whole class was seething with jealousy.

My point is, it’s always important to reward yourself. Someone I look up to very much once said to me, ‘Don’t be fixated with end goals. Reward your successes every step of the way, recognising the things you’re learning and how they’ll ultimately contribute to a bigger picture. Learn new skills and collect a multitude of new experiences. Consistently accomplish your aspirations, however small.’ This is something I believe can keep us motivated and not overwhelmed by long-term goals.

If I learnt anything in year five, it was that the chocolate limes reward system was the dog’s bollocks and a legit way to make you feel great about achieving something – when you’re ten. Now we’re all grown up, I felt the need to take standard sweets to the next level.

These Lime and Dark Chocolate Melting Moments are incredibly soft and almost Viennese Whirl-like in texture. A combination of flour, icing sugar, butter and cornflour creates the most wonderful melt-in-the-mouth feel. Inspired by those retro Chocolate Lime sweets, the biscuits are packed with lime zest and extract, while the chocolate buttercream filling gives them the most delicious bitter sweetness. Add a smidge of lime marmalade for added indulgence. I’m a life-long advocate of Rowse Shredded Lime Marmalade.

So tell me, what have you achieved today? Whether you saved a life or simply managed to have a great conversation with someone new, treat yourself to one of these Lime and Dark Chocolate Melting Moments. You deserve it.

Lime and Dark Chocolate Melting Moments
Makes 18

Ingredients

For the biscuits:
200g plain flour
200g unsalted butter, softened
40g icing sugar
30g cornflour
Zest of 2 limes
Drop of lime extract (optional)
Drop of green food colour (optional)
Pinch of salt

For the chocolate filling:
120g unsalted butter, softened
90g icing sugar
100g dark chocolate, melted
30g cocoa powder

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 160C. Line two flat baking sheets with greaseproof paper.

2. Place all the ingredients for the biscuits into a food processor fitted with a rotating blade and switch it on to high. Process until you have a smooth dough that leaves the bowl fairly clean.

3. Place the dough into a piping bag fitted with a large, star-tip piping nozzle and pipe an even number of rosettes or swirls onto the sheets. Try to make sure they’re all a similar size to make sandwiching them together easier later on.

4. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until lightly golden. Allow to cool on the sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

5. To make the filling, beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the cocoa powder and chocolate and continue to beat for 10 minute.

6. Pile the buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a star tip and pipe onto the biscuits before sandwiching with another, or simply spread the buttercream on with a teaspoon.

Love Sanjana

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I remember the days my brother and I would raid the biscuit selection box, grabbing our favourites before the other one could get their paws on them. In our house, it was always the jammy dodgers, bourbons and custard creams that went first.

I first spotted this recipe on The Boy Who Bakes, Edd Kimber’s website whilst doing some last-minute baking for a party. Short, delicate butter biscuits with a hint of vanilla sandwiched with that sweet custard flavour I’ve loved since I was a kid. To say Edd’s recipe is heavenly would be an understatement.

For me, milk and cookies has always evoked memories of ice cold rose milk and shortbread in the summer sun at my aunt’s house. My brother would complain and demand chocolate Nesquik, meaning I got to guzzle down his share of bright-pink rose milk too. Winner.

Combining the two flavours of my childhood was a no brainer – adding a hint of lemon thyme was a last-minute addition which worked a treat.

These make lovely gifts for Christmas (they have that sweet Turkish Delight-feel about them) or are great with tea or coffee after dinner. But my favourite way of serving them is with a glass of cold milk. There’s nothing like a bit of nostalgia around this time of year.

Eggless Rose Custard Creams
Adapted from Edd Kimber’s Custard Creams recipe
(makes 20-25)

Ingredients

225g plain flour
50g custard powder
30g icing sugar
170g butter, cold and cubed
½ tsp vanilla bean paste

For the filling:

40g butter
1 ½ tsp rose syrup
120g icing sugar
2 tbsp custard powder
Lemon thyme for sprinkling

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

2. For the biscuits: Combine the flour, custard powder and sugar. Lightly and quickly, rub in the butter until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the vanilla bean paste and bring together using your hands. If the mixture seems too dry, wet your hands a little and bring together to form a dough. Try to work quickly.

3. Wrap the dough in cling film and allow to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, whip together all the ingredients for the filling. Set aside in a cool place.

5. On a floured surface, roll out the chilled dough to about 3-4mm in thickness. Use a round cutter to cut out the dough. Place the discs on a lined baking tray and allow to rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.

6. Make a few holes in the top of the biscuit dough to prevent it from rising. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 12-14 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

7. Take small amounts of the filling and roll into balls. Take a few leaves of lemon thyme (don’t overdo it) and sandwich the biscuits with the balls of rose filling and thyme, pressing gently and being very careful not to break them.

Merry Christmas!

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