Toblerone biscuits – from Miranda Gore Browne’s book, Biscuit (Ebury Press, 2012) Emma Bridgewater plate
Delicious. Sophisticated. A real treat of a biscuit which I shall want to make again and again. (I know I said that last week as well – but I do seem to have hit a small seam of biscuit recipe gold recently.) The recipe comes from Miranda Gore Browne’s Biscuit (Ebury Press 2012) and though the ingredients are quite expensive, the quantities below makes about 48 good sized biscuits. As well as being enough for both churches, I also put some in a plain Paperchase box which, tied with a ribbon, made a very acceptable little present – well, I’d certainly accept it.
For about 48 decent sized biscuits
200 g unsalted butter, softened
100 g caster sugar
100 g icing sugar
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk lightly beaten
1 teasp vanilla extract
300 g SR flour
1/2 teasp salt (optional)
200 g Toblerone, roughly chopped
150 g almonds roughly chopped
Miranda uses 330 g plain flour and 1/2 teasp baking powder but I tend to use Self Raising flour in general for biscuits as I think the balance just right. Why make life more complicated?
Preheat the oven to 180ºC/160ºC for a fan oven/Gas Mark 4 and line 2 baking sheets with baking parchment (you will need to use them both twice. Allow them to cool before returning the newly filled trays to the oven).
It’s a good idea to chop the Toblerone up before you begin as it’s a fiddly job and better to get out for the way before you get into full swing with the rest of the recipe.
Cream the butter and sugars for about 2 minutes, until very light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla extract, and beat well to combine.
Sift the flour (& baking powder if needed), salt (if used – I tend not to), then fold in with a large metal spoon. Now fold in the Toblerone and chopped almonds.
Bring the dough together with your hands and pinch off small walnut sized pieces. If you use your hands it’s easy to feel how much Toblerone is in each piece and you can adjust accordingly. Place these at least 3cm apart on the baking trays. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until becoming golden. Remove from the oven and leave on the trays for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.
Toblerone biscuits – from Miranda Gore Browne’s book, Biscuit (Ebury Press, 2012)
Toblerones can be difficult to track down, although around Christmas they are easier to find. The vicar was sent out on a mission to hunt them out at 4 pm on Saturday afternoon. He couldn’t find any in Waitrose’s confectionary section but was directed to the Christmas shelves where he was delighted to find a big 400 g bar much reduced. Perhaps we should stock up. M&S’s Mountain Bar is a possible substitute.
Ipsden Farm Barn looking north
Sunday saw Ipsden’s Christmas Market in the Barn which welcomed store holders from across Oxfordshire. Run by the Friends of Ipsden Church these markets have become a welcome source of income for church facilities and maintenance. C18th Ipsden Farm Barn is unusually large, being the longest continuous roofed barn in Britain – the main barn forms two sides of a courtyard, while the third roofed side includes closed sheds and an open storage area. All three outer sides are brick with small slit windows. There are 24 bays and 5 entrance porches which sadly are now not tall enough for modern tractors. The photos below show the two main arms of the barn with its spectacular oak roof trusses. Juliet Noel of Ipsden Farm not only generously let us use her barn but also came and lent her voice for the singing (29th of November and carol singing already, dreadful, I know). She also ferried me back home up a muddy lane to the vicarage after the vicar had disappeared back home to finish preparations for Sunday.
Ipsden Farm Barn looking east
14 Comments
Well, that shows how much I look at confectionary stalls – I would have thought Toblerones would be quite easy to find. I’m sure they used to be…
The barn looks really fabulous – and very festive indeed!
I thought they’d be easier to find too.
Pound shops usually have the 170 g bar in stock which I know is a bit less than this recipe needs, but presumably you could make up the rest in chocolate. these biscuits look delicious but I’m most of the way through my last bar!
Cathy
Thanks for this information. Living in the middle of the country we have no pound shops very near. There is one in Reading, so now I just need to find sufficient reasons to go to Reading. You could make the rest up in chocolate but I think I’d opt for buying 2 Toblerones and eating the remaining 40 g.
Thank you so much for this timely, inspirational Christmas present idea although as I make my way towards Waitrose’s confectionery section, I hope there isn’t a UK-wide Mary Addison-effect on Toblerones as Delia has had in the past on omelette pans, etc.
Did you know it has now entered Collins’ Dictionary:
“Definition of The Delia Effect: The way in which food products sell out much more quickly than usual when they are used on televison food programmes.”
Well Penny, we had a good laugh at your comment.
In fact I have been wanting to try this recipe for some weeks and have been looking to buy Toblerones whenever I went to anywhere bigger than our village. I did manage to buy a couple of small bars in a Sainsbury local in Oxford but we then we remembered how much we liked them so we ate those. I have to admit to not having resumed my hunt for them with any degree of doggedness.
Yes, Delia had a phenomenal effect. Do you remember the run on liquid glucose for a chocolate truffle cake? I think she also nurtured our taste cranberries used in things other than stuffing and fresh limes, which I now regard as indispensable.
Just wanted to say I made these Toblerone biscuits today although slightly altered the recipe (due to assuming the store cupboard fairies had re-stocked with everything I needed). Even so the variation is fabulous and is now in the freezer ready to take out and box up prettily nearer the time next week. Here’s my variation: half caster sugar and half dark brown Muscovado; half light Spelt and half plain wheat flour with 2 tsps baking powder; 100g of toasted, finely chopped hazelnuts added to 100g plain Toblerone, finely grated. Actually, my husband, when invited to test the raw dough, didn’t want it to go in the oven. It could just be added to vanilla ice cream for a home version of Cookie Dough Ice Cream. Thank you, Mary.
Sounds terrific Penny – what better compliment could there be than your husband wanting to eat a bowl full of the raw dough. So have you frozen the raw dough or the cooked biscuit?
I froze the cooked biscuits but have frozen raw dough before, and uncooked shortbread has been very successful. I also like freezing dry ingredients for scones, pies, pancakes as well as biscuits, with a little note in the bag about liquid needed, cooking times and temperatures. So often one’s energy is taken up with fiddling around with weighing and measuring as well as clearing up so while kitchen surfaces are messy, I like to make the most of them!
Thanks, Penny, this is useful to know. I am just defrosting my freezer so I shall soon have space for planning ahead – not that I think I shall ever be as meticulous as you in the writing of notes to accompany my packages.
Like Penny, I fear that there may well be a run on Toblerones. I’m going to get some on the way to work! bx
If you do, these biscuits certainly won’t disappoint.
Now I’ve got thinking what about trying the recipe with Mars bars, Snickers, Bounty or Maltesers!
Bounty. Definitely!
I rather fancy a Snickers biscuit – though I still think of Snickers as Marathon (renamed 1990 – gosh!)