Pandan Thumbprint Biscuits

I found this recipe on a website I adore and visit often; Pham Fatale. I’m sure many of you will have visited Jackie’s blog over and over just to gawk at her creative recipes and beautiful photography. This is one recipe that caught my eye months ago and I’ve been pining to try it ever since! I had to adapt the recipe slightly because her recipe uses eggs. She does suggest leaving the eggs out however she says that the cookie does crumble easily this way. Well, let me tell you that I wasn’t satisfied with lettin’ the cookie crumble so I adapted the recipe in order to stop this from happening. It was a wholly successful mission… Almost. I wouldn’t describe my recipe as a cookie recipe but more of a biscuit. A damn delicious biscuit, may I say. It was buttery, crunchy and fragrant with all of that beautiful pandan flavour. Heavenly! And oh so cute with that little chocolate button in the middle. I suggest a couple of these with a tall glass of my spiced milk. Yeah that’s right; it’s a whole new take on classic milk and cookies (or biscuits in this case!)

I cannot say how Jackie’s recipe tastes as I haven’t followed it to the letter. Although I consider my version a simplified, eggless take on her gorgeous cookie recipe! I have substituted the melted chocolate with Cadbury’s (soon to be Kraft! Shock. Horror!) Dairy Milk Buttons (nomnomnom I will eat the whole bag in 56 seconds). If you can’t find these then just put a couple of chocolate chips in the little ‘thumbprint’ when the biscuits are still hot. They will melt and come together in the same way. Enjoy! Sorry I couldn’t have provided a more detailed post- I have lots of reading to do but just couldn’t resist sharing this recipe with you! I’ll be back soon to share with you a Lamington recipe for Mr P’s competition over at Delicious Delicious Delicious. Do check the wonderful competition out!

Ingredients (makes 24 biscuits)

1 ¼ cups plain flour, sifted
1 tbsp egg replacer (such as Allergycare)
¼ cup icing sugar + 4 extra tbsp’s icing sugar
1/8 tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp water
6 tbsp butter at room temperature
24 Chocolate Buttons (plus more for munching)
1 tsp pandan extract

Method

1. Combine the flour, egg replacer, ¼ cup icing sugar, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

2. Cream together the butter, 4 tbsp’s icing sugar and pandan extract. Add the butter mixture to the flour mixture and combine quickly with cold hands. If you need to add 1 tbsp water to bring the dough together then do so.

3. Wrap the Hulk lookin’ dough in cling film (plastic wrap) and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.

4. Cram as many chocolate buttons into your mouth as you possibly can.

5. Grease and line baking trays (I used two) then roll your dough into 1 inch-sized balls and flatten them slightly.

6. Arrange the dough balls on your tray evenly spaced (they will spread as they cook).

7. Bake at 160 degrees C (gas mark 4) for 8-10 minutes then remove from the oven. Make ‘thumbrints’ in the centre of the half-cooked biscuits with a spoon (not your actual thumb!) I used a rounded mini measuring spoon. Return them to the oven and bake for a further 8 minutes.

8. Remove the biscuits from the oven and push in a little chocolate button or a couple of chocolate chips into the ‘thumbprint’. Allow to cool thoroughly before taking them off the baking sheet.

9. Enjoy with a glass of spiced milk!

Back to the books I go… But not without another biscuit! *Munch Munch*

Update: Check out The Little Teochew’s version of Pandan Biscuits here!

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