chocolate pecan cinnamon cookies

chocolate pecan cinnamon cookies

• 12 Dec 2016

I bookmarked this Ottolenghi cookie recipe last year and I've only just found the time to make them. As it's my last week at work for 2016, I'm going to pack them in cellophane bags and hand them out this week to friends and colleagues.



You now how much I love Ottolenghi recipes. The flavours are always bold and the recipe foolproof, except on this occasion. I had nothing but trouble with the cookie dough and needed to take remedial action.

I'm sure it was my fault because I used an extra large egg but I needed to add additional flour, then cocoa powder and sugar to make a workable cookie dough. In the end I added an additional ⅓ cup flour, a tsp of cocoa and 2 extra tablespoons of caster sugar. I also only used ¼ cup of banana puree rather than a whole banana or else I would have ended with cake batter rather than cookie batter. 

15g of cookie dough made quite a small cookie so I used my cookie scoop which made a 25g cookie. Rather then 35 cookies, the recipe yielded 25 of the larger cookies. My oven isn't fan forced so I increased the oven temperature to 180ºC and as my cookies were bigger than Ottolenghi's, I increased the baking time to 9 minutes.



Here's Ottolenghi's original recipe for you, which makes 35 cookies.

Chocolate Pecan Cinnamon Cookies

Ingredients
110g unsalted butter, at room temperature
110g caster sugar
1 egg, whisked
120g plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
20g cocoa powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Salt
100g dark chocolate, broken into 0.5cm pieces
1 small banana, mashed
250g pecans, coarsely chopped
100g icing sugar

Heat the oven to 160ºC /320ºF, fan forced. Whisk the butter and sugar until just combined, and without adding any air, then slowly add the egg until just combined, and stop whisking. Sift in the flour, baking powder, cocoa, cinnamon and a pinch of salt, and work in by hand until smooth. Stir through the chocolate and banana, and put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up.

Take a small piece of the dough (about 15g) and roll it into a ball the size of a £1 coin; it will be slightly sticky, so damp your hands first. Put the pecans and icing sugar in two separate bowls. Dip the ball of dough in the nuts, roll until covered, then roll between your palms so the nuts sink in a little. Next, roll the cookie ball in icing sugar, making sure it is covered and white all over. Repeat with the rest of the mix. Arrange the balls on two oven trays lined with greaseproof paper – they won't expand much, so there's no need to space them far apart – then press down on each cookie so it flattens to about 4cm in diameter.

Bake for six minutes only, then remove from the oven. They may seem a bit wobbly and gooey, but they will set after about 30 minutes. Leave to cool for few minute, then use a palette knife carefully to transfer the cookies to a cooking rack. They will keep in a sealed container for up to three days.

The dough may have caused me headaches but the cookies are delicious, really moist and almost like a brownie in texture. 

I'll be back later in the week with some photos from the Sydney Finders Keepers.

Bye for now,

Jillian