Saturday 18 August 2012

WSC chocolate cherry cookies

Today was a day of backtracking.  We set out for Fitzroy Market and went home to get my camera.  We went for a walk in Brunswick Street and had to go back and find Sylvia's woolly hat.  We wanted to go straight to hospital to visit my sister and her new daughter but had to head first home for the gifts.  Finally after leaving Fran and Stella, we had to go back to their room to get Dolly who was left behind.  So it is perhaps fitting that tonight I am posting a recipe with dried cherries that I had to head back for after doing the shopping.

I bought the dried cherries at a local Middle Eastern shop.  Dried cherries aren't that easy to find in Melbourne.  I have bought them on a few occasions.  I couldn't see any in the shop but I asked just in case.  Yes they had them out the back.  When I got home I discovered that these cherries were incredibly sour.  Not so odd.  What was surprising was that they still had the stones in them.

I have never come across stones in dried cherries before.  Baking biscuits late at night to take to work the next day was not an ideal time to be pulling stones out of cherries.  At least it was better than a couple of weeks ago when it was so late that I made the mixture for tofu nut balls last thing at night and baked them the next morning before work.

I left the biscuits in the oven a bit longer because I was concerned that they were too soft (especially given that my oven can be a bit slow).  The next morning at work I worried they were too crisp.  The birthday girl that I had baked them for was full of enthusiasm for my baking as always.  Then at home I found the ones I had left there were pleasantly chewy.  I swithered about posting these as I feel I should experiment further but, as I have noted before, it can take me a while and it is useful to have notes. 

Unfortunately we had eaten all the biscuits before visiting my sister.  My experience of hospital food was so bad that I took some cheeseymite scrolls and finger buns from the local bakery.  We also took gifts along.  Sylvia's contribution was some of her "treasures" (see above in the yellow plate) which she wrapped in a serviette.  She also helped me make the below card.

The recipe was inspired by the We Should Cocoa challenge.  This month Janice of FarmersGirl Kitchen is hosting and the theme is cherries.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
One year ago: CC Pumpernickel Rolls with Currants
Two years ago: SOS Chickpea, lemon and mint soup
Three years ago: Potato boston bun
Four years ago: Soup for the Leguminous Evangelists
Five years ago: The Enchanted Broccoli Forest

Chocolate Cherry Cookies
Adapted from Anja's Food
Makes 20

1 cups plus 3 tbsp almond meal
1 tbsp white chia seeds (next time I might grind these)
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp cocoa
1/4 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1/4 cup dried cherries, finely chopped
2 tablespoons walnut oil
4 tablespoons honey (or agave or maple syrup for a vegan version)

Preheat oven to 160 C.  Line two medium baking trays with baking paper.

Mix dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.  Add wet ingredients and mix well.  Roll into balls the size of a walnut between your palms and then press  between palms to flatten. 

Bake for about 20 minutes.  I left mine in for another 10 minutes after the oven was turned off.  Half were too crisp and then other half (on the less hot side of the oven) was nicely chewy.  But next time I will just do 20 minutes.  Cool on the tray.

On the Stereo:
Der Jesuspilz / Muzik Vom Evangelium: Witthuser and Westrupp

15 comments:

  1. Congratulations to your sister!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. The cookies souond delicious. Not heard of dried cherries still haveing the stones in though, that must have been fiddly!
    Congratulations to your sister

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Katie - so I am not the only one that thought dried cherries always came pitted! Let me tell you that once they are dried there is a lot more stone compared to the fruit!

      Delete
  3. what a cute card! i love handmade cards - there's something so special and heartfelt about them:) and wow oh wow do those cookies look amazing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks GF happy tummy. I love hand made cards - this one was a bit rough around the edges - wish I had had more time for it but it worked in a home made way

      Delete
  4. How lovely, your biscuits look fab and obviously were if they had all disappeared before you reached the hospital! Thanks for entering We Should Cocoa this month.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Janice - most of the biscuits disappeared because I took them to work but if Sylvia had her way she would have gobbled them up very quickly

      Delete
  5. Dried cherries are a genius way to use this months ingredient. Those cookies look so 'dunkable'!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Big congrats to the new mom! The card is lovely, too. :) And I bet the cookies/biscuits were delicious--can you go wrong with chocolate and cherries? (though weird about the stones!!).

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dried cherries are a bit tricky to find here too, but always lovely - these biscuits look fantastic and I can understand them being eaten quickly! Many congratulations, too, to you and your sister on your new niece and her new daughter. I hope all is well :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. They look lovely, but what a pain having to pit the cherries! Congratulations to your sister, what wonderful news!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oooh, these do sound good - and so good for you. What's the difference between white and black chia seeds?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Loving these cookies and the adorable card.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Congratulations to your sister and you and Sylvia for being having a new niece and cousin.

    Your biscuits sounds fantastic, nice and healthy too. I've just bookmarked them. Thanks for taking part in WSC :)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for dropping by. I love hearing from you. Please share your thoughts and questions. Annoyingly the spammers are bombarding me so I have turned on the pesky captcha code (refresh to find an easy one if you don't like the first one)