Procrastibaking - A word I wished I invented myself as I seem to do it all the time as exam period rolls around. But alas, is a word coined from the brilliant Ayla Erdogan, in university magazine, FARRAGO (Edition 8 2012).
Enjoying the time-wasting process, baking for grandma made the whole reason to procrastibake albeit more legit (thick skinned statement haha). Another batch were these viennese whirls. To fill up the container, I made a chocolate batch with the following adjustments: 65g icing sugar, 2g instant coffee granules (finely ground), 20g dutch process cocoa, 113g plain flour and topped each with a chocolate chip. See instagram photo here.
After baking the remnant biscuit dough from the chocolate delice episode, these biscuits have been a household favourite. Made crunchier with sliced almonds and brown sugar, I suspect these will taste better with some peach jam or half dipped in melted dark chocolate.
Almond crunch biscuits
adapted from Eamon Sullivan's biscuit recipe
makes around 40-50 x 5cm rounds
200g plain flour
50g almond meal
150g cold unsalted butter, cubed
100g caster sugar
pinch of salt
1 large cold egg
1 large egg yolk
around 55g almond slices
brown sugar, for sprinkling (optional)
Process flour, almond meal, butter, sugar and salt in a food processor until it resembles large breadcrumbs. Add egg and process until mixture comes together. Empty contents on a lightly dusted bench top and gently knead into a smooth ball. Flatten into a disk, cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes*.
Preheat oven to 175°C and line a large baking tray with non-stick baking paper.
Dust bench top again and roll the rolling pin over it. Roll the dough** into 2-3mm thick and cut with a floured cutter. When the dough has been cut, brush several pieces with egg yolk and top with almond slices. Make sure you press them gently in the dough to stick. Sprinkle with brown sugar if desired***. Repeat with remaining dough.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
*If the dough is still soft, refrigerate it a bit longer.
**I usually work with half the dough at a time to avoid it from becoming too soft.
***Brown sugar does not stick very well this way, so brush some egg yolk on top of the almonds before sprinkling
