05 Aug Chocolate Nougat Cookies

I love slice ‘n bake cookies! None of the messy business of rolling out and cutting the dough. Simply slice into rounds and bake!

These Chocolate Nougat Cookies have a rich, chocolate flavour and buttery texture like shortbread. The bits of nutty nougat add a crunchy pop of sweetness to every bite.

The recipe makes two logs of dough. I like to bake one and freeze the other – handy when that cookie craving hits!

Ingredients:

200g butter, softened
100g castor sugar
5ml vanilla essence
225g flour
30g cocoa
pinch of salt
75g almond nougat, chopped into very small pieces

Directions:

• Cream together the butter and castor sugar for 4-5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla essence and beat well.
• Sift together the flour, cocoa and salt. Add to the creamed mixture in thirds, mixing until combined. Do not overwork the mixture at this stage.
• Lastly, stir in the nougat pieces. Bring the dough together with your hands (it may be a little crumbly).
• Divide the dough in half, and roll each half into a sausage shape, 4-5 cm in diameter. Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• Preheat your oven to 170°C.Working with one sausage of dough at a time, use a sharp knife to slice the chilled dough into rounds, about 1cm thick. Place rounds on a lightly greased baking tray and bake for 10-12 minutes, watching that the nougat doesn’t start to brown.
• Allow the cookies to cool on the baking tray for 15-20 minutes after baking then remove and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.
• Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 week.