Hundreds and Thousands Biscuits – Pihikete Rau Me Ngā Mano
E hoa mā (friends), These biscuits have a nostalgic beauty to them as many in Aotearoa (NZ) have had these as a treat at some point in their childhood (or as an adult for that matter). I made these for my 7 year olds birthday party the other day and we cut them in to love heart shapes – they were just perfect. They consist of a buttery shortbread that I spike with a touch of kiri rēmana (lemon zest) and bake to perfection. We then top them with tiakarete mā (white chocolate) and a sprinkle of ruireka (sprinkles). If you want an extra pop of flavour, I also love to sprinkle over some rahipere tauraki-tio (freeze-dried raspberries).
Hundreds and Thousands Biscuits – Pihikete Rau Me Ngā Mano
A lemon spiked shortbread biscuit with a pink white chocolate topping adorned with hundred and thousand sprinkles.
Servings 30 pihikete (biscuits)
Ingredients
Shortbread Biscuits – Pihikete Pata
- 200 g pata kūteretere (softened butter)
- ¾ C puehu huka (icing sugar)
- Kiri rēmana o ngā rēmana e rua (lemon zest of two lemons)
- ¼ tsp tote (salt, fine)
- 1 tbsp wanira (vanilla)
- ¾ C puehu kānga (cornflour)
- 1 ½ C puehu parāoa noa (plain flour)
The Pink Icing – Te Pani Reka Māwhero
- 150 g tiakarete mā (white chocolate, I used caramelised white chocolate but use what you want)
- 1 tbsp noni (oil, neutral flavoured)
- ¼ tsp tae kai māwhero (pink food colouring)
- 8 rahipere tauraki-tio (freeze-dried raspberries, optional)
- 100 g ruireka (sprinkles)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whip the pata kūteretere (softened butter), puehu huka (icing sugar), tote (salt), wanira (vanilla) and kiri rēmana (lemon zest). Do this for 5 minutes on high until the mixture is pale in colour and fluffy.
- Add the puehu kānga (cornflour) and plain flour (puehu parāoa noa) to the butter mixture and rub it together with your hands until a dough forms. Don't knead it too much, just do it until it comes together.
- Place the dough in-between two large pieces of rautunu (baking paper). Roll it out until dough is approximately 0.5cm thick.
- Line two large trays with baking paper (I re-use the baking paper I use for rolling out the dough).
- Use a 5-7 cm cutter to cut out the pihikete (biscuits), leave a 2cm gap between each one. Remove the excess dough, roll it out again and continue to roll and cut out the dough until it is all used. Eating some is also an option!
- Chill the trays of pihikete (biscuits) in the fridge for ten minutes before baking, this helps them keep their shape.
- Pre-heat the oven to 160 °C.
- Bake the trays of cookies, one tray at a time for 10 minutes until slightly golden. Allow to cool.
The Pink Icing – Te Pani Reka Māwhero
- Add water to the bottom of a pot (around 3 cm deep) and bring it to a very gentle simmer. Place a heat proof bowl on top (make sure it does not touch the water) and add the tiakarete mā (white chocolate), noni (oil) and tae kai (food colouring). Gently melt it all together, stirring occasionally until smooth.
- Remove from the heat and add a small teaspoon of the melted chocolate to three or four of the cooled pihikete (biscuits) and smooth the tops.
- Sprinkle with the rahipere tauraki-tio (freeze-dried raspberries) and rui reka (sprinkles). Carry on this pattern until they are all decorated. Decorating 3-4 at a time means the chocolate won't set before you add the sprinkles.
- Allow the tiakarete (chocolate) to set in the fridge for 15 minutes or so and you are ready to party…or just have a cup of tea with this delicious biscuit!
Lovely light cookie and super fun to decorate with my tamariki.
They are so fun aren’t they – how awesome that you and your whānau made them together!
These were delicious! Even better than the bought version. My boys enjoyed decorating them too.