Dark Chocolate Molasses Cookies - Pihikete Marahihi me te Tiakarete Parauri
A soft, spiced molasses or date syrup cookie with dark chocolate and butterscotch caramel candy hidden inside. A slightly savoury cookie that hits all the right notes.
Servings 24 pihikete (cookies)
Ingredients
- 175 g pata kūteretere (softened butter)
- ¾ C (150 g) huka hāura (brown sugar)
- ½ C (165 g) marahihi (molasses). I also love using mīere teiti (date syrup) instead of molasses in this recipe. Both work great.
- 2 teaspoon wanira (vanilla)
- ½ teaspoon tote (salt, fine)
- 2 teaspoon rau kikini whakauruuru (mixed spice)
- 2 teaspoon hinamona (cinnamon)
- 1 teaspoon tinitia kuoro (ground ginger)
- 1 hēki (egg, size 6)
- 2 ⅓ C (350 g) puehu parāoa noa (plain flour)
- ½ teaspoon pēkana paura (baking powder)
- ¼ teaspoon pēkana houra (baking soda)
- 140 g (1 packet) Werther's originals buttercream candy with caramel filling (the unfilled ones work well too but crush them quite fine if you are using them)
- 200 - 250 g tiakarete (I used 50% dark chocolate but use what you want to)
Optional Additions
- 70 g tiakarete parauri (dark chocolate)
- 2 teaspoon flaky sea salt
Instructions
Preheat the Oven:
- Preheat the oven to 180 °C bake setting or 170 °C fan bake setting.
- Line two flat trays with baking paper.
Whip the Butter, Sugar and Spices:
- Add the pata kūteretere (softened butter), huka hāura (brown sugar), marahihi (molasses) or mīere teiti (date syrup), wanira (vanilla), tote (salt), rau kikini whakauruuru (mixed spice), hinamona (cinnamon) and tinitia (ginger) in to a large bowl.
- Tāwhiuwhiua (whip it) on high speed for 5 minutes until light and fluffy in texture.
Mix in the Dry Ingredients:
- Add the puehu parāoa (flour), pēkana paura (baking powder) and pēkana houra (baking soda). Whakaranuhia (mix to combine).
- Add the rare (candy) to a mortar and pestle or a chopping board. Crush or chop them gently and then seperate the chunks of karamea (caramel) so that it distributes evenly in to the pihikete.
- Add the rare (candy) to the ranunga pata (butter mixture).
- Tapapahia te tiakarete (chop up the chocolate) in to chunks. Add it to the ranunga pata (butter mixture) and mix everything together.
Chill the Dough (Optional):
- If your mixture is a bit too sticky to roll at this point, refrigerate for 10 minutes to thicken up. If it fine, skip this step.
Mould the Cookies:
- Divide the ranunga (mixture) in to 24 balls and add 12 on to each prepared tray.
- Gently press each pihikete (cookie) down with the palm of your hand so they are around 2 cm high.
Bake the Dark Chocolate Molasses Cookies:
- Bake each tray separately for 12 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, if any of the caramel from the candy has oozed out of the biscuit, just use a knife to stick it back on the pihikete (biscuits) while the karamea (caramel) is still tacky.
- If they are bit of an odd shape, shape them with a round cookie cutter that is bigger than the cookies. Place the cutter around the hot cookie (straight from the oven), using a circular motion manipulate the cookies until they are round. The cookies need to be hot for this to work.
- Pour yourself a glass milk and dunk these puppies in there...oh yeah and don't forget to share them!
Add an Optional Chocolate Topping:
- Chop the tiakarete parauri (dark chocolate) in to small pieces and add it to a small pot or small bowl. Gently melt it over low heat on the stove or in the microwave in 10 second increments until just melted. Remove from the heat and stir until smooth.
- Add a small dollop of the tiakarete kua rewaina (melted chocolate) on to each of the pihikete (biscuits).
- Allow them to set in the fridge for 15 minutes and enjoy!
- Sprinkle a little of the flaky salt on to the tiakarete (chocolate) before it sets.
Storing the Dark Chocolate Molasses Cookies:
- Store these in a sealed container in the fridge or in a cool cupboard. They will keep well like this for up to 5 days.
- If you want to freshen them up, heat them gently in the microwave for 10 seconds.