Cocoa and vanilla cookies

Cocoa and vanilla cookies

Irina Georgescu shares her recipe for Romanian cocoa and vanilla cookies. In Romania, these pretty swirled biscuits are enjoyed with coffee or cherry liqueur, and are popular at Christmas.

Cocoa and vanilla cookies

Recipe from Tava by Irina Georgescu (Hardie Grant £27).

Baking for Christmas? Mill wheels (chocolate and hazlenut meringues) are another festive Romanian treat.

  • Serves icon Makes about 28
  • Time icon Hands-on time 30 min, plus chilling. Oven time 15 min

Irina Georgescu shares her recipe for Romanian cocoa and vanilla cookies. In Romania, these pretty swirled biscuits are enjoyed with coffee or cherry liqueur, and are popular at Christmas.

Recipe from Tava by Irina Georgescu (Hardie Grant £27).

Baking for Christmas? Mill wheels (chocolate and hazlenut meringues) are another festive Romanian treat.

Nutrition: per serving

Calories
86kcals
Fat
4.6g (2.7g saturated)
Protein
1.4g
Carbohydrates
9.5g (2.6g sugars)
Fibre
0.4g
Salt
trace

Ingredients

  • 250g plain flour, plus extra to dust
  • 135g unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
  • 70g icing sugar
  • 1 medium free-range egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 1 tbsp cocoa powder
  • Pinch ground cardamom
  • 1 medium free-range egg yolk, beaten with 1 tbsp water
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Method

  1. In a food processor, mix the flour and butter until they resemble breadcrumbs. Add the icing sugar, egg, vanilla and 1 tbsp water, pulsing a few times until a dough forms.
  2. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Return 1 to the food processor with the cocoa powder and cardamom and pulse briefly to mix together. Turn out the dough, form it into a ball, then flatten into a disc, wrap and put in the fridge.
  3. Bring the other half of the dough together, forming it into a ball and flattening into a disc, then wrap it and put it in the fridge too. Chill both doughs for 10 minutes or until firm enough to roll while still being flexible.
  4. On a lightly floured work surface, roll each dough out to a rectangular shape roughly 20cm x 25cm x 4mm thick. Trim the edges to even out, if necessary, so both are the same size. Brush the vanilla rectangle with some of the egg yolk glaze, then put the cocoa rectangle on top. Roll both layers up together like a huge cigar, then gently press-and-roll a few times to ensure both layers are sticking together. Wrap and put in the fridge for 1 hour.
  5. Heat the oven to 160°C fan/gas 4. Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Unwrap the dough and cut the log into 6mm slices, laying them flat on the lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until the cookies start to change colour slightly around the edges. Allow to cool and enjoy.

Nutrition

Calories
86kcals
Fat
4.6g (2.7g saturated)
Protein
1.4g
Carbohydrates
9.5g (2.6g sugars)
Fibre
0.4g
Salt
trace

delicious. tips

  1. These cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

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Recipe By

Irina Georgescu

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  1. These get an absolutely beautiful swirl but aren’t big on flavour for a Christmas cookie, I guess because they’re traditionally consumed with a strong cup of coffee or a punchy cherry liqueur. If I made them again, I would absolutely follow this core recipe but consider increasing the spices and cocoa.

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