Chocolate and Peppermint Thins

Preheat the oven to 160°C fan bake

Biscuits: Beat the butter, sugar and peppermint extract together until pale and creamy. Beat in the egg yolk. Sift over the combined flour, salt and cocoa and beat until well combined.

Divide into two pieces. Flatten into a disc and wrap each in plastic wrap then chill until firm. Roll each piece of pastry out thinly between two sheets of baking paper to 5mm thick. 

Chill again if it soft. Stamp out desired sized biscuits (mine are 5cm). Chill until firm then lift off the excess dough around the biscuits and place on a lined baking tray. Bake for about 9 minutes until they look dry on the surface. Transfer to a cooling rack. Re-roll then cut out the pastry scraps and bake.

Filling: Beat the egg white in a bowl until frothy then gradually beat in ¾ of the icing sugar until a soft paste forms. Sprinkle the remaining icing sugar on the bench and tip out the paste. Knead in the icing sugar until it is smooth and silky and no longer sticky, adding more if needed.

Roll teaspoons of the paste into a ball and place on half of the biscuits. Flatten with your fingertips so it’s almost the same size as the biscuits. Place a second biscuit on top then press gently together to spread the paste right to the edges. Makes 20 filled biscuits depending on the size of the cutter used.

Cook's Tip: The biscuit dough is very soft and needs to be kept chilled. I work with one piece at a time and keep popping it back in the freezer for a few minutes each time it softens otherwise you end up with a dough that’s too soft to stamp out. 

Peppermint extract is very concentrated and you need a lot less than if using peppermint essence. Add it in tiny drops otherwise it can be overpowering.