Choco-Raisin Biscuits

Like many other Indians,I tend to get confused between cookies and biscuits. Back home in India, only the ones with chocolate chips were called as cookies, whereas all others are referred to as biscuits.My favourite biscuits are the ‘Marie‘ biscuits which go so very well with a hot cuppa tea.But my husband adores the overly rich, overly sweet, overly buttery,in short overly unhealthy variety

I made these 2 days back for him and believe me I cudnt stop nibbling either These were really tasty & addictive! This recipe is inspired from Ina Garten’s recipe, who is my favourite food network chef.She’s homely, to-the-point, inspiring and though her recipes require effort many a times,they are well worth it!

Okay back to the recipe, I have tried to indianize her recipe, so these are not cookies anymore coz they are crunchy, made of whole wheat flour,just like the version back home:)

What I needed :

• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup almonds , chopped
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tsp orange juice & lemon juice each, preferably fresh
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter [ cold, cut into small cubes]
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp instant coffee powder
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour [atta]
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp whole milk [ or more if required]

How I did it

• Place the raisins & almonds in a bowl, add orange juice, lemon juice, honey and a pinch of salt. Mix well. Cover with a plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour.
• In a medium bowl add oil , brown sugar and granulated sugar.Beat these for 2-3 minutes.Next add the egg and beat again for a minute until mixed.
• Next ,add the soaked almonds & raisin and the soaking juices to the mixture.
• Now add the flour, salt , coffee powder,cocoa & cubed butter to this mixture and mix with hands just until combined and patchy.At this point if needed, add few tbsp of whole milk.Do not knead. Don’t over mix!
• Place this dough in a bowl, cover with a plastic wrap and chill in the freezer for at least 3 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350F.Line a cookie tray with aluminium foil or parchment paper .
• Take out the chilled dough and make small balls.Place the balls 1/2 ” apart.Press these balls with the back of fork slightly.
• Bake for 15 -22 minutes , untill lightly golden on the edges.Mine were done in 18 minutes.
• Once done, transfer the biscuits immediately on a rack and let cool. Once cool, store in air tight food storage containers.

Notes:

1. You can add walnuts, pecans, Choco chips, dried cranberries, caramel bits or butterscotch chips to the dough.
2. The above recipe yields about 40-45 medium size biscuits.If you do not wish to use the whole dough, freeze it for later use.It lasts for 7-10 days.
3. You can adjust the amounts of sugar and butter if needed.

Enjoy with a glass of chilled milk!