Kiwi Crisps

Regular readers of this blog will know that I am a a Kiwi-phile (probably to the horror of some Kiwis, given that I am a "skippy" - there's always been some rivalry between Australia and New Zealand). I love the Finn brothers, Anika Moa, Flight of the Conchords, Rhys Darby, Dish and Cuisine magazines, ginger crunch, the gorgeous and varied countryside which is ever so much greener than ours, the Kiwi accent, their quirky sense of humour, their fabulous fresh produce (think lamb, fish, wine and venison) - the list goes on. My new work buddy, Ruth, is a Kiwi too.

Last week, Ruth asked me to make some biscuits for her for morning tea - if you don't ask, you don't get, right? It wasn't really the Kiwi connection that led me to do it, but I turned to Ladies, A Plate for a biscuit recipe, a book which is written by New Zealand author Alexa Johnston. I will confess that my choice of biscuit was influenced by (a) simplicity - I wasn't in the mood to fuss; and (b) what I had in the cupboard. With these factors in mind, I landed on a recipe for Kiwi Crisps (a variation of Highlander biscuits containing chocolate chips), which the rest of the world would just call chocolate chip cookies. Kiwi "chocolate chippies" (as they are often called) contain condensed milk, which I knew from reading several other blogs. This makes them a little different to other chocolate chip cookie recipes, although I am not sure what the condensed milk adds to the flavour (or was it just very good marketing by the New Zealand Highlander Milk company that made condensed milk?). Regardless, these cookies are good - you must try them. They are shortbread-like biscuits, which are neither soft and chewy or crispy, but somewhere in between.

The recipe is as follows:

115g butter
55g sugar
2 tablespoons condensed milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
170g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
55g dark chocolate chunks

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line two cookie sheets with baking paper or a Silpat mat.

Beat the butter and sugar together using a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer until pale and smooth, then beat in the condensed milk and vanilla extract.

Sift the dry ingredients together, then work them into the butter mixture until you have a crumbly dough. Tip the dough onto a workbench, add the chocolate chunks, and knead the mixture into a ball.

Break off teaspoonfuls of dough and roll into a ball, and place the balls in rows on the cookie sheets, leaving room for the biscuits to spread slightly. Dip a fork into water and use it to flatten each ball.

Bake the biscuits for 12-15 minutes in the preheated oven, turning the trays after 7 minutes.

Remove the baked cookies form the oven and cool them on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container.

Alexa says you should get about 30 small biscuits; I only got 24, and mine were pretty dainty already.

Enjoy these with a cup of coffee for morning tea and share them with your friends like Ruth did. What could be better?