Romany Cream Biscuits

I believe Romany Cream Biscuits are from South Africa. It's a biscuit my mom grew up eating since she was born and raised in Zambia and the recipe has been passed through my family. They are cocoa and coconut flavored cookies sandwiched with rich melted chocolate, and the dark color is because of the cocoa. All I can really say is that these cookies are one of my favorites (and my dad's favorites). They simply melt in your mouth because of their soft texture.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) and 1 tbsp butter 
• 3/4 cup castor sugar
• 1/2  cup oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 1/2 cups dessicate coconut
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 2 tbsp cocoa
• 7 oz melted chocolate

1. Cream (by mixing by hand mixer or in an electric mixer) the butter, sugar, and oil until light and fluffy.

2. Add the eggs and vanilla. Make sure you add the eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition.

3. Stop mixing; add the coconut and sifted dry ingredients (see note for sifting) and make a soft dough by pressing it all together with your hands. Do not knead the dough too much since the dough needs to be soft.

4. Take a biscuit machine or cookie cutters, and make small cookie or biscuit shapes with the dough.

5. Place cookies on a greased baking tray, preferrably lined with parchment paper and keep a distance of 1 or 2 inches between the cookies. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes.

6. When the cookies are done, make sure they are cooled.

7. After they are cool, melt chocolate (see note for melting chocolate) and sandwich cookies together (see note for sandwiching cookies).

 

*Sifting Dry Ingredients: It is always better to sift any dry ingredients, especially flour and powdered sugar, before adding them. Sifting can be done by using a fine mesh sieve (you can see it in some of my pictures)

*Melting Chocolate: I learned the hard way, DO NOT melt chocolate directly on the stove in a saucepan or pot. Chocolate should be melted either in the top pan of a double broiler, or by putting the chocolate in a pan that will fit into another pot that is filled with boiling water. If chocolate is melted directly on the oven, it will burn and stick to the pan. The easiest way is to fill a pot with water, heat the water over low heat until it is barely simmering, and then place chocolate in another pot that will fit into the pot with simmering water. Remove when chocolate is melted and let it cool before using it.