How to make a Valentine’s Day cookie recipe that’s super easy!
Jump to RecipeThe year has begun with a whirlwind as it usually does as things wind up to high gear after the beautifully slow pace of Summer faded. I have been working on a yummy recipe featuring Ruby chocolate (also called Ruby cacao) for a while and finally had some time to sit down and share it with you – that Valentine’s day is just around the corner is a happy coincidence 🥰!
If you haven’t tried ruby chocolate (or ruby cacao) it tastes like white chocolate, except it has a deep creaminess like milk chocolate, not the high-toned singular sweetness of white chocolate (which I would say is akin in favour to condensed milk). In addition to the deep creaminess, the tangy taste of ruby chocolate also has a multi-faceted flavour profile, and as you savour the creaminess there are tangy notes of raspberries or strawberry frozen yoghurt.
I first tasted Ruby Chocolate mixed with freeze dried strawberries, the slightly sour notes of the ruby chocolate matched the same notes in strawberries, which offset the sweetness of the ruby chocolate which is quite sweet compared to dark or milk chocolate, probably because the sweetness is not balanced by the bitterness of the cocoa. I am not a sweet-tooth, but I do like ruby chocolate, especially when paired with tangy strawberries or raspberries.
Ever since I’d tasted ruby chocolate, I had been thinking about creating a chewy delicious biscuit featuring ruby chocolate. For at least a year I had this idea in the back of my mind before I decided to bite the bullet and splurge on buying a block of ruby chocolate. The shop also sold ruby chocolate chips, but the cookie I envisaged in my mind had roughly chopped chunks of ruby chocolate. I wanted that rustic home-made style of biscuit, so I went ahead and bought the block of ruby chocolate and used a small, sharp knife to break it into randomly sized chunks.
I wanted these biscuits to have a lovely chewiness to them, so made them using chickpea flour. You can get chickpea flour at most supermarkets these days, it may also be called Besan flour (Besan flour is specifically finely ground chickpea flour and designed for baking and breads).
Because I wasn’t using wheat flour, I was worried the biscuits might fall apart, because there wouldn’t be any gluten holding the biscuits together. Because of this I also used glutenous rice flour (which despite the name doesn’t contain gluten). Glutenous rice flour is not the same as ‘rice flour’, glutenous rice flour is much finer in texture and made from a variety of rice that is especially sticky). You can find glutenous rice flour in the Asian grocery stores, or the Asian foods section of the supermarket.
This recipe turned out to be so simple and easy to make, just melt the butter and mix with the sugar and vanilla, add the egg, and then the remaining ingredients, combine, roll into balls and bake.
I was really pleased with how these biscuits turned out, exactly how I had intended. My husband loved them, and without me even explaining what was in them or that I had intended them to be chewy and moist (my husband is not a cook nor a foodie) he commented that he liked the chewiness of them – I was delighted 😊 !
I hope you enjoy these sweet, chewy treats too xx!
Easy Ruby Chocolate (Cacao) chip biscuit recipe (gluten free)
Ingredients
- 125 grams unsalted butter
- 1 cup of granulated white sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup glutenous rice flour 100g
- 1 cup besan (chickpea) flour 100g
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup ruby chocolate chunks or chips (150g)
Instructions
- Add softened butter, sugar and vanilla to a stand mixer. Beat on medium until light and fluffy.
- Scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl, add the egg and beat until just combined.
- Add the flours, baking powder and ruby chocolate chunks (or ruby chocolate chips). Mix until just combined. If you’re mixing by hand melt the butter completely in the microwave and use caster sugar so the sugar will combine more readily than regular white sugar.
- Roll tablespoons of mixture into balls. Flattening each ball slightly, place on a lined baking tray, leaving about 5cm apart to allow room for the cookies to spread while baking.
- Bake in the oven at 160°C for 12 minutes or until slightly golden brown around the edges. You may need to bake them for 2 minutes less or 2 minutes more depending on your oven.
- Allow to cool completely before removing them from the tray.
- Store in an airtight container.
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