Chocolate Sticks For Baking Recipes

CHOCOLATE STICKS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 F
• Grease a baking sheet.
• Blend the four, nuts and grated chocolate together on a pastry board.
• Make a well in the centre.
• Add sugar, vanilla sugar and egg to the well.
• Mix a littel to the dry ingredients into the egg mixture.
• Cut the cold butter into small pieces over the flour mixture.
• Work together all the ingredients quickly to make a smooth dough.
• Chill for 1/2 hour.
• Shape the dough into rolls about the thickness of a finger.
• Cut the rolls into 5 cm (2") pieces.
• Place on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 12 to 18 minutes or until light golden brown.
• Cool cookies.
• Glaze:.
• Melt the chocolate and butter in the top half of a double boiler, stirring until well blended and smooth.
• Dip the ends of the cooled cookies int the chocolate.
• Allow dipped cookies to cool on waxed paper until the chocolate has set.

PAIN AU CHOCOLAT

Steps:

• Arrange racks in the upper third and lower thirds of the oven. Bring a skillet of water to a simmer over medium-high heat. Transfer the skillet to the floor of the oven and close the door. (The steam released inside the oven will create an ideal proofing environment for the pains au chocolat.) Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
• Remove the slab of dough from the refrigerator and let sit for 5 minutes at room temperature. Unwrap (save the plastic for proofing) and place on a very lightly floured surface. If the dough has shrunk during chilling, roll it out again to a slab that's 16 inches long and 15 inches wide. Dust off any excess flour with a pastry brush.
• Use a wheel cutter to trim 1/2 inch of dough from all four sides, straightening and squaring them off, creating a slab that's 15 inches long by 14 inches wide. Using a ruler, cut the slab lengthwise into 5 equal strips each measuring 3 inches wide. Cut each strip in half crosswise, creating 10 rectangles.
• Working one rectangle at a time, place a stick of chocolate along one of the shorter sides, leaving about a 1-inch border. Fold the pastry over the chocolate until it's wrapped around one time, then tuck another bar of chocolate into the fold. Wrap the pastry around the second bar of chocolate and continue to roll until you have a snug spiral. Transfer the pain au chocolat to a prepared baking sheet, resting it on the seam. Repeat with the remaining dough and chocolate, dividing between the baking sheets and spacing evenly. Very loosely cover with plastic wrap so the pastries have some room to expand.
• Open the oven and stick your hand inside - it should be humid but not hot, as the water in the skillet will have cooled. You want the pains au chocolat to proof at 70 to 75 degrees. (Any hotter and the butter will melt, leading to a denser pastry.) Gently place the baking sheets inside the oven and let the pastries proof until they're doubled in size, extremely puffy, and jiggle delicately on the baking sheet, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
• Remove the baking sheets from the oven and carefully uncover them. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill for 20 minutes while you heat the oven. Remove the skillet from the oven and heat to 375 degrees.
• In a small bowl, stir the yolk and heavy cream until streak-free. Remove the baking sheets from the refrigerator and use a pastry brush to gently brush each pain au chocolat with the yolk mixture. Transfer the sheets to the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Rotate the baking sheets and switch racks, and continue to bake until the pains au chocolat are deeply browned, another 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on the baking sheets.

STICKY STICK BISCUITS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and prepare two lined baking trays. Beat the butter and sugar together until combined then beat in the egg and vanilla. Add all of the flour and mix into a soft dough. If the dough is very soft, chill for 15 mins before shaping. You can freeze the cookie dough for a later date, but defrost thoroughly before baking.
• Roll the dough into log shapes about 1.5cm-2cm in diameter, then cut into pieces 15cm long (using the ruler to measure).
• Insert a soaked lolly stick into each biscuit as well as a piece of Mikado for an arm on each side. Place on the baking trays evenly spread apart.
• Bake for 15-20 min until golden brown, but do check after 15 mins as all ovens vary. Transfer onto a wire rack to cool.
• Break the milk chocolate into pieces and melt in a bowl set over gently simmering water, or in short bursts in the microwave. Once the biscuits are cool, use a pastry brush to gently paint the chocolate all over the back of each stick, going a little around the sides and on the back of the Mikados.
• Once set, flip the sticks over and paint the fronts, then leave for 30 mins to completely set.
• Mould little pieces of the icing to create his leafy coif, goggle eyes and mouth. Stick them on using a little of the leftover melted chocolate.

EASY CHOCOLATE-COVERED PRETZEL STICKS

Steps:

• Cover tray with waxed paper. Dip pretzels halfway into chocolate; gently scrape off excess chocolate.
• Coat lightly with sprinkles; place on prepared tray.
• Refrigerate 15 min. or until chocolate is firm.