Chocolate Hedgehog Anyone?

I couldn’t wait to eat this so its not iced!

If you read my previous post, you will know that I have been experimenting with lots of chocolate chip biscuit recipes of late.

I have been trying to find  the perfect gluten-free, preferably grain free recipe that has just the right crunch and not be too sweet. Hmm, its a challenge. So consequently there have been lots of recipe fails and I have an excess of biscuits that aren’t quite good enough to get fat on!

So what do I do? I make hedgehog slice! Hedgehog slice is a perfect way of recycling stale or not-so-nice biscuits and transform them into something yummy and moist and chocolatey.

The recipe that I grew up with is a baked hedgehog, and I think that it might be one of the first things that I learnt to cook. On searching the internet, a baked hedgehog is a rarity given that most recipes are a “raw” slice that sets in the fridge. The ingredients are similar but with less sugar. I wonder if my mum made an “executive decision” one day and decided to bake this rather than follow the recipe? I don’t know, but I have always baked it this way and love this version much better than any other rendition.

Use stale dry biscuits or even cake. If you don’t have those on hand, use Marie biscuits or scotch fingers. Add nuts, sultanas, orange rind or your favourite flavour to suit yourself, it is very adaptable! (Hmmm, coffee could be nice!)

300g biscuits

110g butter

80g rapadura sugar (I used Natvia)

1 tab golden syrup

20g cacao or cocoa

15g coconut

vanilla to taste

2 eggs

60g walnuts (optional)

 

Pulse the biscuits & walnuts to create a chunky crumb. Mix in the cocoa and coconut and set aside.

Add the butter to the TM and melt on 60ºC, SP 3 for 2 minutes. Add the eggs, syrup and vanilla and mix briefly before adding the dry mixture. Mix on SP 3 REVERSE until just combined.

 

Press into a square tin and bake at 170ºC for 20 minutes. Serve hot with ice-cream or let cool and ice with your favourite frosting or ganache.