Chocolate Hobnobs

Step 1

First, preheat your oven to 170C/150C fan/Gas 3. Line a large, flat baking tray with a sheet of baking paper (non-stick greaseproof paper). 

Step 2

Into a large bowl, weigh your soft butter, sugar and syrup. Mix these together with a wooden spoon until they’ve become soft – they don’t need to be light and fluffy. 

Step 3

Add your oats, flour and baking powder, and then use your spoon to bring them together into a dough. Don’t knead this. Wrap it in cling film and place in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. 

Step 4

Sprinkle some flour on a clean work surface and place your unwrapped dough on top. Add some more flour and then roll your dough out until it’s your desired thickness. I’d go for about the thickness of two 2 pence coins stacked on top of each other. 

Step 5

Use a circle cutter to cut out your biscuits and then place these on your tray. Re-roll if necessary. Bake these rounds for 15-20 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to turn a darker shade of brown. They’ll still be soft when they’re hot, so don’t use this as a gauge to judge their done-ness. 

Step 6

When ready, leave your biscuits to cool on a tray. Whilst they’re cooling, melt your chocolate with your tablespoon of oil in the microwave – use 30-second bursts, mixing after each one. Overheating will ruin the chocolate’s shine. 

Step 7

One by one, dip your mostly-cooled biscuits in your chocolate, lifting it out to let any excess drizzle down. Leave them to set, at room temperature, chocolate side up. They’ll keep for a week at least. 

TOP TIP

Like most biscuits and pastries, leaving the dough in the fridge for a day or two is not only fine, but will be to the benefit of your biscuits. The cold will relax that gluten, making your biscuit more crumbly. 

Enjoy!