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Christmas Treat: Chocolate cookies with Rosemary

Updated: Dec 19, 2020


Cooking like a Mediterranean means using herbs to give flavor and aroma to your creations. Rosemary is my favorite herb, but this is the first time I used it to make something sweet. This is a recipe I found at the website of the famous Greek Chef Akis Petretzikis. The idea of combining rosemary with chocolate is brilliant. Plus it’s a perfect Christmas treat.

Hands on: 20 minutes

Portion: 25-30 cookies

Ingredients

For cookies

110 g icing sugar

1-teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves

120 g cocoa powder

250 g butter, at room temperature

¾ teaspoon salt

180 g all-purpose flour

For chocolate rosemary frosting

300 g dark chocolate couverture

1 teaspoon sunflower oil or vegetable oil

a few drops of rosemary essential oil

How to do it

  1. Preheat oven to 180* C (350* F) Fan.

  2. Beat the icing sugar and rosemary in a food processor until the sugar takes on a light green color and the mixture is finely ground.

  3. Combine this aromatic sugar with the cocoa powder and flour.

  4. Then sift the mixture so that you can remove any leftover bits of rosemary, which may not have been finely ground.

  5. In a mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

  6. Add the salt and gradually add the flour mixture.

  7. Beat just to combine. Do not over beat or else the dough will stiffen too much.

  8. Shape dough in to a ball and press in to a disc shape with your hands.

  9. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in freezer for 20-30 minutes.

  10. When ready, dust with a very small amount of flour and roll out to a 3-4 mm sheet.

  11. Cut out circles that are 4 cm in diameter with a cookie cutter or a glass that is the right size.

  12. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You will need 2-3 baking sheets for all the cookies.

  13. These cookies don’t rise so you can place them quite close together.

  14. Bake for 10 minutes.

  15. When ready, remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack until they cool.

For the chocolate rosemary frosting

  1. Combine the chocolate and olive oil in a bowl.

  2. Cover with parchment paper and melt in the microwave on high. Begin by heating for 1 minute and then heating at 10 second intervals, stirring after each time. You can also melt the chocolate in a bain marie.

  3. When ready, add the rosemary essential oil and stir.

  4. WARNING! Rosemary essential oil has a very strong taste and you only need to add 2-3 drops at first. Taste the mixture and you can add a little more if needed.

  5. Dip each cookie in to the chocolate and coat completely.

  6. Transfer to a sheet of parchment and allow to cool completely so the chocolate can set.

  7. Refrigerate if you want them to cool faster.

  8. You can store them in the refrigerator for up to 1 week and in the freezer for up to 2 months.

  9. I prefer to eat them straight out of the freezer!

My Tips

  • Use 1 drop of essential oil to make it kid friendly. Two drops make the cookies a bit spicy.

  • I didn’t dip the cookies in to the chocolate. I placed the cookies on a wire rack and added 1 Tablespoon melted chocolate at the top of each cookie.

  • Be careful. Add the essential oil after you have melted the chocolate and not before.

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