Chocolate-Dipped Cookie Sticks

I've always wanted to try to recreate the Mikado sticks so I could make a big batch instead of buying some and eating them all in a sitting and then there being none! I found this recipe from Food52 and they talk about these sticks being called 'pocky', a name I've never heard of but they looked and sounded like mikado so I thought I'd give it a go.

Although the ones I made don't look or taste quite how I intended them to as they seemed more of a biscuit than the classic mikado bread stick, they tasted rich and crispy and were still a tasty snack!

The original recipe makes 90 sticks, I halved the ingredients as I only wanted to test the recipe, however because I used a slightly larger piping nozzle than I think I should have, there were even less sticks than I expected - 29 to be exact. The quantities of ingredients also look slightly odd as I've converted them from cups.

The recipe is from Food52, however I have slightly adapted the recipe, for example I used a 6mm piping nozzle but I think 4mm would be a better size to use if I were to make them again.

Makes about 40 cookies when using a 4mm nozzle | 10 minute prep time | 15-30 minute cooking time

Ingredients

29g unsalted butter, at room temperature 25g sugar 1 egg 1/4 teaspoon almond extract or 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 64g bread flour 1/4 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 2 tsp water, at room temperature 130g bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 150° C. In a large bowl, use a wooden spoon to stir butter and sugar together until creamy and smooth. Add the egg and extract and stir to combine. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and stir to combine. Add the water and stir until smooth.

2. Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a plain round 4mm pastry tip. Pipe the batter onto two parchment-lined baking sheet in straight lines, about 6 inches long, at least 1/2 an inch apart. Bake until the sticks are set and light golden brown, about 15 minutes but could take longer depending on the size of the sticks, rotating the sheets halfway through. Let the sticks cool on the sheets on cooling racks for 5 minutes, then carefully transfer them to a rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining batter. Save the parchment-lined sheets for the next step.

3. Melt the chocolate in the microwave in a 2-cup glass measuring cup (or another microwave-safe, narrow vessel) in 15-second increments. One at time, carefully dip each stick in the melted chocolate. (Be careful. The sticks are somewhat fragile.) In order to get the chocolate up higher on the stick, tip the cup on its side and dip each stick in where the chocolate is the highest. Scrape off excess chocolate and lay each stick on the prepared sheets.

4. Transfer the sheets to the refrigerator to set the chocolate. Store in an air-tight container in the freezer or fridge.

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