Sweet treats for work: Nutty Chocolate Squares
Some weeks things work, at other times my attempts to fill the tins with sweet treats for work falls flat. This time I have a not very successful variation on Almond Honey Squares from a neat little Woman’s Weekly Simple Slices book that the Husband ordered for me recently. I think he’s trying to ensure his supply of different nice things to take to work – before I started making these weekly variations, it was a consistent diet of Chocolate Sesame Flapjacks and variations thereof.
Although I didn’t really follow the recipe, I have to admit that it was not entirely my fault – this time. I had the honey – but the Husband had stuck a buttery knife, complete with toast crumbs, into the jar (luckily that transgression was balanced by the gift of the book!) – so that was substituted with maple syrup, which I couldn’t even taste in the eventual result. One of my recently-purchased packets of flaked almonds went a-missing so instead I used a not-too-bad combination of flaked almonds and toasted pistachios. The eventual result – Nutty Chocolate Squares – didn’t go to waste, they had their fans, especially when there was nothing else on offer, but only scored 6/10 from the Polish Colleague. His scale is, apparently based on flapjacks at 10/10. Here is the original recipe – I think this may be one to try again, but with honey this time.
Almond Honey SquaresPlain flour – 150gFreshly ground nutmeg – ½ teaspoonGround almonds – 60gLight brown Muscovado sugar – 110gButter – 90g, meltedToppingEggs – 3, beaten togetherLight brown Muscovado sugar – 55gHoney – 90gMilk chocolate – 100g, meltedSlivered almonds – 210gPreheat oven to 180˚C and grease a 20 x 30cm tin.Mix the flour, nutmeg, ground almonds, sugar and melted butter in a large bowl. Press evenly over base of prepared tin and bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes until lightly browned. Allow to cool and reduce oven to 160˚C.Combine the eggs, sugar, honey and melted chocolate for the topping. Pour over cooled base and sprinkle with the slivered almonds. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until topping is set. Cool in the tin and refrigerate for several hours before cutting into about 20 squares.
