Friday 16 June 2017

Nutella Chocolate Chunk Cookie Pie.



Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

It's time for the cookie pie!
But first, can I just mention the terrible events of Wednesday morning.
I'm sure many of you, especially if you're in the UK, will have been following everything on the news and will be feeling just as sad about it as I have. My thoughts and heartfelt prayers are with everyone affected.
It feels odd to mention such a horrendous event and then start talking about a cookie pie. But this blog reflects my real life and honestly, even though I live nowhere near London, we've all been really saddened over the past two days by what happened and so I just had to mention it here.
And so, on to this Nutella cookie pie. It's a recipe that I've been working on since I first baked it back in December. That photo I shared on Instagram looked good but the actual pie was a disaster. Somehow, I decided to leave out the crucial step of blind-baking my pastry before hand. I ended up putting a tonne of Nutella, lots of chocolate chunks and a loose cookie batter onto this poor pastry case and throwing it into bake. Let's just say two things - it took forever to bake and when I pulled it out around an hour and a half later, it still wasn't done. The biggest example of a soggy bottom that I've ever made!
After a few more tests and tweaks, I realised that with this pie, a blind-bake of the pastry was a must. And so, that is just what we'll do here. We'll make a really simple shortcrust pastry case, blind-bake it and then fill with lots of Nutella, chocolate chunks and of course, the gooey cookie filling. Once baked, the pie has to be left to cool and set otherwise you'll end up with your own soggy mess. To serve, as shown above, I like to heat slices in the microwave for a few seconds before topping with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and of course, sprinkles. This pie, with its crisp pastry base, layer of Nutella and gooey cookie, will make the perfect treat for anyone with a serious sweet tooth who is in the mood for a little something this weekend after Iftar.

A Simple List of Ingredients:

For the Sweet Shortcrust Pastry:
1. Plain Flour
2. Butter
3. Icing Sugar
4. An Egg
5. Cold Water

For the Chocolate Chunk Cookie Filling:
1. Eggs
2. Soft Light Brown Sugar
3. Caster Sugar
4. Plain Flour
5. Vanilla Essence
6. Salt
7. Butter
8. Milk Chocolate
9. Dark Chocolate
10. Nutella

Bismillah, let's begin!

We start by making the sweet shortcrust pastry. I like to use a food processor to make mine but you can easily make it by hand too. You can use ready-made shortcrust pastry too. I would let it defrost then roll and blind-bake as mentioned later in the recipe. And, you can even use a ready-made shortcrust pastry case for which I would skip straight to the filling.

To make the pastry, into your food processor, place 225g Plain Flour.

Add in 150g cold and cubed Butter. Both unsalted or salted will do.

Blend the two until you have a crumb consistency.

Add in 25g Icing Sugar.

Blend until combined.

Crack 1 large Egg into a bowl and pour in 2 tablespoons Cold Water.

Beat with a fork until just combined.

Gradually add the liquid to the processor, pulsing as you go, until ...

... you have a dough. You may not need all the liquid.

Time to grab the tin! I used a 10 inch (25cm) fluted tart tin with a removable bottom for this recipe.

Tip the pastry out onto a lightly floured surface and lightly knead it into a rough ball.

And, roll the pastry to the thickness of a pound coin.

Use your tin as a guide. You want the pastry to be a little bigger than the tin.

Line the tin with the pastry. To easily move it, I like to loosely fold it up and place it into the tin.

Then, open the pastry out.

Fit the pastry into the tin.

Roll your rolling pin over the edges which will easily remove any excess pastry.

Until you have one beautiful pastry case!

Chill the pastry in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Then, it's time to blind-bake! Which just basically means that we're going to partly bake the pastry so that it stays crisp once the filling goes on. Get the oven onto 200C and place the tin on a baking tray which will make it easier to get the tin in and out of the oven.

To blind-bake, you'll need some sort of dried lentils or even rice.

I have these lentils which I only use for blind-baking.

Fit a piece of foil over the pastry case.

Pour the lentils over the foil.

Spread the lentils evenly over the foil. The point of the lentils is so that they weigh the pastry down and prevent it from bubbling up. Bake the pastry for 15 minutes at 200C.

Then, remove the foil and lentils.

The pastry will still be slightly wet and soft. So, bake it again at 200C for a further 5 minutes to dry it out.

Then, take it out! It won't be fully cooked at this point which is fine because it will bake again with the filling on top. Set the case aside to cool slighly whilst we work on the filling. Turn the oven down to 180C.

To make the cookie filling, crack 2 large Eggs into a large bowl.

Use an electric hand whisk to beat the eggs until they are foamy.

Then, add in 90g Soft Light Brown Sugar.

Along with 120g Caster Sugar.

100g Plain Flour

2 teaspoons Vanilla Essence

And, 1/4 teaspoon Salt.

Once all these ingredients are in ....

... use the electric hand mixer to beat until just combined.

Then, take 170g Butter which is soft and at room temperature.

Add it in! It's really important that it is soft otherwise it will be really difficult to mix in.

Beat the mixture with the electric mixer until well combined.

Finally, throw in 50g Dark Chocolate Chunks and 50g Milk Chocolate Chunks. I do this by simply chopping up chocolate bars into chunks.

Stir them in!

No need to worry if the mixture has curdled at this point - it will bake up just fine, Insha Allah.

It's time to assemble our pie! Take your pastry case, cookie filling, Nutella and more chocolate chunks!

We start with my favourite - Nutella!

Scoop out the Nutella ...

... and dollop it over the pastry case.

Use the back of a spoon to spread it over the case.

Adding more Nutella, as needed.

Until you have an even Nutella layer! You can add as much Nutella as you like here! It's your pie not mine!

Then, more chocolate chunks! I used 50g Dark Chocolate Chunks and 50g Milk Chocolate Chunks.

Sprinkle the chocolate over the Nutella.

You can do all milk or all dark chocolate depending on what you prefer. And, you can leave them out too!

Finally, dollop the cookie filling on top.

Spread it evenly over the chocolate.

Place the tin back onto the baking tray and bake at 180C for 35 minutes until the top is set, golden and no longer jiggly.

Like this!

This pie does need to cool and set before you can slice it.

Let it cool for at least 2 hours and while it's cooling, press a few chocolate chips into its surface to give it the classic cookie look.

When the chips hit the hot pie, they will melt slightly but will harden and set as the pie cools.

So, be careful not to smudge them as I did in that bottom right hand corner!

Once you're ready to slice, remove the pie from the tin.

Place the pie onto a cake stand or plate to serve!

As with most things, the first slice is always the worst!

But the second slice is where it's at! This pie is great cold especially with a hot cup of tea!

However, if you want a real treat, pop a slice in the microwave for a few second before topping with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and ...

... rainbow sprinkles!

This pie is a real sweet treat. With its crisp pastry base, layer of Nutella (!!!) and gooey cookie filling, you're going to love it.

Nutella Chocolate Chunk Cookie Pie.

Prep Time: About 1 hour and 10 minutes.
Bake Time: About 35 minutes.
Serves: About 8-10 people.

Ingredients

For the Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
225g Plain Flour
150g Butter, cubed and cold
25g Icing Sugar
1 large Egg
2 tablespoons Cold Water

For the Chocolate Chunk Cookie Filling
2 large Eggs
90g Soft Light Brown Sugar
120g Caster Sugar
100g Plain Flour
2 teaspoons Vanilla Essence
1/4 teaspoon Salt
170g Butter, soft and at room temperature
100g Milk Chocolate, chopped into chunks
100g Dark Chocolate, chopped into chunks
Nutella, as needed

To Serve
Vanilla Ice Cream
Rainbow Sprinkles

Make the sweet shortcrust pastry:
Put the plain flour and butter into a food processor and blend until you have a crumb consistency. Add the icing sugar and blend. Beat the egg and water with a fork and gradually add to the processor, pulsing as you go, until you have a dough. You may not need all the liquid.

Chill the pastry:
Tip the pastry onto a lightly floured surface and knead it together into a ball. Roll to the thickness of a pound coin. Take a 10 inch (25cm) fluted tart tin with a removable bottom and line the tin with the pastry. Trim to fit then chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Blind bake the pastry:
Heat the oven to 200C. Place the tart tin on a baking tray. Fit a large piece of foil over the pastry. Fill with baking beans, uncooked lentils or uncooked rice to cover the surface evenly. Bake for 15 minutes then remove the foil and lentils. Bake for a further 5 minutes to dry out the pastry. Set aside to cool slightly and turn the oven down to 180C.

Make the cookie filling:
Into a large bowl, crack in the eggs. Beat with an electric hand whisk until they are foamy. Add in the brown sugar, caster sugar, plain flour, vanilla and salt. Beat until well combined. Finally, beat in the butter until well combined. Stir in half of both the milk and dark chocolate chunks - so 50g of each. The mixture may curdle but will bake up fine.

Assemble the pie:
Spread the pastry case evenly with the Nutella. Sprinkle over the remaining chocolate chunks - 50g each of milk and dark. Spread over the cookie batter and smooth out.

Bake the pie:
Place the tart dish on a baking tray. Bake the pie for 35 minutes until the top is set, golden and no longer jiggly. Let the pie cool in the tin for at least 2 hours before slicing. While the pie is cooling, you can press a few chocolate chips into its surface to give it the cookie look.

Serve:
Slice and serve with ice cream and sprinkles. Cold pie slices are delicious but I like to heat mine up in the microwave for a few seconds.

{cookie filling adapted from gemma's bigger bolder baking}

Keep me in your duas please, and enjoy your cookie pie!

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!


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