“Here’s another quintessential Australian icon of a cookie,” says Jackson. “But I have a confession to make: I never ate these growing up. I don’t know what it was, but the chocolate-covered cookies just sang my name a little louder. In fact, 2023 was a memorable one for me, not because my son was born, or I wrote this book, but because it was the first time I had an Iced VoVo.”
Makes 18
Ingredients
200g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
15g milk powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
100g unsalted butter, softened
80g icing (confectioners’) sugar, plus extra for dusting
1 egg yolk
70g desiccated coconut, plus extra for decorating
Pink gel food colouring
150g white fondant
100g good-quality raspberry jam
Combine the flour, milk powder, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Give these dry ingredients a good whisk and set aside. Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, icing sugar and egg yolk until light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture followed by the coconut and mix until just combined. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 1–2 hours. Line two baking trays with baking paper or silicone baking mats. Roll out the chilled dough on a lightly floured bench until 3–4 mm (1⁄8–3⁄16 inch) thick. Using an 8 x 3 cm (3 1⁄4 x 1 1⁄4 inch) rectangular crinkle cutter, cut out the cookies and place them on the trays. Chill for 15–20 minutes to help prevent spreading during baking. Preheat the oven to 160°C (315°F) fan-forced. Bake the cookies for 12–15 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Allow them to cool on the trays for 10 minutes (but leave the oven on) before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Knead the food colouring into the fondant until you achieve your desired colour – a pale pink is perfect here. Dust the bench with icing sugar and roll out the fondant until 2–3 mm (1⁄16–1⁄8 inch) thick. Cut the fondant into 7 x 1 cm (2 3⁄4 x 1⁄2 inch) strips. Place two fondant strips on each biscuit and return to the oven for 1–2 minutes or until the fondant begins to melt onto the biscuit. (It will just soften; be sure not to overbake as the fondant will seal and the coconut won’t stick.) Remove the biscuits from the oven and immediately sprinkle the extra coconut over the fondant. Place the jam in a piping bag fitted with a small round nozzle and pipe a thin strip of jam down the centre of each cookie. Allow the cookies to cool completely before eating. Pretty as a picture.
Emelia Jackson’s Some of My Best Friends are Cookies (Murdoch Books, RRP $39.99) is out now and available, among other places, from great independent Victorian bookstores such as Readings, Hill of Content and Books for Cooks.