Chocolate snowballs recipe

Ingredients

1. 60g good-quality dark chocolate, chopped
2. 125g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
3. 370g soft brown sugar
4. 2 medium free-range eggs
5. 1 tsp vanilla extract
6. 80ml milk
7. 340g plain flour
8. 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
9. 2 tsp baking powder
10. ¼ tsp ground allspice
11. 85g chopped pecans
12. Icing sugar, for dusting

Method

1. 1. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally.
2. 2. Using an electric hand whisk, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Stir in the vanilla, melted chocolate and milk.
3. 3. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder, allspice and a pinch of salt into the bowl and mix well. Stir in the pecans. Chill, covered, for 3 hours, or overnight.
4. 4. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets. Sift some icing sugar onto a plate. Roll heaped teaspoonfuls of mixture into balls, then roll in the icing sugar to coat. Place on the baking trays, spaced to allow for spreading.
5. 5. Bake for 15 minutes until lightly browned and still a little soft in the centre. Leave to cool on the trays for 3-4 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Nutritional info

Per snowball: 94kcals, 4.2g fat (1.9g saturated), 1.4g protein, 14g carbs, 8.2g sugar, 0.1g salt