Low Sugar Chocolate “Hobnobs”
This is my back-pocket biscuit recipe. It is what I make when we are craving biscuits and fancy a weekend treat without all of the sugar.
Strangely enough, there isn’t a huge amount I miss from my sugar-laden diet days. I thought I’d seriously struggle without ice cream or jam or hot chocolate or fruit juice, but I don’t often miss them and when I do, it’s usually rare enough that I can indulge in them without overdoing it. Or I can make my sugar free ice cream, no added sugar jam or low sugar hot chocolate.
I find biscuits (cookies to American readers) mostly too sweet, a little stale and rather disappointing these days, to the point where I rarely even bother anymore – I’d rather indulge in a fresh-baked croissant or a small slice of homemade cake instead. But there is one cookie I miss. Just one.
Dark chocolate Hobnobs.
They were always a favourite, and even now I struggle to resist them, although I am more likely not to scoff the entire packet these days. So it’s probably no real surprise that this was one of the very first low sugar recipes I attempted to create. And they came out so well, I haven’t changed the recipe since. I occasionally tweak it a little to see if it can be improved upon, but I’ve always found this to be the best possible version, and wouldn’t mess with it.
Packed with oats, wholegrain flour, free range butter and very little sugar, and smothered in a really dark chocolate coating – these biscuits are one of my favourite ever low sugar creations.
An indulgent cookie treat that is packed full of wholegrains and very little sugar, these biscuits are an excellent back-pocket recipe for low sugar families.
- 125 g (1 stick + 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, softened
- 50 g (1/4 cup) xylitol
- 1 tablespoon rice syrup (or use organic raw honey)
- 100 g (1 cup) porridge oats (use gluten free if needed)
- 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed, optional
- 100 g (3/4 cup) wholemeal flour (wheat or spelt - for gluten free, use 75g sorghum flour and 25g sweet rice flour)
- pinch of sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (gluten free if needed)
- 1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 100 g (3.5 oz) very dark chocolate (85-90%), chopped
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Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
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Blitz all the ingredients except the chocolate in a food processor, adding a small splash of milk if needed to bring the dough together.
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Dust a clean counter with plenty of flour (and I mean PLENTY, as it's a very sticky dough)* and roll out to about 1/2cm (1/4") thick, then cut out round biscuit shapes with a cookie cutter and bake on the lined baking trays in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, until golden. Allow to cool completely before coating with chocolate (or serving as is).
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If you want them topped with chocolate, melt the chocolate in a microwave for 30 seconds or so until just melted, then dip the cooled biscuits in the chocolate so it covers the top. Allow to cool again until the chocolate is hard. Great with a cup of hot tea or glass of cold milk.
*This is a very sticky dough, so if you are struggling to roll it thin enough on the floured surface, you can always dust the ball of dough all over with flour and roll it between 2 sheets of baking parchment to get it thin.
Thank you so much for sharing your recipes! We are having an overhaul in our eating and cutting out refined sugar, so your insights and recipes are gold! We have just tried these and they are amazing!! Both my children love them and so do we! I’ll be making them in big batches and freezing!!
I’m so pleased to hear that Hannah! 🙂 Glad everyone liked them. They freeze quite well – I’ve done it before. You can freeze before or after baking, and just bake from frozen or defrost and eat. Just lay them out separately on a tray and flash freeze for an hour or two, then you can keep them in a freezer bag or freezer safe container. Happy baking! 😉