for 20 pieces

Dough

150 g	butter, soft
100 g	ground cane sugar
50 g	treacle
1	fresh egg
250 g	white flour
1 tsp	cocoa powder
1 tsp	cinnamon
½ tsp	baking powder
1 pinch	salt

To shape

20	hazelnuts (approx. 20 g

To decorate

1	egg white
100 g	icing sugar
100 g	dark chocolate, 1/2 shaved with the peeler, melt the rest

How it's done

Dough

Using the whisk on a hand mixer, combine the butter, cane sugar and treacle. Add the egg and continue to beat until the mixture becomes lighter in colour. Add the flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Flatten the dough a little, cover and chill for approx. 1 hour.

To shape

Roll out the dough in portions between two pieces of baking paper to a thickness of approx. 4 mm. Cut out squirrels.

Transfer the biscuits to a baking tray lined with baking paper. Place a hazelnut on each squirrel, press down, chill for approx. 15 mins.

To bake

Approx. 8 mins. in the centre of an oven preheated to 200°C.

To decorate

Mix the egg white with as much icing sugar as it takes to produce a thick icing. Transfer the icing to a piping bag with a smooth nozzle (approx. 2 mm in diameter), pipe the eyes and stomach onto the squirrels, leave to dry. Transfer the melted chocolate to a piping bag with a smooth nozzle (approx. 2 mm in diameter). Pipe the tail and eyes, decorate with chocolate shavings.

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