i am a food blog

I’m slightly obsessed with Australia, but it tends to go in waves. When I was a kid, I was fascinated by koala bears, Savage Garden (heehee), and Australian accents. For some reason or other though, Australia fell off the map, until a couple of years ago, when Mike and I decided to visit.

We hit up Sydney and Melbourne and basically ate our way around – it was awesome, minus me being freaked out by us driving on the “wrong” side of the road. I always felt like Mike was drifting, drifting into opposing traffic. Freak outs aside, we did what we normally do on any vacation, ate ALL the things, checked out the penguins on the beach, and hit up the grocery store for snacks. There were entire aisles dedicated to packages and packages of Tim Tams. I bought myself a tiny package of dark chocolate mint ones, popped in my luggage and promptly forgot about it. When I did finally get to eating it, I was kicking myself for not buying more of them. They tasted exactly like Christmas.

Tim Tams, if you haven’t had them, are malty, crisp chocolate cookies sandwiching a chocolate filling and enrobed in, you got it, more chocolate. They come in so, so many flavors and they’re completely addictive. Which is why, when I saw that Sarah, from The Sugar Hit, had a Tim Tam recipe in her new book, The Sugar Hit!: Sweets That Pack a Punch!, I knew I had to make them. Her books is filled to the brim with cute anecdotes, punchy colorful pics, and the most sweet-tooth satisfying recipes out there.

I followed Sarah’s recipe to a tee, but I couldn’t resist slipping in a touch of pumpkin spice because, apparently I’m basic like that. Regardless, these guys are the perfect stand in if you’re missing Australia, wanting pumpkin spice in a cookie format, or even if you’re just a sandwich cookie fiend. Go forth Tim Tam and maybe even do a Tim Tam slam?

PS – I’m deep into my obsession with Australia now. I just finished a Dance Academy Netflix marathon watching session and even though the show is not remotely targeted at people my age and I don’t dance, I can’t stop, won’t stop. (Read this article if you want a little insight into its incredible addictivity. But, um, Christian forever, forget Ethan.)

PPS – I’m a huge fan of Sarah and her photography and even more so of her savories so even though I’m really excited about this book, I’m even more excited about her next book! Congrats Sarah!

Pumpkin Spice Tim Tam Cookies slightly adapted from Sarah Coates’ The Sugar Hit
makes 14 sandwich cookies
prep time: 5 minutes
active time: 30 minutes
total time: 1 hour including refrigeration

Cookies

• 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup unsweetened dutch cocoa powder
• 1 cup flour
• pinch of salt

Filling

• 4 ounces butter
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened dutch cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon malted milk drink powder
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice*

Chocolate Coating

• 7 ounces dark chocolate
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil

Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg. Add the cocoa powder and beat until smooth. Fold in the flour and salt. The dough will be very soft. Turn out onto parchment paper and top with another sheet. Roll into a large rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Place on a tray and freeze for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two trays with baking paper.

Take the dough out of the freezer and slice into 28 rectangles (1 1/4 x 2 1/2 inches). Bake for 10 minutes, remove from the oven and let cool completely.

Make the filling: cream the butter until soft, then sift the remaining ingredients and beat until well combined. Sandwich the filling between the cookies and chill in the fridge while you make the chocolate coating.

Combine the chocolate and coconut oil in a heat proof bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals until the chocolate is slightly melted. Stir until smooth. Dip chilled cookies the coating and place in the fridge to set. Enjoy!

*Optional: Leave out the pumpkin spice if you want to try the Original Tim Tams in Sarah’s book!

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