Biscoff And Cookie Dough Tartlets

Forgive my ignorance, but I always thought Biscoff was a fairly modern, American invention.  How wrong I was!  It's Belgian, from the 1930s, as many of you probably know.  I had no idea what it was, but it seems it's like a speculaas biscuit - a lot spicy, and very sweet. 

Speculaas remind me of my younger days, when my sister was married to a Dutchman.  We lived in an area that had a big Dutch population - migrants who had escaped Europe after the Second World War.  He introduced us to many Dutch foods - salted liquorice anyone?, and speculaas biscuits (also Dutch).  Delightful, though his father's habit of smuggling native birds was not!

I was watching Barry Lewis, the English YouTuber chap the other day, and he made little tartlets with a bought cookie dough as the base, which he then filled with chocolate ganache.  I felt I wanted to make some tartlets too, but what to fill them with?  Let's try Biscoff, says I to myself.  And so I did.  And here they are.

caramel and chocolatey goodness here!

Makes 9-10 tartlets:

ingredients:

Butter for greasing the muffin tin holes

1 packet bought choc-chip cookie dough (450g./1 lb)

1 jar Biscoff spread (crunchy or smooth) - you will use about 320 grams/11.3 oz

2-3 tsp (or more) of mascarpone on each tartlet = c. 80g./3 oz all up

caramel sauce - I used Nestlé squeezy dulce de leche - amount is up to you

1/4 cup/32g. Honeycomb Maltesers, blitzed in a processor or bashed with a rolling pin till you end up with malty dust

Method:

Grab a muffin tray, grease the holes well with butter (esp. the rims!!) and press about 45g./1.5 oz of the dough into each hole

Find your smallest glass or wee container, and press the base into the doughy holes - you want to squish that dough down

Bake the cases at 180C/350F for 13 minutes, then take them out of the oven and squish the middles again with your tiny glass

Bake for another 2 minutes, take the tray out of the oven, and squish the middles again

Now let them cool right down

Spoon the Biscoff into each tartlet (go crazy if you want), then add a big spoonful of mascarpone on top (yep, go crazy again)

Squeeze the caramel sauce over the top, and throw on the honeycomb dust (well, sprinkle on)

Hand out to family and friends, and take a bow :=)

Notes:

I made 9 tartlets, but next time I would make 10, as the dough was a wee bit too thick

Make sure you butter the rims of the tin well; my cases stuck to the top and I had to jemmy them out:=)

Use any sort of Maltesers you fancy, or whatever chocolate/malt type of sweets you have, or whatever you like or have available

oh my!  so much sugar ahead in my life :-)

squish the dough into your well-greased muffin tin holes

and squish the middles of your dough with a (very) small glass

and squish again after baking

ready for filling

filled and almost ready to eat

hand out to family and friends

sweet and delicious

I luv Maltesers!