Low Calorie Chocolate Mastaccioli

Given the amount of biscuits Simon has on a weekly basis – all in the aid of Bakers Pantry of course – I’m surprised it has taken this long for his belt buckle to tighten and his shirts to cling.

Even when he behaves himself he is eating hundreds of extra calories every weekend…

Now being the responsible one in the relationship, the last few months I have been slaving away in the kitchen in an attempt to come up with a range of low calorie meals and desserts to get his biscuit cravings in check. And thanks to the help of many recipe websites and cookbooks I have managed it.

Take for instance the following biscuit recipe I’m about to show you…

It may look sinful. It may be smothered in chocolate. But each biscuit only contains 55 calories, so if you have got the will-power to ration yourself you can enjoy these tasty treats and still maintain a low calorie diet.

Low Calorie Chocolate Mastaccioli

Recipe type: Biscuit

Author: Ellen

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 9 mins

Total time: 19 mins

Serves: 60

Proof that chocolate isn’t always a sin these low calorie chocolate mastaccioli are only 55 calories – perfect for those days when sugar cravings are threatening to get the best of you.

Ingredients

250g All purpose flour
69g Unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2tsp Baking powder
1tsp Ground cinnamon
¼ tsp Ground cloves
1/4tsp Salt
93g Granulated sugar
119g Butter
1 Large egg
125ml Whole milk
3tbsp Unsweetened cocoa (for topping)
150g Icing sugar

Instructions

Before you get started preheat your oven to 200C/400F/ Gas mark 6.
Whilst your oven is warming up, get a medium sized bowl and blend your flour, cocoa (69g), baking powder, cinnamon, cloves and salt together.
In a separate bowl, use a fork or a rubber spatula (this is quite useful for scraping the mixture from the sides of your bowl) to beat your sugar and butter until smooth, then add your egg.
Alternately add your flour and milk to your egg mixture (make sure you begin and end with flour) and beat well until thoroughly combined. TIP: a good way to test this is to see if your mixture sticks in clumps to your fork when you lift it out.
Dust your hands with cocoa (don’t use flour otherwise it will make your dough too dry) and roll tablespoon sized spoonfuls of your dough into 1 inch balls.
Place your cookies roughly 2 inches apart (so they have got room to expand) onto a non-stick baking tray and cook for 7-9 minutes or until your cookies take on a ‘puffed’ appearance i.e. the toppings of them look slightly cracked.
Now to make your chocolate glaze, you will need to whisk your remaining cocoa powder with ¼ cup of boiling water until all the lumps are gone and you are left with a smooth mixture.
Gradually add your icing sugar to this mixture and stir well (when ready it should feel thick and sticky).
Dip the top of your cooled cookies into the glaze, then leave to set on a cooling rack for 20 minutes. One trick I use to minimise drips is to put waxed paper onto the cooling rack. This stops drips from messing up your counter.
Now at this point you can add a few decorations to your cookies if you want. Sprinkles are quite popular at ours, but you can use sweets too. Just be careful to not go over the top otherwise you’ll bump up the calorie count.