POCKY STICK
When I was younger living in Seoul, one of my favorite childhood snacks were these Pepero 빼빼로 (also known as pocky sticks). They are crunchy and chocolatey cookie sticks and had the perfect bite! Now, many years later, I was inspired to create a homemade version of this for my Christmas cookie box. These store-bought pocky sticks are delicate and small. But, I wanted to make a larger sized version of it with substantial amount of toppings on it which looked like ornaments hanging on a Christmas tree.
These are so much fun to make and very delicious! If you add these babies into your next Christmas cookie box or as a bouquet, you will definitely impress whoever you are gifting it to!
I hope you will enjoy!
-Ari Yori
POCKY STICK RECIPE
prep time: 30 minutes
rest time: 1 hour
baking time: 13-16 minutes
portion: 20-25 sticks
INGREDIENTS
biscuit
1 cup (143g) all-purpose flour (550 flour), spooned and levelled
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup (56g) unsalted butter, cold and diced into cubes
4 tbsp full-fat milk, cold
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
toppings
100-150g dark chocolate, melted
100-150g white chocolate, melted
roasted hazelnut, crushed
roasted almonds, crushed
dehydrated raspberries, crushed
DIRECTIONS
First prepare the biscuit dough by mixing together flour, sugar and salt in a medium sized bowl. Add cold butter into the flour bowl and rub in with your fingers until the mix looks like fine crumbs. Then drizzle in the milk and vanilla and mix it all together using your hands until the dough comes together. This is similar to a pastry dough where it’s a bit dry and you will have some crumbs that won’t stick together. An easier way is put the flour dry mixture and butter into a food processor and pulse a few times. Then slowly add the milk and vanilla and pulse a couple of times again.
Place the dough onto a silicone mat or parchment paper and roll into a 1.5 cm thick rectangle shape. You can use a bench scraper or a knife to straighten the edges so that it forms a rectangle shape. The dimension of the rectangle is up to you based on the size of the pocky stick you prefer - I prefer 14 cm x 20 cm. Cover with plastic wrap and place it into the fridge to chill for about 1 hour.
Heat the oven to 350°F/175°C. Using a bench scraper or a knife, slice the dough crosswise into less than 1 cm thick strips. Using your hands, roll each strips of dough so the edges and tips are rounded.
Place each strip of dough onto a baking tray, keeping them as straight as possible and spacing them apart. Place it back into the fridge or a freezer for about 10 minutes so they are firm.
Bake for 13-16 minutes until it turns into pale golden colour. Let it cool completely on a cooling rack.
To decorate and add the toppings, melt each chocolate in the microwave for 20-30 seconds or melt it in a heat resistance bowl over a pot of boiling water (make sure that the bowl is not touching the water). Let it slightly cool down for about 3-5 minutes as it will be easier to work with.
Prepare your assembly line by having all of your melted dipping chocolate with spoons, crushed nuts and berries placed on a separate plates/bowls with spoons , and a parchment paper ready.
Take each biscuit over the bowl of melted chocolate and pour the chocolate using a spoon, turning cookie to coat on all sides. If you poured too much chocolate, let excess drip off or scrape against the edge of the bowl. Then sprinkle nuts or berries on all sides using a spoon. Re-melt the chocolate if needed.
Place all of the pocky sticks onto a parchment paper and place it into the fridge to set and harden.
