I’ll admit, they’re not an ingredient I often use- not due to their seasonality, but rather the fact that they’re difficult for me to get my hands on.
Britain has a great larder, one we often ignore in favour of the more familiar ingredients from far beyond our humble shores: take miso or galangal for example- I would expect to find them in my local supermarket, but not bone marrow or brill; parmesan, of course, but crowdie, unlikely; kaffir lime leaves, yes, never sorrel or chervil or lovage. Cobnuts also fit this category neatly. But if you’re very lucky, you might just stumble across a handful before the season ends.
If you’ve never tried one, they are to a large extent, a hazelnut and their flavour is quite similar, but they’re a tad sweeter and roasted, they’re a sensation. Of course, you can use hazelnut in the recipe below and you’ll create just as satisfying a biscuit, but it’s worth seeking out a cobnut or two, especially if you’ve never done so before.
Cobnut Cookies*
150g plain flour
50g spelt flour
100g salted butter
50g caster sugar
50g light brown muscovado sugar
1 medium-sized egg
50g cobnuts, roasted and chopped
50g milk chocolate, roughly chopped
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp mace
a pinch of salt
1. First, cream the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl, then beat in the egg.
2. Sieve the flours, salt and bicarb into the mixture and combine.
3. Stir in the chopped cobnuts, chocolate, mace and cinnamon until distributed fairly evenly.
4. place a teaspoon of the mixture onto a lined baking tray and bake in the oven at 180°C (a little less for fan assisted ovens) for 10-12 minutes. Remove them from the baking tray(s) when firm enough to do so and cool thoroughly on a rack.
5. It isn’t necessary to serve them with a pot of Earl Grey, but I recommend it.
* A friend suggested the name ‘cobnobs’. If you’re British, that probably seems like a fine name for a biscuit. If you’re not, it may sound rude.
Smoke & Spice 