RECIPE | Chocolate & pistachio biscuits

So, it's raining. While some may sigh and tut at the sight of drizzle, I for one welcome the arrival of the wet stuff. Ok, so not always - when I've blow-dried my hair or settled down in the garden with a glass of Pims in the sunshine, there's frankly nothing quite as aggravating as rain - but generally, I love it.

It's funny, it rains all over the world, and yet, we Brits have such an affinity with it, we may as well have invented it. Rain, it's as British as the Queen, cups of tea, and cheese and cucumber sandwiches.

So, back to today. I ran a few errands in town, in the dry, sat down with a cup of tea and then, the heavens opened. There was only one thing for it. To get baking.

Baking up something sweet on a rainy day is something I've done ever since I was little. My mum, sister and I would head into the kitchen, fetch the food processor and bake up a batch of fairy cakes or delicious Victoria sponge. To my mind, baking is by far the best antidote to dreary skies.

Having baked scones recently to test out my blackberry jam, I decided a crisp biscuit would make a nice change. I poked my head into the kitchen cupboard and discovered a big tub of cocoa I hadn't used for a while and some pistachios - a dream combination.

So here it is, a recipe for iced chocolate and pistachio biscuits. Depending on the cutter type and size you use, this should make about 15-20 biscuits. I chose pentagon-shaped cutters, just because.

Ingredients

For the biscuits

250g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

80g caster sugar

50g cocoa powder

110g unsalted butter

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

40g pistachios plus a few more for decoration

For the icing

50g dark icing sugar

100g icing sugar

50g cocoa powder

Water

Method

1 - Mix the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and sugar in a food processor or by hand.

2 - Add the butter and mix in before adding the egg and vanilla extract.

3 - Turn out and bring the dough together. Roll into a ball, cover in cling film and chill for half an hour.

4 - Roll the dough out on a floured surface to the thickness of a £1 coin. Use your chosen cutter on the dough, placing each biscuit on a greased baking tin/tin with grease-proof paper.

5 - Bake at 190 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

6 - Leave the biscuits to firm up on metal cooling racks.

7 - Mix the icing sugar, cocoa powder together, adding in little trickles of water and mixing, judging the consistency as you stir. The icing should be runny enough to run slowly off a spoon but not too thin that it runs - think thick custard.

8 - Add to a piping bag or spoon carefully to the top of the biscuits. Crush 20 or so pistachios with a rolling pin and sprinkle on the top of the icing while it's still wet.

9 - Leave to cool and dry out for a couple of hours or chill to speed up the process!

Enjoy!