If you know someone that loves a BN biscuit – those edible nostalgic biscuits from the UK with the distinctive smiley faces on, you’ll want to try this! These emergency videos hope to give you an option of making a giant version of a classic as a fun alternative to a Birthday cake! Now, you may have the theme tune to the advert in your head now, apologies if so, but I hope you give it a go! If you enjoyed this you may enjoy this emergency kitkat loaf using bread tins!
How to make a large BN Biscuit, a great Birthday cake alternative!
The first thing to say here is we want to make this the size of your baking tray and it’s effectively a square shape. So ideally if you have 2 baking trays the same size, then this will be quick, otherwise you’ll need to bake twice, but it will cool quick. It’ll also help to have a BN biscuit to hand for a template or you can Google image search it.
So lets make the ganache first so it has time to chill. Warm the cream in a saucepan over a medium low flame, just before it starts to boil, turn the heat off and dump in the chocolate shavings, stir so that it melts into the cream to form a glossy ganache. Keep stirring until fully combined, leave to cool to room temperature, cover with cling film and place in the fridge.
Now, the dough. The amount i’ve added to the ingredients will make one huge dough ball so you can divide it up to your liking and bake any scraps into mini biscuits. Add the butter, flour and sugar into a large bowl, rub the fat into the butter and sugar or whizz it up in a food processor or you can use a pastry blender like seen in the video. Add in the cream and the vanilla extract, stir through but then use clean hands to work it together into a big old dough lump. If it is a bit too dry and not bonding together, add a splash of milk, if it is too wet, add more flour. Flatten it down into a disc one a smooth ball is achieved, the flatter the disc the quicker it will chill.
Wrap the disc in cling film and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to help the dough hold better. Then, divide the dough in 2, and roll out on a lightly floured surface to 4-5mm thick, the thinner the better the snap and crunch of the biscuit. Lift the dough onto a baking sheet / baking parchment to save having to move it again and shape it on there using a knife to cut out the dough. The video shows this the best way in terms of how to shape it. Lift this onto your baking tray, brush with the beaten egg yolk (this is optional but gives a more golden colour!) and bake in an oven pre-heated to 160fan/180c or equivalent for 15 minutes or until evenly browned. Repeat with the other cookie dough to make the other half and allow both giant cookies to cool fully.
Dollop the chocolate ganache on the bottom cookie, place the other on top and press down lightly to sandwich together! Top up the eyes and mouth if necessary and slice up to share!