~ Curious Charlie ~

Easy Bake - Bondi Chai Vanilla Thins! @ Saturday, January 07, 2017

Charlie was provided with the product to create the recipe.
Inspiration from Dream Baker and Sweet Muddle.
This recipe is based on an Italian cookie called 'Cat's Tongue'.

With the festive season coming to an end it's time to relax, put your feet up, having a drink (or two) and chill before work and school/college starts again. For us, we have no idea what we're doing this year, perhaps going back to school? And so with this discovery of free time we've been planning baking adventures for the blog, and one of the firsts recipes we're ready to share is inspired by a cookie bought back from Japan.

Our star ingredient today is Bondi Chai, an Australian owned and made spiced tea-based drink made with milk. Based on India’s chai masala. A blend of black tea, vanilla, honey, cinnamon, ginger and a range of ‘comfort spices’. A hug in a mug! It can be made hot or cold. It's a powder, for drinks it needs to be dissolved, for cold drinks heat some milk, dissolve in that then add your iced and cold milk.

An award winning Australian product (Fine Food Awards in Hobart), Bondi Chai comes in two flavours: Vanilla Honey which is like a very light egg nogg, and Cinnamon Spice which is the stronger one, closer to the Indian chai masala drink.

We decided to keep it light and go with vanilla honey, though if you like more spices I'd go with Cinnamon Spice. Which would be better served with coffee, as the vanilla honey is lighter I'd serve it with tea.

Butter, Chai, Caster Sugar, Egg Whites, Plain Flour
A quick and easy recipe, Chai Vanilla Tins, uses five ingredients and doesn't require a mixer! A fork is all you need. The most challenging part? Remembering to leave the butter to soften on the bench an hour or so before you start (time depends on the weather, here in the peak of summer you just need an hour). Also cut off the piece you need to soften that only, not the whole block. Butter is much easier to cut/diced up when hard.

This is our inspiration, the Shiroi Koibito-ish, a cookie sandwich made with butter, milk and egg with a smooth white chocolate filling. Super thin and crispy! We'll just be doing the cookie today.

Note - The recipe is below.

Test & Trial

Vanilla Extract Optional. We trialed four batches and decided not to use it. We did for the comparison, as we created vanilla no chai thins for the baseline then build upon that. The first batch contained 1tsp, the second 1tspn.
We experimented with oven temperatures and times with each batch, and at first baked two at a time to test. *Note that each oven is different though. This oven was a fan forced one.
How many times did we make this? Four batches, at two house.

Bondi Chai Vanilla Thins
5 Ingredient. 5 Steps.

Makes - Two trays
Time - 30mins incl. baking

30g butter, softened
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 egg white (two if your eggs are tiny)
1/4 cup plain/all-purpose flour (sifted)
1/2 tbsp honey chai

1. In a small bowl (use a medium bowl if you're going to double the recipe) cream the softened butter and sugar, with a fork.

2. Add the other ingredients, the egg white, sifted flour and chai. Mix to create an cake batter like mix. At first it will seem that it's too dry, but keep going it will work out. Unlike with cake mix you won't accidentally beat the air out of this. It doesn't rise, but will spread.

3. Transfer the batter into a piping bag with a basic circle tip. If you don't have piping bag you can use ziplock bag or baking paper, tip optional. A tip - Use a cup to sit the bag in as you fill it, also fold back the bag to the depth you need. Then you won't get the batter all over your hands when you fold down the bag and secure it with a rubber band.

4. Pipe onto a tray lined with baking paper, give it about an inch or more space between each one. Here you can do squares, rectangles or circles. Be consistent though.

5. Bake at 160c for 10 minutes* (H House). Depending on your oven, and likes. We baked them till crispy all over, but you can leave the inside soft and spongy. If you prefer them super crunchy leave them in the oven, turned off after the baking time. Note - This is for a fan forced oven, once I forgot and it didn't work.

Store in an airtight container, for a day or two, though they're best eaten on the day!

You won't find Bondi Chai at Coles/Safeway instead they can be purchased at some IGAs and online with free delivery! With the 200g packs we featured they're ~~$12~~ $9.60 each, and there's a minimum of two (no mix and match sadly), but perfect if you want to share it with a friend. Thanks to Bondi Chai we have a special offer for readers, followers and friends. 20% off any purchase! This offer expires Sunday February 12th.

Are you a fan of chai? Have you tried Bondi Chai?

Will you give these 5 ingredients, 5 steps cookies a go?