Paleo Ischler aka Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
Ischler from Bad Ischl
I made a gluten free version of Ischler. It is not dairy free now. As you know, I cook and bake dairy-free basically. I follow paleo diet, but I am one of those followers who consumes butter and ghee. I use butter in this recipe what is dairy.
Ischler (or Ishler) is a sandwich cookie dating back to Austro-Hungarian Empire. It is one of the finest examples of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy’s pastry tradition. Ischler is originated in Bad Ischl, a famous spa town in upper Austria. The Emperor Franz Joseph I established his summer residence there. Johann Zauner founded the pastry shop “Zauner” in Bad Ischl and that is where these delicate cookies were born in 1849. This sandwich cookie immediately became the Emperor’s favorite desert and were incredibly popular in all empire.
Rumor has it that the emperor visited this patisserie every time he went to his mistress, who lived nearby.
The “Konditorei Zauner” is still up and running even today. Their motto – “This is not only a pleasure at Cafe Zauner, since 1832 – it is culture.”
Here you can see this beautiful patinated confectionery. Zauner has almost two hundred years history. It is worth a visit here because of the beautiful interior and the variety of delicious pastries.
A Trick How You Can’t Waste Chocolate
Most of the times everything will be chocolatey when we cover a cake or cookies. Ischler also needs to be covered with it, but we don’t want to waste the chocolate, right? I saw a very good idea how we can solve this problem. I share this trick with you.
Use a foam spoon and cross 2 sticks in it. Place the cookie on the crossed sticks. Cover the cookie with the melted chocolate above the chocolate pot. Excess melted chocolate flows back to the pot through the foam spoon. That’s it! It’s a very simple trick and very useful. Then place the chocolate covered cookies on a wire rack to harden. Decoration with chopped nuts and deep freeze dried fruits on the top is optional.
Chocolate, chocolate and chocolate
Paleo Ischler aka Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
Ingredients
- 140 gram cassava flour plus for dusting
- 80 gram almond flour
- 100 gram butter lactose free or vegan diced
- 25 gram xylitol powdered
- 60 ml agave syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp almond extract
- 1 pinch salt
- 280 gram red berries jam paleo
- 250 gram 85% chocolate
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
For decoration (optional)
- Chopped pistachio walnut or deep freeze dried berries.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
- Mix cassava flour, almond flour in a big bowl.
- Add butter, xylitol, agave syrup, salt, vanilla and almond extracts. Mix by hand and form 2 balls from the dough.
- Cover and put in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Roll the dough between 2 pieces parchment paper about 3-4 mm thick. Sprinkle the parchment paper and the top of the dough with a bit of cassava flour.
- Use 6 cm-diameter round cookie cutter. (Dip cookie cutters in cassava flour before each cut and the dough will not stick.) Knead the remaining small pieces and repeat the process until you have dough. You will get about 30-32 pcs cookies.
- Place cookies on lined baking trays. Cover and put them to chill into the fridge or cold place for 15 minutes.
- After chilling, bake them for 10 minutes, until golden. Leave cookies to cool for 20 minutes before you start spreading with jam. Then paste them together. Let them to rest for 1 hour. (During this time, the jam will glue the two parts of the cookies well , they will not slip away from each other.)
- Melt the chocolate with coconut oil above steam. Place chocolate in heatproof bowl. Sit bowl over a pan of barely simmering water (au bain marie) and allow the chocolate to melt while stirring occasionally.
- Cover the cookies with melted chocolate.( Use this simple trick and you will not waste any chocolate. Use a foam spoon and cross 2 sticks in it. Place the cookie on the crossed sticks then cover with chocolate.)
- Place the cookies onto a wire rack. Decoration with chopped nuts and deep freeze dried fruits on the top is optional. Let the cookies rest on cold place for at least 1 hour, until the chocolate hardened. Enjoy!