My Chocolate Hobnobs recipe makes crisp, buttery oat biscuits better than store-bought, with homemade chocolate topping and easy assembly.
- ⅔ cup (3½ oz/94 g) fine whole wheat flour
- ⅔ cup (2 oz/56 g) rolled oats
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (4 oz/115 g) butter , softened
- ⅓ cup (2 oz/57 g) dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons golden syrup
- ⅔ cup (4 oz/115 g) chopped semi-sweet chocolate
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Preheat the oven to 325℉ (165℃) fan assist. Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper and set aside.
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In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
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In a large mixing bowl and whisk, cream the softened butter, brown sugar and golden syrup together by hand until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes.
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Add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. (At this point you can cover and chill for 30 minutes to firm up the dough before scooping)
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Using a 1 tablespoon measure, scoop the dough and roll into balls. Place them on your prepared baking trays about 3 inches (7.5 cm) apart and flatten each ball to about 2 inches (5 cm) in diameter.
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Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until evenly golden brown. Allow to cool on the trays for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
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In a microwave-safe bowl add the chocolate and microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between each, until fully melted.
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Dollop a teaspoon of chocolate on top of each cookie and spread out evenly using the back of a spoon.
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Once the chocolate has slightly set swirl your spoon across the chocolate working your way down the cookie in the shape of a figure eight. This will create that classic Hobnob look!
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Place the cookies in the fridge for 10 minutes or until the chocolate is fully set.
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Enjoy with a cup of tea! Store leftover Hobnobs in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Don't skip the golden syrup. Golden syrup gives these biscuits their distinctive caramel-like flavor and helps create their characteristic crisp, lightly chewy texture, so it's an important part of what makes them taste like Hobnobs rather than ordinary oat cookies. If you can't find it, make it easily with my recipe.
- Set a timer while creaming the butter, brown sugar, and golden syrup. Creaming these ingredients by hand for about 4 minutes incorporates air and helps create the right texture, so don't rely on how pale or fluffy the mixture looks alone. Using a timer takes the guesswork out of this step and makes sure you give it enough time.
- Mix until just combined. After adding the dry ingredients, mix until just combined to help keep the cookies from being dry.
- Chill dough if necessary. If the dough is too soft to work with, chill it for up to 30 minutes.
- Bake until evenly golden brown. Because Hobnobs are meant to be crisp biscuits, don't take them out while they're still pale; look for an even golden color across the surface, then let them cool on the tray for 5 minutes so they can firm up before transferring them to a rack.
- Give the biscuit dough room to spread. Place the dough balls about 3 inches apart and flatten them to roughly 2 inches in diameter before baking, as the biscuits will spread as they cook.
- Use a convection oven or rotate your trays. For evenly baked homemade Hobnobs, use the convection setting if your oven has one.
- If using a regular oven, bake at 350°F (175°C) and rotate the trays halfway through the baking time so the biscuits brown evenly.
- Let the biscuits cool completely before adding the chocolate. The chocolate will set correctly on a completely cool biscuit, and you won't have to worry about it melting or sliding off.
- Try different chocolate for a different flavor. Semi-sweet chocolate gives you the classic balance of sweetness and cocoa in this Hobnobs recipe, but you can use dark chocolate for a more bittersweet taste or milk chocolate for a sweeter, creamier flavor.
- Let the chocolate partially set before making the swirl. Wait until the chocolate is no longer completely soft, but is still soft enough to move with a spoon. This makes it much easier to create the classic figure-eight pattern.