I Baked my Chin-Chin!...(2)

Funke Koleosho's Baked Chin-Chin
served with Zobo Tea

I decided to make another post on Chin-Chin following my really popular first post on it last year (see the post here, I Baked my Chin-Chin!).

Chin-chin is very popular and a favourite for many. So it is not a surprise to find that some innovation/variations are applied to its production. For instance in the UK there are so many commercial chin-chin brands. There is one in particular (Love Chin-Chin) which is taking this snack into the main stream British markets. How cool is that! People have also successfully added different spices and condiments such as peanuts, ginger, chilli, nutmeg, coconut and chocolate to chin-chin....all very interesting innovation.

Today, in an attempt to answer some of my readers' questions on how to make chin-chin more "healthy", I am sharing my adjusted chin-chin recipe in which I have swapped some of the ingredients with healthier alternatives.

Jammy Chin-Chin served with Hot Chocolate

Chin-chin is comparable to biscuits and like biscuits cannot really be regarded as healthy.....so I can only encourage to eat in moderation. But I pondered the possibilities of healthy chin-chin...I made some modifications to the way I made my chin-chin.... Read the full details of my experiment here...

The outcome of my chin-chin modification is very encouraging and acceptable by my standards. You should try it...

What you need

• 500g of plain flour
• 200g demerara sugar (use more or less as preferred)
• 20g of condensed milk
• A pinch of salt
• 50-60g of coconut oil (in order to get the right taste and texture, the use of oil is inevitable. So I opted for coconut oil which is a healthy choice. More or less oil can be used; the amount used determines how hard the chin-chin turns out.)
• 1 cup of water (about 250ml)
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• Some plain flour for kneading and rolling the chin-chin dough.

What to do

1. Sift the flour to aerate and remove any foreign particles. Combine the flour, salt, nutmeg, sugar and coconut oil in a large mixing bowl and mix all together. 
2. Mix well to avoid any lumps. 
3. Then add the condensed milk and egg and again mix well. Then add water a little at a time to the mixture and mix until you get a good texture dough. Ensure that you do not add too much water by adding a little at a time. You may have to add more water than recommended above, just aim for dough almost similar to plasticine/play-dough.
4. Wrap dough in a cling film and allow to rest for a short while depending on how much time you have, 10-20 minutes should be fine. 
5. Then place dough on a well floured flat surface, knead and roll out into a very thing sheet. Ensure proper kneading, dusting continuously with flour to avoid dough sticking to the surface. 
6. Using a cookie/biscuit cutter of choice, cut out the dough. You can also stick with the traditional stripes (but where is the fun in that!)
7. Brush the cut out dough with some melted coconut oil and place on a well greased oven tray.
8. Bake at 180 degrees for about 20 minutes depending on the thickness. Check frequently to avoid burning
9. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. 
10. Store in a cookie jar or any other air tight container.
11. For a bit of fun, drizzle some melted chocolate or add some jam before serving (as shown in pictures).
12. Serve with drinks or incorporate into your desserts/pudding.

Jammy Chin-Chin