The Great British Bake Off is one my favorite shows, inspiring new bakes, new flavors, and new techniques! Join me on my journey to bake through all the Season 8 Challenges.
Total Cooking Time: 2 hours
The Great British Bake Off is a classic show for bakers and those looking for a friendly competition. All the bakes on the show look delicious and I often want to try baking them myself! I finally got off the couch and into the kitchen to recreate some of the recipes from Bake Off! I chose to start with season eight of Bake Off as it is my favorite season and the one with some of my favorite challenges!
The Showstopper challenge for Biscuit week feels like it was made for me! It’s time to make a biscuit board game! There are so many great board games to choose from. Most contestants chose childhood classics (like shoots and ladders or Monopoly style games) and that disappointed me. Why didn’t anyone go for Twilight Imperium?!? Just kidding… Even I’m not that crazy. I decided to do a simpler game that I think is ever bit as classic: Battle Sheep. I did take inspiration for the recipes from Sophie and the board game she made.
Check out the Season 8 Great British Bake Off Page to see other bakes from the series or the Make section for more recipes!
Ingredients
This is the first time I am putting two recipes together in one post: both lemon and chocolate cookies. The ingredients for these recipes are very similar except for the flavor profiles. Some of the ratios of dry ingredients were also modified because of the chocolate powder. These are a very dry and crumbly cookie – a food processor is a very helpful tool that I would absolutely recommend.
The one unusual ingredient for me was the use of semolina. I have only used semolina before to line the peel for making pizza. Not as a cookie ingredient…
Process
01
Making the Lemon Dough
Making the dough turned out to be simple when using a food processor. The first step is to throw all of the dry ingredients and some lemon zest into the food processor. Blitzing these ingredients together will blend them together nicely. I used the classic food processor blade for making the doughs. I then added in cubed butter and blitzed the mixture again. The butter will break up but will also cause some of the dry ingredients to clump. Similar to breadcrumbs.
Then it’s time to add in the wet ingredients. This is where I deviated from Sophies recipe. I ended up using eggs, lemon juice, and vanilla extract as my wet ingredients. Everything was blitzed again until the wet ingredients were combined. I then turned out the dough onto the counter and kneaded it gently to make a firm (but not crumbly dough). If the dough is too wet, add more flour. If the dough is too dry, add more lemon juice.
The dough was then set aside as I made the Chocolate Dough.
02
Making the Chocolate Dough
The biggest difference for the chocolate dough is the addition of chocolate powder and chocolate chips. I decided to work with the chocolate chips first, blitzing them to make then finer in shape but not quite chocolate powder. I then added in the remaining dry ingredients and pulsed the food processor until everything was combined. Just like with the lemon dough, the butter is added to make the breadcrumb like texture. Lastly, I added the eggs and vanilla extract to add moisture into the mixture.
Then, turn out the dough onto the counter and kneaded gently to make the finished dough. If the dough is too wet, add more flour. If the dough is too dry, add a splash of milk.
03
Shaping the Dough
Because Battle Sheep is a board made of hexes, I wanted to cut out four pieces (two of each color) to make each individual tile. I used the board game as a stencil to get everything match perfectly. After cutting out all the shapes, I arranged everything on a baking sheet. Using the trimmings, I made dough balls and pressed them into circular shapes for the player pieces.
04
Baking and Decoration Prep
The cookies baked for about 16-20 minutes. This can vary depending on the size of each cookie. While the cookies are in the oven, it’s time to get ready for decorations. For these types of cookies, a royal icing works best. If you want to make your own, check out my recipe here! I needed several colors for this game, including:
I used a different piping bag for each color. The cookies should be fully cooled before any decorating can happen.
05
Decorating!
Sooo I thought I would be able to pipe the sheep on the circular pieces, akin to the board game. But I do not have a deft hand for piping, and this was an extremely small space to work! Instead, I decided to just color the pieces in the same color as the game. I chose to highlight the red and blue pieces.
Reflections
This was a really fun challenge and I kind of want to start baking more board games. Especially because I love this style of cookie. A classic sugar cookie would have also worked wonderfully for this endeavor. Am I ready for bake off? I’m feeling confident in the baking but my decorations? Maybe not so much…
If I were to do this again, I would shape the circular pieces differently. I would shape them to look like sheep instead! It would be much better for the imagery but keeping it inside the hexes would be a different challenge.
Lessons
Why Use Semolina?
So, after seeing semolina in the recipe, I was curious. What does semolina do in baking? It adds the addition of texture and flavor! It helps add a crispiness when placed on the exterior of baked good. But it also can create a dense, grainy and nutty dessert when added incorporated.
Lemon and Chocolate Battle Sheep Cookie Board Game
Equipment
- Food Processor
Ingredients
Lemon Cookie Dough
- 3 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- ⅓ Cup Semolina
- 1 Cup Almond Flour
- 1 ¼ Cup Granular Sugar
- 5 Zested Lemons
- 2 Sticks Butter cubed
- 1 Egg
- ¼ Cup Lemon Juice
- 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
Chocolate Cookie Dough
- 1 Cup Chocolate Chips dark or milk
- 2 ⅔ Cup All-Purpose Flour
- ⅔ Cup Almond Flour
- 1 ½ Cup Cocoa Powder
- 1 ¼ Cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 Sticks Butter cubed
- 2 Eggs
- 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
Instructions
Lemon Cookie Dough
- Put flour, semolina, ground almonds, sugar, and lemon zest into a food processor and pulse to combine.
- Add butter and blitz until butter is spread throughout the mixture (should look like breadcrumbs)
- Add eggs, lemon juice, and vanilla extract and blitz until combined.
- Tip out mixture onto a prepped surface and gently need. If the mixture is too wet, add more flour. If the mixture is too dry, add more lemon juice.
- Set dough aside.
Chocolate Cookie Dough
- Blitz chocolate chips in the food processor.
- Add flour, almond flour, cocoa powder, and sugar. Pulse to combine.
- Add butter and blitz until butter is spread throughout the mixture (should look like breadcrumbs)
- Add eggs and vanilla extract, blitz until combine.
- Tip out mixture onto a prepped surface and gently need. If the mixture is too wet, add more flour. If the mixture is too dry, add milk.
Shaping
- Roll out each dough to a 5mm thickness.
- Cut out board hexes and arrange on lined baking sheet. For circular pieces, roll pieces into a ball and flatten with an even surface.
- Bake for 16-20 minutes or until they just starts to turn golden brown on the edges. Let cool completely before decorating.
Decorating
- Separate royal icing (see notes) into different bowls and color as desired.
- Transfer each color into a separate small piping bag
- Pipe icing onto cookies as desired.