Chocolate chunkies friandies {no bake + gluten free option}

Your High Holiday FRIENDies!

Rosh Hashanah kicks off the beginning of a month-long celebration of Jewish holidays, traditionally eating sweet foods and expressing our wish for a sweet year.
These grown-up decadent chunky "truffles" bars and oh-so-easy recipe can be serve as Rosh HaShanah dessert or as a lovely hostess gift, and pair especially nicely with tea.

These little treats -- friandies -- were born while I was a pastry chef at Rialto. After my first dessert menu change, and a few holiday parties, I found myself with bits of garnishes and dessert components that I realized I could repurpose. I used the leftover espresso-cardamom chocolate ganache from the espresso float dessert as the base, and whatever we had on hand, went in the mix; granola from the brunch menu, crushed croquant from a special birthday cake order, dried cherries in port from a holiday party tart, toasted pistachios, bits of halvah and crushed meringue cookies from the semifreddo dessert…

All this goodness was poured into a baking pan lined with plastic wrap, chilled in the fridge for a few hours until set. A heavy dusting of good quality cocoa powder on top, and voila, the most decadent friandies to serve the Rialto guests at the end of a meal. It turned out to be a huge hit!

Shana tovah ve metoka! xoxo

Chocolate chunkies

By Tal Shofman-Schejter

Makes about 45 chunkies

This recipe is versatile, you can use whatever you have on hand; spices, toasted nuts, dried fruits, chunks of halvah, liquors, gluten free or regular crushed cookies such as macaroons, digestive biscuits and other flavoring of your liking. The chunkies will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks and if they don't disappear until then, you can easily freeze them in resalable bags or in an airtight container. These little morsels are quite addictive!

Baker’s notes:

• Since only a handful of ingredients make this recipe, it is important to use the best quality ingredients you can find, it makes all the difference! Especially when choosing chocolate and cocoa powder. I recommend using chocolate that contains at least 53% cocoa solids.
  

• Don't omit the salt. It brings out the chocolate flavor, you can't really taste it and a little goes a long way.
  

• The chunky mixture will fill only 9 x 5 inches of a 1/4 sheet pan. You can create your own adjustable pan by using aluminum foil or simply use a 9 x 6 inches toaster oven baking tray if you have one around, the chunkies will be slightly thinner.
  

• I inch pieces are perfect size for these chunkies as they are rich!

Ingredients
For the ganache:
200 gr. chocolate chips, at least 53% cocoa solids
80 gr. unsalted butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon honey
1 tabelspoon brandy (optional)
1 teaspoon espresso powder
a pinch of ground cardamom
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
For the chunkies:
50 gr. petit beurre, vanilla wafers and any other cookie, broken into small pieces
60 gr. dried cranberries or cherries
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/3 cup port
60 gr. dried apricots, cut into small dice
2 each large meringue cookies, crushed into small pieces, about 1/2 cup
60 gr. pistachios/blanched slivered almonds/hazelnuts, toasted

To serve
Good quality cocoa powder

Method
Line a 9 x 6 inch baking pan (see notes*) with a layer of plastic wrap, leaving a few inches overhang on all sides.

The ganache
Put all the ganache ingredients in a heatproof bowl in a double boiler set over a pan of simmering water. Making sure bowl doesn't touch the water. Gently melt, stirring with a whisk until smooth.

The chunkies
In a small pot bring port and sugar to a boil and add the dried cranberries/cherries. Simmer for 2 mintues, turn off the heat and let stand until it cools down to room temp. Strain and add with the rest of the ingredients to the chocolate ganache and stir gently with a rubber spatula until everything is well mixed.

Pour mixture in the prepared pan, lay a piece of plastic wrap directly on the chocolate mixture, refrigrate for at least 3 hours or until solid.

Dust with cocoa powder and cut into 1 inch squares. Store in an airtight container in the fridge. See notes above*

Enjoy!!!