Homemade Wagon Wheels - For Australia Day!

Eating Wagon Wheels takes me back to my Aussie childhood. My brothers and sisters and I would take our pocket money to the local Milk Bar after school to get our weekly treat. My oldest brother Mark would always, always get a Peters Choc Wedge. Understated, classic with loads of charm - a lot like him really. My big brother Geoff would get a packet of chips and a bottle of Portello. The chips had to be Smith's Crinkle Cut Chips. He was never much of a sweet tooth, but he was very particular about his chips. Actually, he was very particular about a lot of things, and nothing has changed over the years and I love him for it. My little sister Susie would chose Pop Rocks or Wizz Fizz  and an Egg Flip Big M. She's always been a bit of a thrill seeker. And my baby sister Liza would get a bag of mixed lollies. A big white paper bag with an assortment of Milk Bottles, Musk Sticks, Candy Teeth, Gummy Bears, Snakes, Jelly Babies and Mates. She's still a free spirit. I'm the middle child. My treat of choice would inevitably be a Wagon Wheel and a Lime Spider. I'm not sure what that says about me.

Happy Australia Day!



Homemade Wagon Wheels
Makes 3 big wheels

For the Cookies:
150g plain flour
50g icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
115g unsalted butter, at room temperature

For the Filling:
White marshmallows, cut in half
3 tablespoons raspberry jam

For the Coating:
200g dark chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon sunflower oil

Make the Cookies:
Line a large baking sheet with baking paper and set aside. Preheat the oven to 160C.

Sift the flour, sugar and salt into a mixing bowl. Set aside.

Put the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream the butter for about 2 minutes on medium speed until light and fluffy.

Reduce the speed of the mixer to low and gradually add the dry ingredients. Beat for a further minute until creamy. This will make a thick batter rather than a cookie dough.

Spray the edges of a large round cookie cutter (I used a 10 cm cutter) with cooking oil spray and place it on the prepared baking sheet. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of cookie batter in the middle and spread to the edges using the back of a greased spoon. Lift the cookie cutter and you should have a circle of batter. Continue with the rest of the batter. You will have six cookies.

Bake for 16 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden at the edges.

Melt the Chocolate:
Put the chocolate and oil into a heat-proof bowl and set the bowl over a pan of simmering water. Don't let the bowl touch the water. Stir until melted and smooth. Leave to cool slightly before coating the cookies.

Assembly:
Immediately top three hot cookies with the halved marshmallows and place them back in the oven for 2 minutes. Remove from the oven and dollop and spoonful of jam on top of the marshmallows. Leave to cool for about 5 minutes, then top the filled cookies with the remaining three cookies to sandwich them. Put the sandwich cookies on a wire rack to cool completely.

Dip the cookies into the melted chocolate, making sure they are completely coated. Set the cookies onto a baking paper lined baking tray to set before devouring.