Chocolate crossies with the Thermomix® have been the first thing we make at Christmas for years. Not because they are complicated, but because they are ready in 30 minutes and reliably disappear before the rest of the biscuits come out of the oven.
Almost everyone knows the recipe. Melt chocolate, add the crunchy ingredients, shape into mounds, done. But there is one point where most crossies fail: they go soft. Not immediately, but after a few hours the crunch is gone. We tested for a long time to find out why, and the answer came down to the cornflakes.
Chocolate Crossies with the Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 7 ✓
- 30 g dried apricots or cranberries or prunes
- 1 vanilla pod
- 250 g milk chocolate couverture
- 1 tbsp butter
- 50 g almond slivers
- 30 g desiccated coconut
- 50 g cornflakes
Instructions 0 / 5
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1
Chop the dried fruit.
Place the dried fruit in the mixing bowl, chop for 3 sec / speed 5 and set aside.
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2
Melt the couverture and butter.
Split the vanilla pod and scrape the seeds into the mixing bowl. Break the couverture into pieces, add to the mixing bowl and chop for 5 sec / speed 6.
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3
Add the butter and melt for 5 min / 50°C / reverse direction / speed 1. Push down with the spatula.
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4
Mix the mixture and shape the crossies.
Add the almond slivers, desiccated coconut, cornflakes and fruit and mix for 10 sec / reverse direction / speed 3.
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5
Use a teaspoon to drop small mounds onto a baking tray lined with baking paper and leave to set in a cool place.
Tip: Decorate your crossies before they set with flaked almonds or desiccated coconut.
Video
Nutrition per serving
Cornflakes or soft crossies
The crunchiness in a chocolate crossie comes from moisture relative to mass. Oats absorb moisture and go soft. Rice flakes hold up better, but only for a short time. Cornflakes have the lowest residual moisture and the hardest structure of all cereal flakes. They stay crisp even after the chocolate has fully set.
In practical terms: the 50 g of cornflakes in this recipe must not be swapped for other flakes if crunch is the goal. Oats, spelt flakes or muesli will make the crossies soft within hours. Anyone who tries it wonders why the shop-bought crossie stays crisp and the homemade one does not. The difference is the type of flake.
Why 50°C and not higher
The Thermomix® melts the 250 g of milk chocolate couverture at 5 min / 50°C / reverse direction / speed 1. This temperature is not a coincidence. Couverture starts losing its cocoa butter crystal structure above 55°C. The result: the chocolate does not set with a shine, but dull and grey. Fat bloom forms as it cools.
50°C in the Thermomix® is the exact melting temperature at which the couverture becomes liquid without overheating. The butter is added because it lowers the melting point slightly and makes the mixture smoother. The result is crossies that set with a clean shine.
A practical tip from our experience: break the couverture into rough pieces and chop with 5 sec / speed 6 in the mixing bowl before starting the melting process. This increases the surface area and the 250 g melt more evenly.
The problem with setting
Crossies will not set if the room temperature is above 20°C or if the proportion of liquid ingredients is too high. We can fix the first mistake quickly: a cool room, not the fridge. In the fridge the surface turns white because the cocoa butter crystallises on the outside (fat bloom). It looks like poor-quality chocolate, but it is purely cosmetic.
Many people make the second mistake without realising it: the amount of butter is increased because the mixture in the mixing bowl looks too thick. But the couverture will firm up again as it cools. More than 1 tbsp of butter makes the mixture too soft and the crossies will stick together.
With dark chocolate, vegan or cinnamon-cayenne
Dark couverture instead of milk: 70% cocoa works just as well. The crossies become less sweet and more intense. Keep the temperature at a maximum of 50°C when melting.
Vegan: Replace the milk chocolate couverture with vegan dark chocolate and the butter with coconut oil (same quantity). Coconut oil makes the crossies slightly softer than butter, but the crunch is maintained as long as the cornflakes are right.
Christmas spice: Stir a pinch of cayenne pepper or 1/4 tsp of cinnamon into the melted couverture. This lifts the chocolate flavour without overpowering the taste.
Sea salt variation: Sprinkle the finished mounds with coarse sea salt before they set. The salt brings out the bitterness of the couverture and makes the sweetness more intense.
3 weeks in a tin, no fridge needed
An airtight tin, a cool place, no fridge. This keeps the crossies crisp for up to two weeks. In the fridge, fat bloom forms on the surface. Freezing works: pre-freeze individually on a tray, then transfer to freezer bags. To serve, leave to thaw for 15 minutes at room temperature.
Other classic chocolate biscuits
Goes well with: coffee and vanilla ice cream.
Anyone who regularly melts chocolate in the mixing bowl at Christmas will find our chocolate-coated nuts with the Thermomix® follow the same principle. Slightly more intense in flavour and with more bite. As a dessert or gift, the chocolate peanut cookies with the Thermomix® are also a great match.
