Homemade
pocky
4
tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4
cup sugar
1
large egg
1/4
teaspoon almond extract or 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla
extract
1
cup bread flour
1/2
teaspoon baking powder
1/2
teaspoon kosher salt
4
teaspoons water, at room temperature
9
ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
Preheat
the oven to 300° F. Use a wooden
spoon to stir
the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until they're creamy
and smooth. Add the egg and extract and stir to combine.
Transfer
the mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a #7 plain round (3/8-inch)
pastry tip. Pipe the
batter onto two parchment-lined baking sheets in straight lines,
about 6 inches long and at least 1/2 an inch apart.
Bake
the dough until the sticks are set and light golden brown, 15 to 18
minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through. Let the sticks
cool on the sheets on cooling racks for
5 minutes, then carefully transfer them to a rack to cool
completely. Repeat with the remaining batter. Save the
parchment-lined sheets for the next step.
Melt
the chocolate in the microwave in a narrow, microwave-safe
vessel (I used a Pyrex glass measuring cup) in 15-second increments.
One at time, carefully dip each stick into the melted chocolate. In
order to get the chocolate up higher on the stick, tip the cup on its
side and dip each stick in where the chocolate is the highest. Scrape
off any excess chocolate and lay each stick on the prepared sheets.
Transfer
the sheets to the refrigerator to set the chocolate. Store in
an airtight container in
the freezer or fridge. Alternately, you could temper
the chocolate so
that the chocolate is hard at room temperature. =)bnh