Step 1

First pre-heat the oven to 180C/

160 Fan and line a baking sheet

with parchment paper.

Step 2

To prepare the dark chocolate, break it up and melt it either in a non-metallic bowl in a microwave – for an 800w microwave do this in bursts of 30 seconds at a time until melted, or in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water for 10 minutes stirring to help it melt.

Step 3

Place the soft butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl and whisk until they’re smooth and creamy.

Step 4

Add the vanilla extract, egg and melted chocolate to the bowl and whisk again to mix thoroughly.

Step 5

Add the flour, cocoa and baking powder and once they’re all mixed together with no floury steaks stir in the chocolate chips - I like to mix milk and white but you can use whichever ones you prefer.

Step 6

Tip the cookie dough out of the bowl onto a sheet of cling film lightly sprinkled with flour (to stop it sticking) and roll it up into a log shape twisting the ends of the cling film to create a tight barrel about 24 cm long. Wrap again in baking parchment if you find it too fragile to move. At this stage it’s then best to rest it in a freezer for 30 minutes – it can be frozen for up to 1 month before using.

Step 7

When ready to bake remove the dough from the freezer, unwrap from the cling film and cut into 12 slices approximately 1 ½ cm thick.Place on the lined baking sheet and bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Once removed from the oven transfer to a wire rack and allow them to cool - but keep them safe from any hungry mouths!

Step 8

Take a small scoop of ice cream and sandwich it in between two cookies.

Step 9

Work quickly and place them back into the freezer so the whoopie pies can set for about half an hour before serving.

Ingredients/Equipment

125g dark chocolate

125g unsalted butter,at room temperature

125g light brown sugar

1tsp vanilla extract1 free range egg

,at room temperature

150g plain flour,sifted

30g cocoa powder,sifted

1/2tsp baking powder,sifted

75g milk chocolate chips

75g white chocolate chips

300g vanilla or chocolate ice cream

,whichever you prefer

Measuring spoons

1 large bowl

Weighing scales

A baking tray lined with baking parchment

Cling Film

Leona's Chocolate Woopie Pies

Makes 12 biscuits or 6 woopie pies