Alexa play “Passionfruit” by Drake. I can’t remember a simpler time than More Life dropping in 2017. I’ve been listening to a lot of Spotify playlists I made in college and there’s something to be said about how nostalgic this pandemic makes me feel. My mom always told me to count my blessings, and I’m constantly reminded of how lucky I am that I finished undergrad when I did. I can’t imagine doing online classes full-time and big kudos to everyone in school doing it right now. When I look back at those formative years of my life at Cal, the highlights were hanging out with pals and all the non-COVID friendly activities we’d partake in it. Included in that list of activities is something as ordinary as sitting in a giant lecture hall with hundreds of other students trying to keep each other from falling asleep.
While I love to romanticize the mundane parts of life before a pandemic, a blessing of this time is that I’ve been able to let my mind wander in realms of recipe testing. The minute I saw Valrhona’s INSPIRATION series of flavors, I got the most excited about the passion fruit feves. It’s quite difficult to find fresh passion fruit near me so the possibility of having passion fruit in chocolate-like form was so exciting (these feves’ cocoa mass is replaced with passion fruit juice).
For the #PASALUBONG cookie tins and boxes, I knew I wanted to make homemade Pocky after watching both Claire Saffitz’s Gourmet Makes episode and NYT Cooking’s 2019 Christmas Cookie video. I grew up devouring packages of Pocky in one sitting! It seemed fitting that I should try my hand at baking them at home. With passion fruit feves and poppy seeds, I figured that if poppy seeds go well with lemons, tangy passion fruit should be no exception. Poppy seeds provide a delicious crunch in both the cookie and on top of the chocolate coating with my take on Susan Spungen’s recipe.
Homemade Pocky is a fun recipe to make with kids because it feels like you’re working with thin logs of Play-Doh when you’re rolling out the dough. Don’t worry if they aren’t perfect. The wonky shapes are part of the appeal! While I used Valrhona passion fruit feves for these, you can use any kind of chocolate to dip the cookies in. The possibilities are endless!
Passion Fruit Poppy Seed Pocky
Ingredients
For the Cookie Sticks:
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons poppy seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, cold & cut into 1-inch pieces
- 3/8 cup whole milk
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
For Decorating:
- 9 ounces Valrhona passion fruit feves, chopped
- 3 ½ tablespoons shortening
- poppy seeds, as needed
- 10-12 drops yellow food coloring
Instructions
For the Cookie Sticks:
- Add 1 ¼ cups flour, granulated sugar, 1 ½ tablespoons poppy seeds, baking powder and salt to a food processor, and pulse a few times to combine. Add butter and pulse until small crumbs form. Stream milk and vanilla into flour mixture while machine is running. Pulse until dough is fairly smooth.
- Wrap dough in plastic and transfer to a small baking sheet. Chill until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Roll dough to about ¼-inch thick. Use a bench scraper or long knife to cut the dough crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick strips that are about 3 inches long. Transfer half the dough to the refrigerator while you work with the other half. Using the palms of your hands, gently roll each strip on a lightly floured work surface until it is 6 inches long. Transfer strips to silicone mat-lined baking sheets, keeping them as straight as possible and spacing them about 1 1/2 inches apart. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Bake until golden on edges and bottom, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool a few minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
For Decorating:
- Transfer the chopped passion fruit feves and shortening to a microwave-safe glass bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Whisk to combine, then heat in 20-second increments, whisking between each heating cycle until melted and glossy. Mix in yellow food coloring.
- Holding a cookie stick over the bowl of melted chocolate, use a small spoon to pour the chocolate over 2/3 of the stick, turning cookie to coat on all sides. Let excess drip off, and scrape against the edge of the bowl.
- Set chocolate-coated cookie on a parchment- or wax paper-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with poppy seeds as desired. (You’ll want to keep all the dips in a warm place while working with them, and return to the microwave to remelt if needed.)
- Let sit at room temperature overnight to set. Cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 week.
