We recently enjoyed the pleasure that is old friends coming for an impromptu dinner. We’d had a lovely day taking things slowly: sleep ins; going for a drive in the country; and coming home for afternoon rests followed by feeling recharged enough to feel like cooking for the evening ahead. Still, I didn’t want to lose the sense of relaxation the day had brought so wanted to stick to a simple offering for dinner and dessert. A quick flick through Nigella Lawson’s Nigella Express produced this recipe for Chocolate Croissants and the simplicity of just three ingredients grabbed me immediately. And they turned out to be all the things I love: fast, tasty, cheap to make and easy to prepare. I made these in the late afternoon, but didn’t bake them until we’d finished our main course, which turned out to be delightful timing – allowing dinner to ‘sit’ and then consuming them at their warmest and freshest. Serve stacked up on a platter for a free-for-all feast, or in bowls with cream or icecream. Alternatively these could be made in a more miniature form for church morning teas or a finger food dessert for a larger crowd. The quantities listed below serves 8 and costs around a total of $5.

• 4 sheets of ready rolled puff pastry, thawed and cut once each diagonally to create two large triangles per square
• 1 x 230g bag of Cadbury Choc Bits (I used milk, but use dark chocolate if you prefer)
• 1 egg, whisked in a cup

1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees
2. Evenly distribute choc-chips along the long end of each triangle of pastry and press them in firmly
3. Starting with the long end of the triangle, roll pastry until you have all the choc-chips trapped inside. Then fold each end in to keep chocolate trapped. Then continue rolling into a log shape until all the pastry is rolled up.
4. Shape the log of pastry and chocolate into a pretzel shape or whatever shape you like
5. Place each on an oven tray with enough space between them to grow a little
6. Using a pastry brush, cover each croissant in egg-wash
7. Bake for around 15 minutes until brown on outside and mostly cooked through. Enjoy!