Men's Pocky With Extra Nuts

Pocky is a Japanese treat, essentially a biscuit-pretzel stick coated with chocolate. If you know any otakus you've probably seen it. Pocky can be found at almost any Asian grocery store and most supermarkets, and prices differ across the country and with type. The cheapest I have ever heard of was 77 cents for one 75 g chocolate pack, the highest 6 dollars for the same thing up north.

Japan has almost unlimited flavors but North Americans can usually only find Chocolate, strawberry, banana, almond, and white chocolate. Some others they make in Japan are Apple Cream Custard, Almond, Berry Chocolate, Blueberry, Coconut Milk, Grape, Green Apple, Green Tea, Honey, Mango, Melon and 'Men's Pocky' which is Dark Chocolate and what we're making, with walnuts to boot!

Step 1: Recipe

The recipe is simple;

2 cups Flour
1/4 cups Brown Sugar
1 Egg Yolk
2 Tablespoons Butter
1/2 Cup Water
Dash of Salt
3/4 cup Dark Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup Crushed Nuts (I used walnuts)

1. Add dry ingredients, mix.
2. Add butter, add half of the water and begin mixing. Drizzle on more water as needed.
3. Break into balls of dough, you'll have several.
4. Kneed each ball slightly then roll with both hands to desired length and thinness. Any cracks in the dough will make it break after cooking so keep working till it looks good. Rounder ends look nicer then pointed ones and do not burn.
5. Place on a backing sheet, sprayed with Pam and put in the oven at 400 F.
6. Cook for 10 - 15 minutes, checking the bottom to make sure they don't burn. Yields about two dozen. Four of mine didn't make it, two broke in half, one was eaten right out of the oven and another dipped in chocolate. Make more then you'll need.

Step 2: Chocolate

While cooking, mix the chocolate and 1/4th to 1/2 of a cup of crushed walnuts in a small bowl. Using a microwave in 30 second bursts start melting it. Stir every thirty seconds or less and remember to take the spoon out in between nukings. (Otherwise you'll kill your microwave) It'll take two minutes or so to fully melt. Small chunks will remain becuase of the nuts so stiring it rapidly and seeing how it spreads on the inside of the bowl is the easiest way to tell if there done. Put it aside, and be careful it's hot.

Remove the pocky sticks once there golden brown and toss them aside to cool, I only waited till I could touch them to take a bite. The hotter they are the more doughy they taste so stick on in the freezer to find out how it'll taste normally.

Line a plate or backing sheet with a strip of tinfoil, parchment paper or cling wrap.
Use a big spoon and pick up a scoop of chocolate, roll the sticks in this until you reach nearly the bottom. This is easiest when the chocolate is very hot or has less nuts in it, otherwise you can scoop it on top and spread it around so it's fully covered. For extra nuttiness, pour the remainder of the nuts you bought on a small plate and roll the chocolate covered pocky in that. Stick them in the fridge or freezer to cool and wait, in a short while you will have extra thick nutty men's pocky!