Iced Chocolate Chai and Cherry Biscuits

I dream about breakfast.


What's more pleasurable than that delicious feeling when you lazily open your eyes and conjure up your first meal of the day? And if you've somehow had the presence of mind to make the tea the night before, even better.

So the hazy, golden light that greeted me this morning was more than welcome, as I had cherry wheat biscuits to make, and iced chocolate chai awaiting me in the refrigerator.

Before you start groaning over the whole wheatedness, let me explain: these tender little biscuits are actually better for it. The resulting nuttiness plays off the tart sweetness of the dried cherries perfectly, and paves the way for as much butter, jam or honey as you can pile on. It's healthy!

If that doesn't convince you, do keep in mind that whole-wheat flour, much like lentils, cauliflower and even green tea, all once fell into the category of "I can't believe humans actually even consider comsuming this without a gun held to their heads" for me. But if I could set aside the brown sugar-cinnamon Pop Tarts and let my breakfast tastes expand, so can you.

The original biscuit recipe is from a lovely little blog, Milk Eggs Chocolate. My only adaption was to increase the sugar to 2 tablespoons, and to use vanilla-infused sugar at that- I suspected it would more aptly complement with the spices in the iced tea.

As for the tea, I used started with a chocolate tea from a local chocolate shop, and brewed a pot of it for 5 minutes, then let it chill overnight.

I know I usually bash blends, but this one, which has aromatic pieces of cacao beans and vanilla pods studding the black tea, is a worthy exception.

In the meantime, I made some chai-spice syrup and refrigerated it overnight as well. Once cold, it can be mixed into the iced tea in whatever quantity you desire. Start with 1/2 cup for 6 cups of tea and see how much you can handle; any leftover can be kept, chilled, for months.

Chai-Spice Syrup

Combine 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add 6 cardamom pods, crushed, 6 whole cloves, 1 cinnamon stick and 6 black peppercorns. Add a 2-inch piece fresh ginger, scrubbed and sliced into coins, and continue to simmer over medium heat for 10-15 minutes.

Cover and remove from heat; let sit for 10 minutes. Strain into a jar and refrigerate.

And if you're wondering why there aren't any pictures of the tea, it's because I drank it too fast- which should make for quite the productive afternoon.