BAKING,  COOKIES

Baking| Pebbly Beach Fruit Squares … charming cookies for Mothers Day!

2011/05/03 / 52 Comments

“If you can laugh at it, you can live with it.”
Erma Brombeck

Pebbly Beach Fruit SquaresHappy May! There was a time when as kids we would go around shrieking May Daaaaaay May Daaaaaay on the 1st of May, giggling stupidly at the SOS call. By the time history classes began, May Day was synonymous with Labour Day, where we studied labour relations, about the ILO etc,  and life began to get mundane. May’s here and the only thought that tears through my mind is ‘ALREADY?’ Are we really almost halfway through the year?Pebbly Beach Fruit SquaresLife has been a roller coaster ride of late which might sort of explain why I’ve been a bit slow to post. I’m seeing the beginnings of carpel tunnel and I think a tennis elbow, so am going slow on the computer. Never thought life could be so painful!  Other stressful situations are plenty too though made lighter by the likes of Erma Brombeck who I constantly turn to for comic relief.

“Kids have little computer bodies with disks that store information. They remember who had to do the dishes the last time you had spaghetti, who lost the knob off the Tv set six years ago, who got punished for teasing the dog when he wasn’t teasing the dog and who had to wear girls boots the last time it snowed.”, Erma Brombeck

Battling the teen and pre teen continue to pose ‘challenging‘ situations. I attended a wonderful parenting workshop at school. Importantly learnt that the brain largely consists of the frontal lobe or the office {The executive functions of the frontal lobes involve the ability to recognize future consequences resulting from current actions, to choose between good and bad actions}, override and suppress unacceptable social responses, and determine similarities and differences between things or events. Therefore, it is involved in higher mental functions}.

‘Most children’s first words are “Mama” or “Daddy.” Mine were, “Do I have to use my own money?”, Erma Brombeck

The other important part of the brain is the amygdala which performs a primary role in the processing and memory of emotional reactions. As luck would have it, the little amygdala, which is highly developed in adolescents,  is apparently very reactive and irrational and packs a punch. I hear that the functional frontal will develop in teens only over the next few years! We’ve come to accept {read forced} that we are talking long-haul teen issues! Any of you in the same boat, dear readers?Pebbly Beach Fruit SquaresTo add to the drama, the pre-teen lad decided to carve wood with a Swiss knife while I was getting dinner ready 2 days ago. Did anyone hear an S.O.S.? It wasn’t long before we headed for the hospital at dinner time with him almost fainting with blood loss. 3 deep gashed since the wood took flight! Nothing that first aid couldn’t fix but just makes you believe that there is so much more you can do in a day! Exciting times! Next day in school he figured he could play ‘defence‘ in soccer and came back yesterday with a sprained ankle. Sigh…New born kittensWith trouble always comes some sunshine, and a stray has littered in our front yard for the second time. She’s given birth to the cutest little kittens. I asked Man Friday to hand them to me while the poor Mum was out foraging for grub. Here they are at 2 days old…cute precious ‘handul’! The Mum-cat of course growls, is grumpy and always looks exhausted! Mums out there – sound familiar? To all of you wonderful mothers reading this … a Happy Mothers Day for everything you do for your off springs!Pebbly Beach Fruit SquaresWhile my little world is being rocked, there are far greater things rocking the world. Who would have known about Abbotabad, a town founded by Major James Abbot, once in India, and now in Pakistan? The world is rid of its enemy number one, and the media uproar leaves even lesser time for blogging.

Source: British Library220px View of Abbottabad 1860s

I didn’t bake for 2-3 days, and yesterday the lad came home to say his friends in school opened his snack box and were disappointed that he didn’t ‘get something your mother made‘. I had given him store bought cookies! Time to get a hold on life, so it was back to baking. Yes bake I had to, and blogging happily follows!Pebbly Beach Fruit SquaresI saw these at Food Gal and they charmed the socks off my feet. I’m a HUGE fan of Alice Medrich. These squares reminded me of the good old days in the sweltering heat where we read books in shades of LARGE raintrees and tamarind trees, no fans, no air-conditioners, no frets, no worries. Just a well thumbed Enid Blyton borrowed from the neighbourhood library, devoured page by page as we greedily sucked at ice cubes in tall steel glasses of  home made lime juice.Pebbly Beach Fruit SquaresMaking the cookies was therapeutic and relaxing. Carolyn’s posts strike a connect with me. Her writing is engaging, evocative and often prods the memory to relive the days gone by. That connect is what I enjoy most about food and food blogs.  I made the first batch as squares. For the second lot, I use some leftover roasted balsamic strawberries {from this Eggless Chocolate Layered Cake & this Quarkauflauf}, rolled the dough into logs, chilled it and sliced the logs like pin wheel cookies. Both version were delicious, and would make great Mothers Day cookies.

[print_this]Recipe: Pebbly Beach Fruit Squares

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Summary: Adapted from Food Gal’s “Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy: Melt-In-Your-Mouth-Cookies” by Alice Medrich. It’s typical Alice Medrich style, classic and comforting, and high on taste. A highly adaptable cookie. Makes 24 to 32 two-and-a-half-inch squares.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 8 tbsps (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla powder
  • 1 teaspoon finely grated lime
  • 1 cup moist dried fruit (one kind or a combination); dark or golden raisins; dried sour cherries; dried cranberries; coarsely chopped dates; dried apricots, or prunes; finely chopped candied ginger
  • 1/4 cup vanilla sugar {or turbinado or other coarse sugar

Method:

  1. Combine flour, baking powder, vanilla powder and salt in a bowl and mix together thoroughly with a whisk or fork.
  2. With a large spoon in a medium mixing bowl or with a mixer, beat butter with the granulated sugar until smooth and well blended but not fluffy. Add egg, vanilla, and lime zest and beat until smooth. Add flour mixture and mix until completely incorporated.
  3. Divide the dough in half and form each into a rectangle. Wrap the patties in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
  4. Preheat oven to 180C.
  5. Remove dough from the refrigerator {let sit for 15 minutes to soften slightly}. On a sheet of parchment paper or plastic wrap, roll one piece of dough into a rectangle 81/2 inches by 16 1/2 inches.
  6. With a short side facing you, scatter half of the dried fruit on the bottom half of the dough. Fold top half of the dough over fruit, using the paper as a handle. Peel paper from the top of dough. (If it sticks, chill dough for a few minutes until the paper peels easily.) Dust top of dough lightly with half of the coarse sugar and pat lightly to make sure the sugar adheres.
  7. Use a heavy knife to trim the edges. Cut into 4 strips and then cut each strip into 4 pieces to make 16 squares.
  8. Place cookies 2 inches apart on lined or greased cookie sheets. Repeat with remaining dough, fruit, and sugar.
  9. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Rotate pans from top to bottom and from front to back halfway through the baking time to ensure even baking. For lined pans, set the pans or just the liners on racks to cool; for unlined pans, use a metal spatula to transfer cookies to racks.
  10. Cool cookies completely before stacking or storing. May be kept in an airtight container for a week.

Notes: Alice Medrich writes that if your dried fruit is especially hard or chewy, it will only get harder after baking. To avoid this, soak pieces in a small bowl with just enough cold water (or fruit juices or wine) to cover for 20 minutes (longer will dilute and oversoften the fruit). Drain and pat pieces very dry before using.
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deeba

About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.

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52 Comments

  • Lora

    2011/05/03 at 2:01 pm Reply

    Simply beautiful cookies and adorable kittens! I’ve no children of my own but having observed my friends trials and tribulations with their adolescents, all I can say is grit your teeth and forge on. One day it will turn around.

  • mamatkamal

    2011/05/03 at 2:33 pm Reply

    Those kittens are so adorable and these vanilla cookies sound so delicious! Have a great day Deeba.
    Cheers,

  • Sarah

    2011/05/03 at 3:37 pm Reply

    The cookies look lovely. And the kittens are so precious… And you dared to hold with mum-cat in the vicinity?! hope ur son is better after his wood carving adventures.

  • zurin

    2011/05/03 at 4:02 pm Reply

    LOved the post. The kittens are soo cute and I hope your young man is ok by now. Swiss knives. My big boys have them and I shudder to see them use it. And they are all grown up!

    Your cookies look so handsome. Would love one right now 🙂

  • Julia @ Mélanger

    2011/05/03 at 4:20 pm Reply

    Agree, these cookies charmed the pants of me, too! I think I will have to make them as well.

    Reading your post reminds me of what I have to look forward to, in a few years. This parenting thing is probably the hardest thing I’ve done. (And it certainly is going to have plenty more bumps in the future!)

    At least you have your lovely baking to turn to? 🙂

  • Purnima

    2011/05/03 at 5:16 pm Reply

    Hey Deeba..lot to learn frm u..hope the cut is healing fine, so is his sprained ankle. This wd go to my oven pretty soon 🙂 Only prunes this time. Also had tweeted you reg. ur bundt cake wt vanilla & choco chips n layer of choco -its missing in PAB.com, had luckily had a back up of that ‘much loved by my kids’ recipe frm blogger PAB hence cd make it again. In case u are able to retrieve that post, kindly add it here. That, as the other recipes u put up..ROCKS! Happy Parenting !

  • Yuri

    2011/05/03 at 5:47 pm Reply

    Happy Mother’s Day in advance, Deeba! Sounds like you’re really busy being a mom 🙂
    Those kittens are ADORABLE.
    Love Alice Medrich recipes, great photos as usual 🙂

  • shaz

    2011/05/03 at 6:39 pm Reply

    Happy Mother’s Day to you dear Deeba. Mama with the mostest 🙂 My own two are still in the quite adorable little kid phase although teh eldest is showing pre-teen symptoms and I can tell you that is making me S-C-A-R-E-D!! Aaahhhh. I’ve seen so many Alice Medrich recipes lately, they all look yummy. Especially this one.

    • Deeba @ PAB

      2011/05/03 at 9:13 pm Reply

      Teehee Shaz…gonna catch you in a couple of years! jamie was like me a couple of years ago, and now she’s free like a bird! I need to get there FAST! xo

  • Helene

    2011/05/03 at 7:54 pm Reply

    What a nice cookie, great texture. I have seen the doctor and she said I have tennis elbow since couple months. So I had to slow down on the computer as well. I am trying to do a lot of stretching. It helps a bit. Hope you recover fast 🙂

  • cooking rookie

    2011/05/03 at 11:24 pm Reply

    Looks like you’ve had a very eventful couple of days…. I hope there will be a brighter stip after all these small misfortunes. I also hope you feel better soon. My boyfriend changed his keyboard to an ergonomic one and his wrists are much better now.
    I’m glad to see, though, that despite all this you’re still keeping up the good spirits and making beautiful cookies :-).

  • Heavenly Housewife

    2011/05/03 at 11:36 pm Reply

    Happy early Mother’s Day. Make sure your kids take extra good care of you. For all those delicious treats you make them, you deserve a mother of the year award.
    The cookies look beautiful, very homely. THey look like something I’d want to eat in peace and quiet with a nice cup of tea.
    *kisses* HH

  • Carolyn Jung

    2011/05/04 at 3:43 am Reply

    Yours came out beautifully! Glad you liked ’em. I’m definitely making them again, too. I just love how you can switch up the filling so easily, too. And those kitties? Awwwwwwwwwww, just too cute for words.

  • Bonjour romance

    2011/05/04 at 6:14 am Reply

    Bonjour Deeba,
    Your photos are always some of my favorites in Blogland. I have printed this and plan to make these this week. Hang in there with all the trials and tribulations!
    Have a good day,
    Mimi

  • Sally Prosser

    2011/05/04 at 10:08 am Reply

    Reading this on my youngest daughter’s 13th birthday. Your well timed post finds me as the mother of 2 teenage girls now. I think baking is the answer!

  • Krista

    2011/05/04 at 10:22 am Reply

    Ohhhhh, those kittens are SO darling!! I’m aching to move so I can have a pet. 🙂 Your cookies are delightful – so pretty tied up in a bow. 🙂

  • Rituparna

    2011/05/04 at 3:36 pm Reply

    Those cookies look delicious and those kittens are the cutest. Hasn’t a lot happening around us lately. The worlds number one wanted is dead and so is the AP CM. Good and bad things them all. You take good care of that arm, I suffer from bicepale tendinitis and there was a period I couldn’t move my right arm and realized that my body should always come first. Give it good rest and even better exercise. Take care and get well soon. And keep those beautiful posts coming, those are the things that make my day. 🙂

  • CurryLeaf

    2011/05/04 at 8:31 pm Reply

    Love the cookies. Perfect for Mothers Day. I have few more years before I get to the critical teen stage. I am already exhausted!!. Happy Mothers Day

  • Delishhh

    2011/05/04 at 10:27 pm Reply

    What an awesome post! Happy Mother’s day to you. Your little kittens are ADORABLE. . and those cookies – WOW i am making them. Next weekend i am hosting a Baby Shower and they would be perfect to do. I will let you know how it goes.

  • Barbara Bakes

    2011/05/04 at 10:42 pm Reply

    Happy Mother’s Day. Love the stories in this post. There’s nothing cuter than babies or kittens. Although your cookies in a lunch box might be. They look irresistible.

  • Sukaina

    2011/05/05 at 12:30 am Reply

    Oh Deeba…..I hope your hand recovers soo from carpel tunnel and your son’s too. Children re always getting themsleves into trouble eh! Mine is only two and nearly fractured her hand 2 weeks ago. She had it in a cast and in less than 24 hour, managed to get rid of the cast! But nothing that a beautiful cookie cant solve. Happy Mother’s day to you too!

  • Alyse

    2011/05/05 at 5:53 am Reply

    Also having 2 teenage boys, my heart is with you. Also, this recipe looks wonderful.
    Too bad we can’t sit and have a cup of tea together.

  • kankana

    2011/05/05 at 8:05 am Reply

    i so enjoy reading your post. It’s almost like I am there, a part of it visualizing it 🙂 These cookies looks delicious and pretty cute !

  • Suma

    2011/05/05 at 2:11 pm Reply

    Whoa! You really have been through so much, with kids around, life can throw up things like this often.. can imagine how comforting it can be after all this to return to baking and blogging. Hope ur son is fine now..

    Loved those cookies, I wait for people to complain(that I haven’t baked), gives a chance to turn on the oven and have people ready to get the goods too!!

  • Suma

    2011/05/05 at 2:12 pm Reply

    Whoa! You really have been through so much, with kids around, life can throw up things like this often.. can imagine how comforting it can be after all this to return to baking and blogging. Hope ur son is fine now..

    Loved those cookies, I wait for people to complain(that I haven’t baked), gives a chance to turn on the oven and have people ready to get the goods too!!

  • Barbara

    2011/05/05 at 9:22 pm Reply

    Kids bring all sorts of problems, don’t they Deeba? I had a son who, by the time he was 14, had 137 stitches….all different times. And I don’t handle blood all that well myself. He is now a trauma nurse, believe it or not. 🙂
    I love these Mother’s Day cookies. I make a fruitcake cookie at Christmas time that resembles it a bit…but I think I like this recipe better!

  • bellini

    2011/05/05 at 10:48 pm Reply

    I couldn’t get yopo stressed out when my daughter was a teen simply because I was much worse on my parents than she ever was. They have the gray hair to prove it. These biscuits remind me of one of my favourites from England.

  • Lisa

    2011/05/06 at 1:16 pm Reply

    Deeba, those cookies look phenmonenal. I have such a bounty of dried fruits that I rarely get to use, and this would be a delicious way to use them 🙂

    Finally, those kittens..OMG. They are so adorable! I used to search for stray kittens as a child, and even to this day..if I hear meows outdoors, I’m always hoping there’s a mama and her kittens I can feed and give homes to when they’re weaned. That photo is simply heart warming!

  • Natasha

    2011/05/06 at 1:25 pm Reply

    Love the cookies! When kids trouble, when the body aches, a lovely cookie with a cup of tea is just what the good doctor orders! Do take care of yourself and a very Happy Mother’s day to you:)

  • Jamie

    2011/05/07 at 5:55 pm Reply

    Wowee what is going on? Poor boy and his injuries! Adorable kittens! And oh dear carpel tunnel and tennis elbow? Oh lord… but obviously you take a day or two off from baking and your son AND his friends complain! Get on the stick, sistah! Oh I wish I was your neighbor…. could come over and help you bake. What wonderful little cookies for tea time! xoxo Miss you, dahling!

  • Leigh

    2011/05/08 at 8:05 am Reply

    Hi Deeba,

    These look wonderful…looks like the kind of recipe that will become a favorite and will be used over and over again with different fruit as the whimsy desires. Can’t wait to try it out! Thank you for all the wonderful pictures as well!

    Leigh

  • Penny Wolf

    2011/05/11 at 8:19 pm Reply

    Those kittens are maybe 2 days old to you but are NOT 2 days old. They have their eyes open so maybe you mean 2 weeks old. Really cute.

    Great recipes, thank you.

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