“Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o’clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap.”
Robert Fulghum
Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies with Smoked Sea Salt and Fluted Pistachio & Craisin Cookies … Cookies Cookies Cookies. The events of the past week asked for something comforting … the call was for cookies! Last months Daring Bakers challenge was meant to awaken the cookie monster in us, which it did. Sadly, I never did get down to posting them.
Excuses? Plenty and thankfully not too lame. Exams! Then the internet has played truant. The service provider refused to acknowledge the basic problem. A month later, after trying every solution under the sun, they finally agreed to redo the wiring {which is what we asked for in the first place}. Frustrating but true, like so many other things in life. I am happy to be back to blogging with less stress.
Of late, I’ve been bitten by the brownie monster and it was just a matter of time before I hit cookie mode. Daring Bakers in November set me off. Made two lots {downgraded from an ambitious 5-6}. Then the posting date passed by with intermittent internet and these poor cookies went into drafts. With the net now up and racing, I thought I’d better get them out before the bells begin to jingle louder. When the kidlets were younger, December always woke up the cookie monster in me. The jar was never empty. I was always elbow deep in dough {well almost}. My days {and often nights} would go in backbreaking baking, frosting cookies, doing stain glass cookies, hanging dozens onto the tree, making dozens more for the kids, their friends, for orders etc.
Then the ‘forever hungry for pretty Christmas cookies’ kids grew up. I fell to easier and more practical cookies to make. I hardly ever do cookies that need dressing up and fussing over. Wholewheat Gingerbread Men Cookies are an exception though; I really enjoy doing these. {Ceramics courtesy Urban Dazzle}
Now I consider myself lucky if freshly baked cookies even get a chance to ‘cool completely‘! Before I know it, dirty grubby teen ‘lad’ fingers hesitatingly come forward to grab a few, while the older sister bites gently into them. The two are ALWAYS game for cookies.
I started off pretty early in November. First out of the oven were FlutedPistachio & Craisin Cookies. Simple, crisp and delicious with craisins and pistachios adding beautiful flavour. The craisins were orange flavoured, so slight hints of orange teased the palette! Good beginning!
Then I happened to see these chippers on a beautiful blog Reclaiming Provincial. I instantly knew they were about to happen in the near future, pretty near future. I mentally ticked off everything I loved about them …
They are from a book I long to own {read yet another book}Good to the Grain, Kim Boyce. Wholewheat flour only. Brown sugar too. Seemed like a good deal! They certainly were! Watch them as they bake though … they can go from brown to dark brown in a heartbeat.
My cookies didn’t flatten like the ones I saw. Maybe because our Indian wholewheat is heaps different from the American whole wheat pastry flour {I presume the original recipe uses wholewheat pastry flour}. Maybe the egg I used was a tad small. Whatever, but these are darned delicious cookies!
I did add a drizzle of honey; maybe I could have added another. There’s plenty of time for experimenting because these are good cookies and are going to show up more often! Sorry for the delay in this Daring Bakers post Peta.
Holiday season is the time for sharing and Peta of Peta Eats is sharing a dozen cookies, some classics and some of her own, from all over the world with us.
[print_this]Recipe: Fluted Pistachio & Craisin Cookies
Summary: Simple cookies to enjoy holiday baking this season! Enjoy these crisp, light and delicious cookies with a cup of tea or coffee! Makes 2 dozen
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
100g unsalted butter
75g raw sugar
1 egg yolk {reserve the white}
Zest of 1 lime
25g almond meal
175g plain flour
25g pistachios, chopped
25g craisins, chopped
Method:
Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment. Preheat the oven to 180C.
Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the yolk and zest and beat again.
Add all the remaining ingredients and mix well and bring together into a smooth dough. {In case the dough doesn’t come together well, add a little egg white to bind it}
Roll out to 1/8″ 4mm thick and stamp out with fluted cookie cutters. The cutters need to be sharp to cut through the craisins and pistachios.
Place on the prepared sheet and bake at 180C for 13-15 minutes until light golden brown.
Cool for 5 minutes on the tray, and then remove to cooling rack to cool completely.
Recipe: Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies with Smoked Sea Salt
Summary: Rustic, earthy and delicious wholegrain chocolate chip cookies … worth every bite! {Minimally adapted from Good to the Grain, via Reclaiming Provincial}. Makes 2 dozen
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
225g whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
100g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tbsp honey
60g dark brown sugar
60g raw sugar {bura}
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g bittersweet chocolate chips
1/2 tsp smoked sea salt
Method:
Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment. Preheat the oven to 180C.
Sift flour, baking powder and baking soda into a medium bowl. Reserve.
Beat the butter with both sugars in another bowl on low speed. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat again for a minute.
Add the sifted flour mix and incorporate on low speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Fold in the chocolate chips {on low speed, with a wooden spoon, or your hand}.
Drop walnut size scoops of dough about 1.5″ apart onto the baking sheet. {I rolled mine into balls and flattened them slightly}.
Sprinkle over with sea salt if desired.
Bake for 15-18 minutes until the cookies are evenly dark brown.
Cool for 5 minutes on the tray, and then remove to cooling rack to cool completely.
“Christmas Shopping: Wouldn’t it be wonderful to find one gift that you didn’t have to dust, that had to be used right away, that was practical, fit everyone, was personal and would be remembered for a long time? I penciled in “Gift certificate for a flu shot.”
Erma Bombeck
Wish you all A Merry Christmas, May the Joys of the season Fill your heart with goodwill and cheer. May the chimes of Christmas glory Add up more shine and spread Smiles across the miles, To-day & In the New Year.
Rosie Cash
Have a wonderful festive season dear readers. I eventually got my fruit cakes baked. Did you? I even found time for some marzipan magic!!
~Happy Holidays!!~
[print_this]Recipe: Garam Masala Fruit Cake
Summary: An Indian twist to the traditional fruit cake. Garam masala adds to the warmth of the spices. The fruit marry well with flavours like garam masala, orange juice, brandy,caramel and lime juice. The coffee and caramel syrup give the cake a nice, deep hue!
Prep Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 2hrs 30minutes Ingredients:
Garam Masala Fruit Cake
1-1.25 kg mixed fruit,nuts,peel mincemeat {mincemeat recipe follows}
400gm plain flour
300gm unsalted butter, room temperature
200gm sugar
6 eggs
3/4 cup caramel syrup {Made with 1/2 cup of sugar caramelised. Add some water and heat gently to liquefy. Measure and top up with water to make 3/4 cup liquid. Cool}
2tsp instant coffee
2.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt {skip if using salted butter}
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Mincemeat or fruit mix, sans suet
700gms raisins, chopped if desired
200 currants
100gms orange peel, chopped
170gms almonds, chopped
250gms cashewnuts, chopped
100gms candied cherries, chopped
1/4 cup cherry liquor {or brandy}
1/2 cup brandy {or rum}
3/4 cup fresh orange juice {from 3 keenus/oranges}
Juice of 3-4 limes
Zest of 2 keenus/oranges
4 tbsp garam masala
2tsp brown sugar
2 tsp instant coffee
Method:
Garam Masala Fruit Cake
Toss the soaked mixed fruit in the flour well in a large bowl {I used a huge wok} so that the fruit is completely coated. Reserve.
Stir coffee into caramel syrup. Reserve.
Beat the butter and sugar till fluffy, 2 minutes, add the eggs one by one and beat well again.
Now add the caramel syrup and vanilla extract and beat again for a minute till well incorporated. The mixture may appear curdled but that’s fine. Add baking powder and whisk again.
Turn this batter out over the mincemeat and stir well with spatula to blend uniformly.
Turn into lined loaf pans/baking tins and bake at 140C until the top appears done when you touch it, about 1 hour for the loaf pans, and almost 2-2 1/4 hours for my 15 X 11 tin. {Do keep an eye on the top of the cake. My ovens ‘bake’ setting is just the lower level so the top doesn’t brown too quick. If you find the top browning too soon, please slip a foil loosely over the top about an hour and a half into baking.}
Cool in tin, turn out and wrap in cling-film once cold. Allow to stand and mature in a cool dark place for a day or two, at least overnight. The longer it stands the better the flavours, but we never get that far in my fruit-cake loving household.
Poke the top with a skewer and pour a few tbsps of brandy {or rum} over the top before wrapping the cake if you like. Makes the cake nice and moist.
Sift icing sugar over the top if you like, and add some homemade marzipan toppings.
!Mincemeat / fruitmince or fruit mix, sans suet
Mix all the ingredients nicely and soak overnight in a cool place, or for 3-4 days. The longer you soak the fruit, the more mature the flavour. I soaked mine for 3 days. {You can substitute the alcohol with an equal amount of orange juice too}
If you find the fruits are looking dry, add about 1/2 cup of brandy/rum/orange juice and toss again. Leave for a few hours for the juices to get absorbed.
“Marge, it’s 3 AM. Shouldn’t you be baking?”
Homer Simpson
Did you make your own fruit mincemeat this year? I just about did, and far too late in the month IMHO. I procrastinated forever; then noticed it was the 18th of December and hit the panic button. It was now or never since it needs a few days to soak the fruit. I eventually got it done, also getting distracted along the way … and suddenly, it was time for a batch of Christmas Fruit Mince Pies!Day 3 yesterday and the soaked fruit was looking plump, good and shiny. I should have waited to turn the whole batch into my Garam Masala Christmas Cake, but I couldn’t resist making some little mince pies! {I write this post as my fruit cakes finally bake in the oven!}My sister sent me a load of baking goodies with the BIL who flew in from the US, much like Santa who got here before time. Petit tins of all sizes, something that I love, vanilla beans, sprinkles, a dessert cookie baking tray, a Lindzer cookie cutter, a ‘sack‘ of baking chocolate chips … loads more!Despite telling her that I hardly bake ‘fancy‘ {read tedious} cookies any more, I pulled out the Lindzer set to make a batch of Toasted Walnut Linzer Cookies with Strawberry Filling. Typically, my mind wandered in the opposite direction, and I whizzed some pâte sucrée in the Thermomix. Soon the dough was being rolled and the Lindzer cookie cutters were being used to make toppings for petit fruitmince pies!Its dangerous to have a big bowl of fruit soaking on the counter. Hungry mouths on the prowl get attracted to it, so I hid it … but couldn’t get it it out of my head! Yesterday I figured I could nick some for a before Christmas cake treat. These little pies are fun to make; quick too. I love using the snowflake cutters sweet Nic @ Cherrapeno gave me … so festive! Use your favourite pâte sucrée / sweet pastry dough or use the one below. This works a classic 2:1 ratio of flour and butter. As with pie/pastry dough, keep handling/kneading to an absolute minimum. That way you’ll have a nice light, crisp pastry once baked. If you like, you can add some apple to the filling, like Alli did in her Christmas Chocolate & Fruit Mince Pies. Nice!!
“Children ask better questions than adults. “May I have a cookie?” “Why is the sky blue?” and “What does a cow say?” are far more likely to elicit a cheerful response than “Where’s your manuscript?” Why haven’t you called?” and “Who’s your lawyer?“” Fran Lebowitz
“Can I have another squaaaaaaare pleeeeeeease?” You know the cookies are good if that’s what you hear literally reverberating through the house; even better if it’s the call from the dieting diva square after square! These were indeed GOOD …Dark Chocolate Caramel Oat & Almond Shortbread cookies!
There’s something about December, and something about cookies that make me want to bake; bake all the time actually even though power cuts continue to play spoilsport. Baking around silly powerless situations means more cookies since there are fewer chances of them ‘deflating‘ {unlike cakes} when the lights go off!
The wookies were fabulous for fast track ‘faux baking‘. This shortbread is too, non traditional as it may be. You can’t go wrong with shortbread, caramel and dark chocolate, can you? A combination inspired from many shortbread posts, especially this Chocolate Caramel Slice from Nash @ Plateful, and a ‘Month of shortbread baking‘ from Julia @ ‘Mélanger :: to mix’.
This is the season of holiday baking, and only good could come out of such delicious inspiration. GOOD DELICIOUS COOKIES! Winter is the only indulgent time of the year here when shortbread feels ‘guilt-less; you need the butter to keep you warm after all. Warm weather the rest of the year makes the crumb not keep together nice and crisp! For the record, this isn’t true shortbread; the traditional version doesn’t venture away from a 8:4:2 classic combination of flour, butter and sugar… and a dash of salt perhaps.
I had on hand hungry kids, butter and a ‘want to bake’ feeling; also a loose bottomed square tin that I had recently bought and was impatient to use. That resulted in … Oats + Almonds + Flour + Butter + Brown Sugar = Crisp shortbread base.
… to which was added some salted butter caramel {adapted from Jamies sweet blog}, the top smothered in deep, luscious, dark melted chocolate; then briefly left to set! Simple as can be. Next with my Ergo chef knife, the slab was cut into squares {you can do bars/rectangles…whatever grabs your fancy}. YUM! ENJOY!
“I’ve waffled before. I’ll waffle again.”
Howard Dean
Guess what? This morning I made some of the best and fastest cookies of my life. It was a chance find as I was on a food pictures website where these absolutely CUTE cookies caught my eye – Wookies by Beau Dealy @ Something Edible. I was up in a jiffy, dusting the cobwebs off my treasured Belgian waffle maker. In next to no time I had Vanilla Bean and Chocolate Chip Wookies!
SIMPLE UNIQUE DARN TASTY REALLY DARNED TASTY
These are a variation on an original recipe of Pennsylvania Dutch Cinnamon Waffle Cookies that were elevated to charmingly delicious levels by this very talented blogger. A result of his hard work and experimentation, his version offer a festive and interesting maple icing glaze. You must read his post.He describes the vital statistics behind the dough, its consistency, the timing, his experiences, along with step by step pictures; very worth the read. If I had original maple syrup in my larder I would have made his variation.I skipped the cinnamon in the dough and the glaze too, adding chocolate chips to the sticky dough instead. I was really curious to see how these would come out. My Belgian waffle maker is a few years old, one that my lil’ sis from the US gifted me. It ran on the standard American voltage of 120V until the wiring was redone by my adventurous engineer father to our local Indian voltage of 220V. Don’t ask me what he did, but it works!The recipe worked beautifully!! Just as we heaved a sigh of relief thankful for a very smooth, largely power cut free summer, we’ve been cursed with incessant power cuts this season. Come winter, foggy, bone chilling days at 6-7 degrees C, and the power is playing truant. Baking sometimes seems a pain with no uninterrupted power supply. That’s why these yummy looking two minute cookies called my name.My word, were they good?CRISP GOOD! The daughter was home early after her exam and LOVED them. The son got a couple with his mug of milk when he got in from school. “Just 2 please“, I thundered. I had a journalist and his photographer coming in later that afternoon for an interview and photoshoot for a local daily. “MUST save some for them!” They were destined to be shared and finished by afternoon. The visitors loved the wookies and also the above orange olive oil buttermilk pound cake I baked. Told me these were the best cookies and cake they had eaten. The daughter said I must open a shop for unique baked goods. I was chuffed … so much praise for speedy cookies and cake. {The wookies and cake were both made in the fast lane by tossing the ingredients into the Thermomix}.So if you have that waffle maker waiting in the wings, reach out for it, mix the dough and serve up some deliciousness in minutes. I figure you can make the cookie dough in advance and serve fresh cookies this holiday season. They are quite soft when just out {handle with care as you take them out of the waffle maker as they are tender}, but they crispen in minutes. I contemplated glazing mine with a coffee sugar glaze, but changed my mind when I tasted the first one. It seemed sweet enough sans a glaze. Next time I might decrease the sugar in the cookie dough and add a glaze. Its a wonderful versatile cookie. Now I am wondering if there might be savoury way around this. I would love a cheesy savoury wookie like this. Any thoughts anyone?
[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:29]
These holiday cookies are on the way to Suma’sCakes And More Cookie Fest where she says “None of us remain immune to the spirit of baking during the Christmas season, even the hesitant baker turns on the oven for sure. So, do bake me some cookies – chewy, crispy,flaky or crunchy – anything from gooey brownies to crunchy biscotti to delicate tuiles to flaky batons – I shall gobble them all!” All yours to gobble Suma!!
Eggless, butterless yet light and scrumptious had won me over. The Pioneer Womans Cinnamon Roll Dough which I got from an adaptation from Ginny @Cooking With Chopin, Living With Elmo for The Secret Recipe Club this month seems to have been one of the best discoveries of the year. It took to theapple stuffing so well, I decided to try my luck with savoury. I sneaked in some butter this time though!I might bake and blog a load of sweet on PAB, but my heart is totally savoury. Nothings delights my palette more than savoury bakes, the success of which are always very rewarding. I enjoyed making this bread, adding some red and green chili peppers that I had preserved in vinegar a few days ago. Tangy, chili, salty … loads of flavour in them. I think preserved olives or maybe roasted bell peppers would compliment this bread too. Served my bread with some fresh homemade tomato soup, chargrilled broccoli with chili & garlic and chicken paillards in compound lime cumin butter. Wonderful! I find that working flavours into a basic dough prior to the rising makes the bread burst with flavour, and just the way the family loves it. I reached out for ingredients I found on my counter, in my pantry, in my fridge… flecks of red and green for the holiday season keeping me inspired!Into the dough went dried herbs {fresh would be wonderful too}, garlic {we are a family that loves our garlic}, finely chopped almonds {just because I think nuts add great texture and taste to savoury breads; walnuts would be great too}. As a departure from the earlier recipe, I kneaded the dough for a minute or two before the final rise as it worked some elasticity into the dough, making it more pliable. {I made the dough in my Thermomix. You could use dough hooks or your processor as the dough is quite soft/doughy/sticky}In other completely unrelated news, my Thai chili plant from Down Under is finally in bloom and I cant wait to ‘harvest’ the first crop. The chilies look purplish at the moment, though I thought they were going to be red! Hmmm…Oh and our little Coco turned all of 6 months old, naughty as can be. She got thoroughly spoilt and completely untrained in the 4 days I was away … uber naughty again but C.U.T.E.!! Sigh!
A full of flavour, light savoury pull apart bread. Olive oil, red & green preserved chili peppers, garlic and sharp cheddar make this a wonderful light choice for the festive season. {Eggless/vegetarian}
Course Appetiser, Side Dish
Cuisine American, Italian
Keyword baking, bread, vegetarian, yeast
Prep Time 30 minutesminutes
Cook Time 45 minutesminutes
Dough resting time 2 hourshours
Total Time 3 hourshours15 minutesminutes
Servings 2loaves
Ingredients
1 portion dough {recipe follows}
200gm sharp cheddar {or mozzarella}
Preserved chili peppers {or olivesroasted bell peppers etc}
50-75gm unsalted buttermelted, cooled
Dough {from The Pioneer Womans cinnamon rolls; can be made a day ahead}
2cupswhole milkwarm
1/2cuplight olive oil
1tspsugar
1heaping spoon salt
4-5clovesgarlicminced
2-3tbspdried Italian herbs {or fresh}
1tspred chili flakes
1package active dry yeast
4cups{plus 1/2 cup extraseparated} all-purpose flour
1/2teaspoon{heaping} baking powder
1/2teaspoon{scant} baking soda
1/2 to 3/4cuproasted almondschopped fine
Instructions
Dough
Mix the milk, olive/vegetable oil and sugar in a pan (LARGE POT).
Sprinkle in the Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute {5-10 minutes}.
Then add 4 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.
After rising for at least an hour, add 1/2 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Knead the dough for a minute or two before the final rise as it seems to work some elasticity into the dough, making it more pliable. {I made the dough in my Thermomix. You could use dough hooks or your processor as the dough is quite soft/doughy/sticky}
{At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it – overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down}
Savoury Chili Cheese & Garlic Pull-Apart Bread
Grease the sides of an 8″ Victoria sandwich tin, and line the base.
Roll the dough out into a large rectangle, about 1/4″ thick, and pour over half the melted butter, spreading evenly with an offset spatula.
Grate cheddar all over, and sprinkle over with chopped pickled chili peppers.
Roll the larger end like a swiss roll. With a sharp knife {or floss} cut into12 portions, and place cut side up in the prepared tin all around the edges. There will be gaps in the dough, don’t worry. All the gaps get filled in as the bread rises before and during baking. {You could also use a muffin tray. I lined the bottoms with circles of parchment and greased the sides.}
Place a dessert ring/mold in the centre so that the dough doesn’t spread inward. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about an hour.
Bake at 180°C for 40-45 minutes. Cover with foil for the last 10 minutes of baking to prevent over browning. Brush with the remaining melted butter as soon as it comes out.
Leave in the pan for 15-20 minutes, then loosen the sides with a butter knife and turn out.
Serve warm or at room temperature. {The bread tastes good the next day too, sliced and reheated on a non stick pan with a few drops of EVOO}
