BAKING,  COOKIES

Baking | Wholewheat Doily Cookies & Chocolate Pretzels for the Great Cookie Swap 2013 #fbcookieswap

2013/12/11 / 25 Comments

Gingerbread men, Doily Cookies & Chocolate Pretzels for the Cookie Swap 2013Wholewheat Doily Cookies & Chocolate Pretzels … it’s the time of the year when the bells begin to jingle and there are hungry cookie monsters on the prowl. With the cookie season in full swing, this year I have literally abandoned plain flour for whole grains. This year, there was another reason to bake cookies – a fundraiser called the Great Cookie Swap 2013, which a bunch of us got roped into thanks to sweet Charis via Roshni!

Gingerbread men, Doily Cookies & Chocolate Pretzels for the Cookie Swap 2013 I’ve been watching it take shape over the years, attempted to enroll once. We never did find enough folk to make a ‘team’ in India. This time was different and we made a beginning. With India now on the map, hopefully we get a whole bunch of food bloggers joining in next year. If you wish to be notified about the swap next year, do sign up here. 

The cookie baking experience was a whole lot different this year thanks to the event. The swap made it special. For a change I was baking for a cause, and guarding my loot from the cookie monsters! From a dozen that were normally available for them to munch, there were just a couple on offer!

We had to bake a dozen cookies for each of 3 surprise recipients, who wouldn’t know until the bell rang that cookies had arrived. I was fortunate to get my first secret batch from Riddhi @ Cook By The Book. Her cookies were delicious! That set me in the mood and I headed straight for the kitchen.

I wanted to bake everything for everyone, but then got real. Couriering can prove to be harsh on cookies, the logistics a little dicey. I narrowed down to whole-wheat cinnamon ginger cookies and whole-wheat chocolate pretzel cookies. I had recently made dozens of whole-wheat gingerbread men for a home for homeless girls and really enjoyed that experience.

I decided to bake fluted cookies for the swap since gingerbread men are fragile. Then the daughter joined in, found some doily cookies on Pinterest and pestered me to make them. I did but with whole-wheat gingerbread cookie dough.

She wasn’t a 100% impressed though as wanted finer lacier cookies. I was happy with whole-wheat deep flavoured ones. I think the doily idea is stunning, and would definitely work more beautifully on sugar cookie dough etc. This was something new learnt, and immensely enjoyed. It certainly was a WOW moment!

The chocolate pretzel cookies I used to make often when the kids were little. Haven’t made them in years. To my delight, the minute tray #1 popped out of the oven, the daughter whooped in delight, “Yay pretzels!! You haven’t made them in years. I love them“. The son reacted similarly!! Happily enough, there were plenty for the two of them too.

The pretzels too underwent a wholegrain makeover. The kids loved them like before. I still wonder why I didn’t think of these things earlier. They tasted crunchy good and chocolaty with whole wheat flour too.

I love the idea of a bakers dozen, and stuck in a cute gingerbread man to accompany the cookies. Each box had a special happy man in there too. I hope my cookies surprised my secret recipients.

The GREAT FOOD BLOGGER COOKIE SWAP brings together food bloggers from around the world in celebration of all things scrumptious. The premise is this: sign up. Receive the addresses of three other food bloggers. Send each of them one dozen delicious homemade cookies. Receive three different boxes of scrumptious cookies from other bloggers.

This year they have again partnered with COOKIES FOR KIDS’ CANCER, a national non-profit organization committed to funding new therapies used in the fight against pediatric cancer, which claims the lives of more children in the US than any other disease.

 I really enjoyed doing the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap‘. From deciding what to bake, to waiting impatiently for the surprises to arrive, to waiting for posting date, it was n enriching experience.

Thank you Riddhi @ Cook by the Book for the wonderful Zesty Whole-wheat Pumpkin Seeds Oatmeal Cookies, Sangeeta @ Healthfood Desi Videshi for the addictive savoury GF Lentil Cookies {with loads of my favourite flavours}, and Roshni @ The Vanilla Bean for the delicious Lavender Crisps.

My cookies to Sangeeta and Himanshu reached quite early, but Riddhi in Bangalore wan’t that lucky. Got a call just this afternoon from the courier that the package came back undelivered. Sangeeta’s cookies also apparently reached Riddhi very late. Will mail some later as she is travelling this month!

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Recipe: Whole-wheat Chocolate Pretzel Cookies 

Summary: Crisp, chocolaty and sweet, these 100% Whole-wheat Chocolate Pretzel Cookies are wonderful to include on your cookie platter. They are also a fun way to involve kids in cookie making as they playing with cookie dough like play dough! Makes approx 2 -2 1/2 dozen pretzels

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:

  • 150g whole-wheat flour
  • pinch salt
  • 25g cocoa powder
  • 100g unsalted butter
  • 110g vanilla sugar
  • 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 egg white, whisked gently, for glaze
  • Granular sugar or sprinkles to decorate

Method:

  1. Sift the whole-wheat flour, cocoa and salt. Reserve.
  2. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat again.
  3. Add the dry ingredients and knead together briefly to make a firm, smooth dough. Wrap the dough in cling wrap and refrigerate for about an hour.
  4. Preheat the oven to 190C. Line to cookie sheets with baking parchment.
  5. Divide the dough into 4, then into 6-7 portions each. Roll into tight neat balls.
  6. Roll each ball into an 8-10″ long rope, and form a loop to make them look like pretzels. Transfer the cookies with the help of a fish slice/spatula to the prepared sheets.
  7. Brush over with the glaze and sprinkle sugar or sprinkles as required.
  8. Bake for about 12-14 minutes until firm to touch.
  9. Allow to cool on trays for 2-3 minutes, then remove to cookie racks to cool completely.

Recipe: Whole Wheat Doily Gingerbread Cookies

Summary:These 100% Whole Wheat Doily Cookies are crisp, sweet, spicy and keep well in an airtight container for 1-2 weeks in a cool place. Makes approx 6 dozen 2″ fluted cookies. You can make gingerbread men out of the same dough too.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:

  • 280g whole wheat flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • pinch salt
  • 10g ginger powder
  • 10g cinnamon powder
  • 100g unsalted butter, cubed
  • 150g brown sugar
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 15-25 ml milk, as required

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C. Line 4 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  2. Sift the whole wheat flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.
  3. In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour mix to the cold butter, & pulse briefly to make a breadcrumb like mix.
  4. Tip in the sugar, pulse. Then add the beaten egg, and pulse briefly to mix.
  5. Now add enough milk to make a firm yet pliable dough.
  6. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness & cut with desired cookie cutters.
  7. Bake for 12-15 minutes till they smell done and the edges start turning golden-brown.
  8. Cool on cookie racks.

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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India

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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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