Category: Cookies

LACED ALMOND COOKIES

Posted on by Ester van Boesschoten

Laced cookies are one of my favorites. The ingredients list is short, so you probably have everything you need in your kitchen already. I combined the ingredients and did a test bake. Unfortunately, I burned the first batch. It took a few more bakes until I got my oven temperature right and the time to bake. They take only 6 minutes to cook and I had to keep a real close eye on them. I recommend you do the same. Every oven is different and my times and temperature could be different to your oven. But trust me, once you get them just right they are delicious! 

 

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Laced almond Cookies

Kletskopjes
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: cookies
Keyword: cookies

Ingredients

  • 1/2 Cup unsalted butter room temperature
  • 1 1/2 Cups brown sugar
  • 1 Cup sifted flour
  • 1/2 Cup raw almonds peeled and shopped
  • Pinch salt

Instructions

  • Combine all ingredients with a mixer.
  • Form the dough into marble sized balls.
  • Preheat the oven to 420 Farhenheit.*
  • Place the dough balls on baking sheet 1 1/2 inches apart.
  • Bake them for 6-10 minutes* on top rack position. The cookie dough will melt quickly under the high oven temperature and spread out. If needed, help it with a fork while baking. Keep a close eye on them.
  • Let them cool down on the baking sheet.

Notes

* You can add 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon to the dough if you prefer
*each oven is different, the bake temperature varies between 400-430 Farhenheit. Suggest you start first with one cookie to see if you get the desirable end result. 
*Pay close attention around minute 6, because the time between golden brown and black is super close.
* Inspired by: Amsterdamse huishoudschool, CJ. Wannee 1910
*Inspired by: Eet smakelijk, Junior Welfare of Holland 1964

Caramel butter cookies

Posted on by Ester van Boesschoten

Every Christmas I like to bake cookies for Santa. Instead of the classic Christmas cookies decorated with icing, I decided to get a little creative this year.

With a basic cookie recipe you can do anything you want! I chose to add some chocolate on top and a homemade caramel to create a soft and delicious center. These cookies are so versatile that you could use jam in the center or skip the filling and just put chocolate on top.

Using a very fine sugar helps it to combine well with the butter, and the cream cheese gives it a nice smooth flavor. I promise you these will be a guaranteed hit, so get creative and enjoy them!

Chocolate drizzle.

Homemade caramel.

 

 

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Butter cookies

Buttery cookies with chocolate drizzle and caramel filling
Prep Time1 hour
Cook Time10 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: cookies
Keyword: buttercookies, caramelcookies, cookies
Author: Ester van Boesschoten

Ingredients

Cookies

  • 1 1/4 Cup unbleached all purpose four
  • 6 Tablespoon fine sugar *
  • 1/8 Teaspoon salt
  • 1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 Tablesppon cream cheese room temperature
  • 8 Tablespoon unsalted butter softened but still cool, cut in 8 pieces

chocolate drizzle

  • 2 Oz semi sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 Teaspoon ghee or butter

caramel filling; homemade or storebought.

    Instructions

    Cookies

    • In an electric mixer bowl combine the flour, sugar and salt on low speed until combined.
    • With the mixer on low, add one piece of butter at a time until combined. Add in vanilla and cream cheese. Mix on low until the dough begins to form large clumps.
    • Knead the dough by hand in the bowl for 3 minutes.
    • Turn the dough out onto the countertop and divide into 2 disks and wrap it with cling wrap. Let it rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
    • Remove from fridge and cling wrap. Roll the dough out in between 2 pieces of parchment paper until it is around 1/8-1/4 inch thick.
    • Let it rest in the fridge for another 10 minutes.
    • After it has chilled, cut out your cookie shapes. For half of the cookies cut out a small hole in the center with a cookie cutter. Put them on baking sheet at least 1 1/2 inch apart. Put them back in the fridge for 10 minutes to rest.
    • Preheat the oven to 375 Fahrenheit and adjust your rack to the top position.
    • Bake the cookies for 10 minutes, rotating the tray halfway until they are golden brown.
    • Cool the cookies on a cooling rack.

    Chocolate Drizzle

    • In a bowl au bain-marie (double boiler) melt the butter and chocolate.
    • Drizzle the chocolate over the cookies using a spoon.

    Cookie Assembly

    • Add approximately one teaspoon of caramel to the bottom part of the cookies (without hole). Gently place the top part (with hole) on top of the caramel. Place cookies on a tray and put in the fridge to firm.

    Notes

    *if you don’t have really fine sugar you can put cane sugar in a foodprocessor to create fine sugar
    *inspired by: America’s test kitchen

    Kringelen Cookies

    Posted on by Ester van Boesschoten

    One of my favorite things to do is visit second-hand bookstores looking for old recipe books. I found this book in sunny California. Finding a Dutch cookbook in America is rare, so I just had to buy it. 

     

    I recall my mom having this cookbook at home when I was young, but I never had Kringelen cookies, so this recipe intrigued me. The combination of cinnamon and lemon sounded delicious. I added some vanilla and salt to the recipe to add more flavor.

     

    The trickiest part was figuring out the oven temperature to bake them. The recipe said to bake them “in a somewhat warm oven”…. So after making the dough I had to do a couple of trial bakes to determine an exact temperature. I played with different shapes of the cookies, making both donut and pretzel shapes. Forming the dough in a log and cutting round cookies gave the best end result.

    I hope you will enjoy this easy and delicious recipe as cub as we did.

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    Kringelen cookies

    Prep Time30 minutes
    Cook Time17 minutes
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: cookies
    Keyword: cinnamon, cookies
    Author: Ester van Boesschoten

    Ingredients

    • 3 Cups all purpose flour
    • 1 1/2 Cup granulated sugar
    • 1 1/2 Cup unsalted butter at room temperature
    • 1 egg at room temperature
    • 2 Tsp cinnamon
    • 1 Zest lemon
    • 1/2 Tsp salt
    • 1 Tsp pure vanilla extract

    Instructions

    • Measure flour, salt, cinnamon and the zest of the lemon. Add into a mixing bowl and whisk together.
    • Add the softened butter and sugar to a bowl of a stand mixer. Cream together on medium high speed for about 5 minutes, until it is fluffy, airy and lighter in color. Make sure to incorporate all the sugar.
    • Add the vanilla extract, egg. Cream together until well blended.
    • Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet until incorporated. Be careful not to over-mix.
    • Turn out the dough onto a clean, lightly floured surface. Gently form the dough into a disk. Cut the dough into 4 quarters.
    • Form each quarter shape into a round log shape about 1-11/2“ diameter cylinder.
    • Wrap your dough in plastic food wrap and twist the ends so it is airtight.
    • Refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours. This allows the dough to set and hold its shape nicely when baking.
    • Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit.
    • Remove dough logs from the fridge and unroll on a cutting board. Using a dough scraper or sharp knife to slice the log into ¼” – ½” thick cookies. Arrange them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet with about 1” of space on all sides.
    • Bake for 15-17 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the bake. They should come out with a golden ring around the edge and be firm to the touch, with just a bit of give in the center. 
    • Use the dough scraper to transfer them to the cooling rack. Let sit until completely cooled

    Notes

    *Inspired by: Amsterdamse huishoudschool from CJ Wannee.