Honey Cookies

Even though February was a rather productive month in terms of cooking, I didn't manage to transform the effort into blog posts. On one hand this is due to several family lunches where my folks were way too pressed to taste the meals, meaning no time for the usual photo shooting. On the other hand I went on holidays and worked long hours so that the cooking mainly took place in the evenings.  And we all know that natural light still remains the best for good food photography. 

I realized that I was talking about making cookies for quite a while now. I guess there are just too many recipes I want to try. But I can reassure you, I bought a beautiful cookie jar last week, so I will have to bake cookies way more often in order to keep it filled. I will have to keep up with the rhythm of the advent season. With some of my friends we usually organize a big baking session several days before Christmas to make at least 4-5 different types of cookies. I think I will have to organize another session to ensure a certain variety in this newly bought cookie jar. 

These pure honey cookies will please everyone who loves honey. The taste is intense yet not too heavy. I always dip my cookies into the milk and especially for these cookies the taste can be described like a honey explosion in your mouth. I took them to work today and the feedback was very good. I could save some for a meeting tomorrow morning but I am sure they won't survive any longer than that. 

For around 30 cookies you need:

100g butter

300g flour

100g honey

55g brown sugar

1 egg

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla sugar

4 tbsp milk

Preheat the oven to 180°

Whisk all the dry ingredients together. Then add the egg, butter and the honey. Mix until you get crumbly dough. Add the milk and knead until the dough is smooth. Roll the dough out on your work surface and cut the cookies out with a cookie cutter. Place them on a baking sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes until they are golden brown. 

Let the cookies cool down for an hour.

Enjoy!!!!

Homemade Oreos

HOMEMADE OREOS

Milk's favorite cookie

Last week when I was shopping for fruits and vegetables on the green market with my visiting friend we discovered the stand of a chocolate seller. The man was selling the whole range of Milka chocolate bars. As a chocolate addict and not so much of a fan of the local chocolate brands I was the happiest person alive when I saw the one with a milk and cookie filling. But the cookie wasn't just any cookie, no, the guy was selling Milka Oreo! Just before flying back home, we went back to the market, and bought the chocolate. Each of us, not later than the next day, found out how delicious it is. From that moment on, I was craving Oreos, but it is impossible to find them over here. This is when I decided to create something that could compete with the deliciousness of the original Oreo.

Oreo cookies are the best-selling cookies in the world, and according to me for a very good reason. But what makes this cookie so special? Well.. for me it is the combination of the bittersweet & chocolaty cookies and the milky vanilla filling. You can either enjoy them crunchy or dip them into a huge glass of cold milk and wait for them to get soft. This is actually my favorite way to savor them.

With this recipe you won't get the exact same result but the outcome is very close to the original one. The goal to have a chocolaty bittersweet cookie with a milky vanilla filling has been realized and the result is able to compete with the original version.

 

For the cookies :

125g butter

180-200g sugar

150g flour

1 egg

1 ts vanilla extract

50g unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 ts baking powder

For the filling:

60g butter

250g icing sugar

1 ts vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180°

In a large bowl mix the butter and the sugar first until the mixture gets pale and fluffy . Then add the vanilla extract and the egg and mix again until you get an even dough. Now you can add the flour, the baking powder and the cocoa powder. Mix until the dough gets an even dark brown color.

Roll rounded teaspoons of dough into balls, and place onto a baking sheet. Try to flatten the cookies as much as possible. The cookies should have the same size as you will fill the vanilla cream in between.

 Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.

To make the cream put the softened butter into a mixing bowl. Gradually beat in the icing sugar and vanilla extract.

After the cookies cooled down fill the cream into a pastry bag (round tip) and pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. Now lightly press another cookie to the first in order to evenly work the filling to the outsides of the cookie.

Enjoy!!!

Hazelnut Raspberry Thumbprints

End of the year, here we come! 

Even though the end of the year awakes magic memories, it's also the busiest time when it comes to work. Nevertheless, I guess the sparkle has reached most of you and the ovens are running on full speed. For me it was only a few days ago that I found the time to let the magic happen. On Thursday night I came back straight from work, and grabbed two old recipes of lovely Christmas cookies. The recipe was warmly welcomed and devoured by my colleagues, who were lucky enough to not have gone on holiday too early. 

So now I'm back, just on time, to start my baking marathon and share with you some of my favorite Christmas recipes. I am glad I could make it; because enriching one's festive baking library is something I always love while blogging around Christmas. This special recipe also proves that not every single festive cookie has to have cinnamon in it. The nutty and fruity combination definitely made its way up into my top 5 of Christmas cookies. This jammy treat is a traditional German recipe and a so-called incontournable. When used in the French language, it really expresses that there is just no way of getting around it. 

For around 20 cookies you need:

120g butter

110g sugar

1 egg 

1 tsp vanilla extract

200g flour

1 pinch of salt

120 finely chopped hazelnuts

raspberry jam

In a large bowl whisk together the butter and 100g of sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolk and the vanilla extract. Reduce the speed of your mixer and gradually add the flour and a pinch of salt. 

Wrap the dough into cling film and refrigerate for at least two hours.

Preheat the oven to 160°.

In a small bowl mix the hazelnuts and the remaining sugar. 

Using your hands, roll the dough into 3 cm large balls. Dip them in the egg white, rolling them in order to cover the balls completely. Then, dip the balls into the chopped hazelnuts, coating completely. Place the dough balls on a baking sheet. Using your thumb, gently press the center of each cookie in to form a central well.

Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. Take them out of the oven and gently press down the centers of the cookies again. Return them to the oven and continue baking them for another 10 minutes, until golden brown.

Once, taken out of the oven, let them cool for a few seconds on a wire rack.

With a teaspoon now scoop the jam into the center of each cookie.

Enjoy!!!!!

Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

CHOCOLATE BANANA COOKIES

  When Banana meets Chocolate!

After my first series of oatmeal cookies I was looking for a new recipe and found one including my favorite combination : Banana & Chocolate. 

Since I am baking more regularly my love for cookies has tripled. I have to admit that I've become a huge fan of oatmeal too, the reason why I am always happy to find new cookie recipes including them. Those who know me a little better are not surprised to see that I was finally baking something including these two ingredients. From chocolate fondue in to the fruit snacks on the annual fairy in Luxembourg, I have always chosen the above mentioned combination .

From my local friends here in Serbia to my friends in Lebanon, all agreed that the soft but crunchy cookie is absolutely not to miss. Some were even ready to buy me an additional baking bowl to make some more for them. 

For 25-30 cookies:

210g flour

100g rolled oat

100g brown sugar

170g butter

1 big egg

1/2 ts Baking Powder

1/2 ts vanilla extract

1 banana

220g chocolate chips

60g crushed roasted almonds

1/4 ts salt

Preheat the oven to 180°

In a middle-sized bowl whisk the flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate large bowl put together the butter and the sugar and mix until you get a bright mixture. Then add the egg and the vanilla extract and mix again until you get a smooth mixture. Now add the banana which you cut into thin slices before. Then stir in the flour mix and the oats. Finally add the chocolate chips and the almonds.

Place the cookies onto your baking sheet and bake them for 12 minutes. 

Enjoy!!!

Cherry & Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Do you know that feeling, when you had a lot of things going on in your life and you're just longing for a moment for yourself with a good book and something nice to nibble? This is how I felt yesterday afternoon. For me there's nothing closer to perfection than cookies in these moments. So I went to the kitchen and checked which ingredients were left in my baking cupboard. I saw chocolate and oats. I recently baked chocolate oatmeal cookies, but yesterday I felt like there should be a little extra to it. Something fruity had to be added. That's where the dried cherries came to my mind. Fortunately I always have some dried fruits at home and I took out the baking bowl and started my lazy Sunday mission.

I realized that I haven't prepared cookies in a while. These were the first in 2013 and we're already May. Recently there were so many cupcakes involved that I didn't have the time and the place in my stomach to add a round of cookies. But here we go now, with delicious little treats for the public holiday laziness. I know I keep pointing the lazy part out, but recently my life has been quite busy and I am just enjoying being alone baking and reading and writing my little blog posts. 

I already prepared oatmeal raisin cookies around a year ago and I decided to change the recipe a little bit. I must say I am happy about the result. The only thing is that they are a little fragile and soft when you take them out of the oven. So you have to be very careful not to break them into little pieces. The best thing is to wait a bit and let them cool down before you put them on the cooling tray. Because otherwise they might not survive it from the baking tray to the cooling tray

For around 15 cookies you need:

115g butter

85g brown sugar

1 egg

60g flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

115g oats

100g chocolate chips

75g dried cherries

*****

Preheat the oven to 160°

In a large bowl whisk together the butter and the sugar. Add the egg and the oats, the baking powder and the vanilla extract. Mix again until you get an even dough. Carefully add the chocolate chips and the cherries.

With two table spoons form little cookies and put them on the baking tray. Be careful to let a certain distance between the cookies because with the heat they might flatten a little bit.

Bake for 12-15 minutes.

As mentioned before, let them cool down a bit on the baking tray before you put them on the cooling tray.

Enjoy!!!!!

Cookies & Whoopies: Alfajores

Alfajores are South American cookies filled with milk jam which they call Dulce de Leche. This delicous cookie can trace its origins back to Spain. However, with the exchanges of tradtitions and products, the south Americans developped their very own versions of Alfajores. For example whereas in the south the recipe is very similar to this one, in the north they bake it with only cornmeal and replace the dulce de leche with melasses. They say that there exist more than 15 variations of the once Spanish version of Alfajores.

For me it was the first time I tried a South American recipe. I never tried Dulce de Leche before and I have to admit that it's surprisingly yummy. Here in Europe they call it milk jam, and I was always a bit sceptical towards this product. But now I see, there was no reason to it. The combination of the crunchy not too sweet cookies and the milk jam with a small note of coconut make a complete and nice-tasting exotic cookie.

Even though I used to prepare all kind of desserts and dishes, somehow my favorite recipes always end up to be cookie recipes. Maybe it's due to all the good memories I have of cookie-baking. For 3 or 4 years now I have gathered with my friends before Christmas and baked tons of cookies. This year, we also prepared a large range, but they were so much appreciated by friends and family, that I didn't even have the time to take pictures.  Next year I have either to be faster, or hide them better from their fans. 

For around 30 cookies you need:

100g butter

75g sugar

1 egg + 2 egg yolks 

130g flour

130g cornmeal (type Maïzena)

1ts baking powder

200g Dulce de Leche (milk jam)

50g coconut powder

Preheat the oven to 180°

In a large bowl whisk together the butter and the sugar until you get a creamy dough. Add the egg and the egg yolks. Then add the flour, cornmeal and the baking powder. Mix again and when you see that you need a little more flour, add the same quantity of flour and cornmeal. 

Roll out the dough on the work surface and cut the cookies out with a cookie cutter. The dough shouldn't be thicker than 3mm. Place the cookies on the baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until they get golden brown.

Spread the Dulce de Leche on one cookie and top with another. Then roll them in coconut powder.

Enjoy!!!!

LEBANESE HUMMUS

The first time I tried hummus was three years ago during a little road-trip through Luxembourg's north. It was the end of a great training course held in the Grand-Duchy. People from all over the world came to my little country to discuss and think about intercultural communication and cooperation. This was my first experience within the European Youth in Action Program.  Some of the participants were staying a bit longer to discover Luxembourg a little bit more in detail. 

On a sunny day we went up north to the lake to relax after the busy days. At some point all of us were hungry and we drove to the nearest supermarket. Anne, my Luxembourgish friend, who just came back from a 2 months internship in the Middle East convinced us to buy hummus. Of course our Jordan friend agreed immediately and the two of us remaining were curious to discover this chickpea delight. From that very moment on I am a huge fan of hummus, knowing that the industrial one cannot compete with the original. So I decided that when I do already like the hummus from a Luxembourg supermarket that I need to try the original as well.

Once said, now done! Last year I travelled to Lebanon for a training course on human rights. I had one and a half day after my arrival to discover the little country before the training started. On the first day my friend Ghassan took me to an authentic Lebanese restaurant. I was happy because knowing him we could have totally gone to a Pizza place. My friend ordered 4-5 dishes we shared in order to have me try a maximum of mezze. This is how you call the different dishes which form one meal. After the training Ghassan took me to the south of Lebanon where we have delicious lunch just next to the sea. My choice was made in a second - hummus of course. I couldn't have enough of it and everywhere we went I took hummus. Before leaving my friend bought me a jar of original tahini which I used regularly back home.

I recently tried several times to prepare hummus with different recipes, and not later than two months ago, my Lebanese friend here in Luxembourg brought me an original Lebanese cookbook. I tried it once, twice adapting the recipe to my personal taste without changing it too much. I still want it to be as authentic as possible. I love the Lebanese kitchen and be sure to find another range of varied recipes in the upcoming months. I'd say it's one of my all time favorite kitchens. So if you're reading the post, thanks again dear friend! This definitely was a perfect gift for a globetrotter like me. My best travel memories are always in relation with food; friends & food juste simply work without one another.

This time, I tried a little extra. Several months ago I ate hummus with wasabi, which I adored because it gives the whole thing a little spicy something. As the portion you get with the recipe below is quite big, I took 1/3 and added some wasabi. 

For the classical hummus you need:

250g cooked or 105g dried chickpeas

1tsp baking powder (if using dried chickpeas)

150ml tahini

2 crushed garlic cloves

30ml lemon juice

1/2 tbsp salt

60ml water

Put the chickpeas and the baking powder into a mid-sized bowl. Add water and let them soak overnight.

The next day, drain and rinse them, then put the chickpeas into a saucepan full of water. Don't add any salt for cooking because this changes the texture of the chickpeas. Bring to the boil and let them simmer for 1h-1h30 until the chickpeas are very soft. Now you can drain them again.

Now, whether you chose dried chickpeas or cooked ones, peel them. You might think I am a bit crazy but experience shows that the hummus gets much creamier if you peel them. It's certainly not the most pleasant thing to do, but as the result is much better, it is worth it. Put one single chickpea between your thumb and your middle finger, push a little bit until it pops out.

Now mash the chickpeas with a blender. Add the tahini, the crushed garlic and the lemon juice. Blend again until you get a thick and dry mix. Add the salt and the water little by little while blending again until it gets smooth and creamy. 

If you would also like to prepare the wasabi hummus, separate one third into a small bowl and add a tsp of wasabi. Mix for 1 minute until the wasabi is evenly added. 

Spoon the two into two different serving plates. Garnish the classical version with a drizzle of good quality olive oil and paprika powder. You may also add chopped red pepper and parsley just like you prefer.

Enjoy!!!

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