Tag: cookies

Honey Spice Cookies

Posted on by Jasmina Brozović

Rustic looking honey cookies are one of my favorites. They literally smell like Christmas! Is there anything better? 😄

Perfect with a cup of your favorite tea or coffee, they will make a great addition to every little winter gathering with your friends and family.

Ingredients

  • 100 g (¾ cup) sugar
  • 150 g (1 cup + 3 tbsp) honey
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp ground cloves
  • ½ tsp ground nutmeg
  • ½ tsp powdered ginger
  • 350 g (2 ¾ cups) all-purpose flour
  • for decoration you can use peeled almonds / quarters of walnuts / hazelnuts

Preparation

  1. Heat the honey with sugar, stirring constantly, over low heat until the sugar has melted completely. Set aside to cool (10 minutes).
  2. In a small bowl lightly whisk the egg.
  3. In a separate larger bowl combine baking soda, spices and flour.
  4. Add the lightly beaten egg, flour and spices to the melted honey and sugar mixture. Mix and combine to obtain smooth and soft dough.
  5. Wrap the dough with cling foil and leave in a fridge over night.
  6. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper or place silicon sheet.
  7. With your hands make walnut size balls and place them on a previously lined baking sheet.
  8. Insert peeled almond at the top of each cookie.
  9. Preheat the oven at 180 °C (356 °F).
  10. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes. Cool and store in an airtight container.

Note: It is very important not to over-bake them because they will become hard. Honey spice cookies can be kept in a tin up to 4 weeks. They will get softer with time ☺

What is your favorite cookie and why?

Vanilla Crescents

Posted on by Jasmina Brozović

Let me tell you about a legend of vanilla crescent cookies.

It goes all the way back to 1683.

It was 12th of September.
A long and hard battle between the Viennese and the Turkish army has just ended. Viennese have defended their city and the whole Austro-Hungarian Empire from the Turkish invasion.

They were so proud and happy! To let the Turkish Empire know they are no longer afraid of them, the city’s bakers celebrated by making popular sugary cookies, called kipferl, in the shape of crescent moons that characterized the Turkish flag.

After their defeat, the Turks fled, leaving behind the first sack of coffee beans to reach Vienna. That is how the establishment of Viennese coffeehouses started, in which the crescent cookies found a home.

Ingredients

  • 200 g (1 cup) unsalted butter
  • 140 g (1 ⅛ cup) all purpose flour
  • 140 g (1 ⅛ cup) pastry flour
  • 80 g (⅔ cup) powdered sugar
  • 10 g (1 tbsp + 1 tsp) vanilla sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 100 g (¾ cup) ground walnuts or almonds

    +
  • powdered sugar and vanilla sugar mixed together in quantity you desire for coating

Preparation

  1. Rub the butter into the flour making small crumbs.
  2. Add sugar, vanilla sugar and walnuts, then combine.
  3. Add the egg and work together to form a dough.
  4. Leave it to rest in the fridge for at least one hour.
  5. Preheat the oven at 180 °C (356 °F).
  6. Pinch off walnut sized pieces and form crescents.
  7. Sort them on a baking sheet cover with parchment paper or silicon sheet.
  8. Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes.
  9. Roll them in icing sugar mixed with vanilla sugar while they are still warm.
  10. When the crescents are cooled,store them in an airtight container where they can stay for several weeks.

Tip: Leave the cookies 1 minute to cool a bit before rolling them into sugar. Although they have to be coated warm, they are very fragile, and this way they are less likely to break.

Do you have any interesting stories about one of your favorite desserts? Share with us 😉

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Posted on by Jasmina Brozović

Santa’s favorite cookies (Don’t forget the milk!) 😀

I know it’s not Christmas, but that just means you don’t have to share with big guy with sleigh and flying reindeer 😀
These classic beauties are a must-have in all North American households so we had to try them as well. We were not disappointed. They were soft and chewy, just like Santa likes them!

Ingredients

  • 270 g (2 cup) all purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 170 g (3/4 cup) butter, melted
  • 130 g (1 cup) brown sugar
  • 60 g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 360 g (2 cup) chocolate chips

Preparation

  1. Warm up the oven to 160 °C (320 °F).
  2. Cover the baking sheet with parchment paper.
  3. In a large bowl sift the flour, add salt and baking soda.
  4. In a separate bowl, with electric mixer, mix both sugars, melted butter, egg, yolk, and vanilla extract. Stir until creamy.
  5. Add flour mixture and all mix well until combined.
  6. Finally add chocolate chips.
  7. With a spoon or an ice cream scoop if you have one, make balls and place them on a baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes. Don’t over baked them, they will be too hard.

What are your favorite cookies?

Christmas Tree Jam Cookies

Posted on by Jasmina Brozović

This week is all about Christmas cookies 🙂 This is one of many variations of classic Linzer cookies that are very popular in Croatia. Traditionally they come with a hole on one side, allowing jam some breathing room and an audience 😉

They originally came to our Christmas tables from Linz, Austria, which is where they got the name from. Interestingly, they originated as a small version of world’s oldest torte recipe: Linzer Torte. Torte was created in the 17th and the cookies took two more centuries to develop, seeing the first light of day in the 19th century.

Ingredients

  • 300 g (2 1/4 cup) all purpose flour
  • 60 g (1/3 cup) starch
  • 90 g (1/2 cup + 2 1/2 tbsp) of powdered sugar
  • 20 g (2 tbsp) vanilla sugar or vanilla extract
  • 210 g (3/4 cup + 2 tbsp) cold butter, cut into slices
  • 4 egg yolks

Preparation

  1. Knead the dough from all the ingredients.
  2. Let it rest in the refrigerator for about 1 hour.
  3. Preheat the oven to 200 °C (395 °F).
  4. Roll out thinly and make cookies in shapes of your choice with a variety of molds. I used Christmas tree mold because Christmas 😀
  5. Place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
  6. Bake for 10 minutes.
  7. When cooled, spread them with the jam of your choice ( I used apricot), connect two by two and decorate according to your own inspiration.

For decoration mix egg whites with powered sugar to make the icing and sprinkle them with colorful decorations.

Tell us what’s your favorite Christmas cookie in the comments bellow!

Chocolate Crinkles

Posted on by Jasmina Brozović

Every Christmas, a platter of cookies is something I always look forward to. I have a TO BAKE Christmas list with a new addition every year. A few years back I made these delicious crinkles, and they keep reappearing on the list 😀
These are simple to make and fun to eat, great way to include your kids in spending quality family time baking 🙂

Chocolate Crinkles

Ingredients

Makes about 40 cookies

  • 225 g (1 cup) good quality dark chocolate (at least 78% cocoa)
  • 60 g (1/4 cup) butter
  • 100 g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 225 g (1 3/4 cup) all purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 tsp of cinnamon
  • icing sugar for dusting

Preparation

  1. Brake chocolate roughly into pieces and stir together with the butter.
  2. Melt the chocolate and the butter in a double boiler on steam. Stir constantly until the ingredients dissolve. When done remove from the heat and cool off.
  3. Mix the eggs with sugar on high speed until the mixture is light and thick, add the vanilla extract and slowly add melted chocolate.
  4. In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients, flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon to taste. Stir them into the egg and chocolate mixture, cover, and then store in the refrigerator for at least 3-4 hours. Dough should be sufficiently chilled and firm so it can be nicely shaped.
  5. Preheat the oven to 170 °C (340 °F).
  6. Cover the baking sheet with parchment paper.
  7. Shape the cookies with hands into balls, size a bit less than the size of a walnut.
  8. Roll them in powdered sugar until they are completely covered.
  9. Place them on a baking sheet and bake them for 10-12 minutes until they get crust on the outside. They should still remain soft inside.
  10. Cool them on the rack before serving.

What will you bake for the first time this Christmas?

Išleri Cookies

Posted on by Jasmina Brozović

Tasty cocoa cookies dipped into chocolate and filled with delicious cream that resembles the cream used for cream puffs. This type of cookie is typical for northern and eastern Croatia. These are traditional cookies prepared for many occasions, especially Christmas and weddings. They can also be yellow with cocoa cream.

Ingredients

makes 20 combined cookies

Dough

  • 200 g (1 1/2 cup) all purpose flour
  • 140 g (1/2 cup) butter
  • 70 g (6 tbsp) granulated sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 3 tbsp cocoa

Cream

  • 3 eggs
  • 150 g (3/4 cup) sugar
  • 100 g (1/3 cup) butter
  • 10 g (1 tbsp) vanilla sugar

Glaze

  • 60 g (1/3 cup) dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
  • 2 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil

Preparation

  1. Of the ingredients knead the dough, roll out thinly between two sheets of parchment paper and cut into circles. I used shot glass 😀
  2. Bake them between 5-10 minutes in a preheated oven at 180 °C (355 °F). They just need to get a little color. You need to take them out even if they are a bit soft, leave them on the cooling rack, they will later harden. Let them cool completely.
  3. In the meanwhile, prepare the glaze. Melt the chocolate with oil and dip half of the cookies. Let them cool on the rack before connecting them with cream.
  4. For the cream, mix eggs, sugar and vanilla sugar until combined.
  5. Cook the cream in double boiler or on low heat. Steer with spatula. That way the cream doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Cook the cream until it’s thick. Let it cool off completely. In the cooled cream mix in well-made butter.
  6. Combine chocolate covered cookie with the uncovered one with cream.

Decorate as you like 🙂

What is your favorite Christmas cookie?