ABC Bakers; Ginger crackles

A crackling good cookie! I could have known because Lien’s monsters couldn’t leave these alone… so that means good news for my monsters: cookie time! The dough didn’t look like a lot but I scaled down the size and got 70(!) cookies from it… talk about value for money dough! I smile when I make smaller cookies (or meatballs for that matter) because my boys always want two, or three, or four maybe? Now I can be the best mom ever and grant them another one, and yet another one..


These were an instant hit! When I was still mixing up the dough Son #3 –the one with the discerning nose and palate-, asked what spices were in the dough and gambled on ginger and cinnamon. Right! Son #2 was the wild card, you never know what he likes or dislikes. He is a picky eater and I suspect a large part of that is between his ears and has nothing to do with taste buds. So when he came home from school and before taking off his coat said: Owwww what’s smelling so good? I simply told him crackly cookies. Left out the ginger bit because ugh.. ginger? Wait and have him taste and declare it good and only then tell him ginger wouldn’t work either, he would refuse any cookies even though he loved them before. Because you know: ginger! As I said: in the brain, not the tastebuds.

This is the last month in which the ABC bakers conclude their year of baking with Abigail Dodge: The Weekend Baker. I certainly had my favourites, there weren’t many disappointments and if there were it was probably more that it wasn’t to our liking than the recipe in itself.

As I said before I love the concept of the book, I think it’s brilliant to look at baking fresh family favorites from the viewpoint of a busy household. In every recipe Abby follows a set of  guidelines. She tells you the do aheads, e.g. prepare through to step X then refrigerate, or prepare through step XX and freeze. Each step is numbered, so it’s easy reading and a quick look up.
Where possible flavor variations are given and the best of all; ingredients are listen in either metric (grams), imperial (ounces), or volume (cups..). This was/is certainly a book I enjoy baking from!

After the boys had their fill I layered some 40 cookies in a single layer between waxed paper and put in the freezer…. I plan to get some of them out by the end of next week to see how they keep. Also I have stored a couple in the fridge in an airtight container. So by the end of next week I’ll be able to decide whether to bake again the week after and refrigerate until the big dinner party or keep the remainder in the freezer. Edit to say: these store beautifully!! In the fridge as well as the freezer. The batch from the freezer (single layers between waxed paper came out like fresh!)

We still have a cookie jar left filled with crackles to enjoy tonight and tomorrow!
You can get the recipe on Abby's website here. And if you like you can hop over to the ABC blog to see how the other ABC bakers did.

Notes on the recipe:
- held back on the ground cloves, added 1/4 tsp instead of 1/2
- no molasses and no golden syrup in the pantry; substituted “keukenstroop”
- smaller cookes, baked shorter time (10 minutes)
- fan assisted oven, decreased temp by 20C to 160C
- rolled in unrefined sugar

All in all a lovely tender cookie, crisp exterior, slightly chewy interior. Re-bake-able! (and you know, I think it would be great to mix it up in ice cream..)

Technorati Tags: ginger,cookie,molasses,chewy

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Proefwerk week… / School test week

Als het dan koud is .. en mistig.. en je moet een 2 uur durend scheikunde proefwerk maken, waarbij je ongeveer net zo lang op de fiets zit als je op school zit… Nou dan mag je wel een gevuld koekje (of twee). Mét warme chocomel.

Het gaat trouwens wel hard met die bite-size gevulde koekjes zeg! Oma’s trommeltje zat bijna vol. En nu niet meer. Ik dacht toch echt dat er maar eentje in huis was met een proefwerkweek. Tsk!

The perfect treat for this coming testweek: bite size almond paste filled cookies. For me they’re two bite wonders, the boys think they can get two because for them it’s bite size. Scrunch. Gone. But today I don’t mind, with a two hour bike ride in this foggy cold  under your belt you deserve hot chocolate and two cookies.

Maple Pecan Date Rugelach / ABC December

Bad Bad picture... real good cookies!

December already and I haven't done much baking.. You would think I should be up to my elbows in flour and splashing butter and cream all around, filling the house with the scent of spices. Not yet, not yet!
The problem is that I always want to try something new but also want to revisit what we all love, like oven baked doughnuts for instance, or the mandel bread, a christmas stollen of course, bejeweled cookies...

So reality and thoughts interfere, sometimes so much that something is on my to-try-list for several years. This month's assignment was to bake Rugelach from Flo Braker's book, Baking for all Occasions! You see Rugelach was on my list. It was on my list for several years. Confession time.

I managed to find ground poppyseed filling on our annual shopping trip in Germany. For three years on a row. It sat in the basement. For months on end. Until it was past it's due date and I had to bin it. For three years on a row. *blush*

Luckily I'm quite stubborn and when I found myself in a German supermarket a couple of weeks ago, again I bought a bag of ground poppyseed. On the back of the bag it said that you had to mix it with a couple of tablespoons of milk and you were ready to go.


Since rugelach are easy to adapt to all kinds of filling that is what I did. I followed the recipes outline of using a filling with chopped walnuts, maple syrup, dates and cinnamon sugar. And that my dear friends was divine!!! Really really good. The poppy seed filling? Not so much. Quite tasteless I'm afraid. Did some research and I think I should have mixed some more flavour in it by using lemon and such. Will try again, there's half a bag left and this dough is wonderful to work with and makes excellent flaky crust.

I really loved this month's baking, the dough was an eye-opener and the filling -above- so yummy!
Have to apologize for the crappy pics... Made the rugelach quite early in the month, took some "action shots" and expected to make better pics in daylight... that just didn't happen. They were gone before I knew it and I didn't find the time to bake them again. So this is it!

(to see what the other ABC-bakers made please check the blog list on the right hand side of the ABC blog or follow the links in the comment section. Thanks!)

ABC: Profiteroles or –ice- creampuffs with caramel

Another month of ABC-baking brings us another recipe from Flo Braker's "Baking For All Occasions"

This time it’s the perfect seasonal recipe because the miniature puffs are filled with pumpkin ice cream…. and caramel!

I have to admit I skipped the ice cream immediately upon reading. Pumpkin is something that we try to adopt but still is an acquired taste. No pumpkin puree here, and pumpkin ice cream? Nowhere. All that plus knowing that my kids love profiteroles and hate pumpkin anything the decision was quick and final.What I did do is make a gorgeous caramel, and whipped some of my home-made lemon curd with double cream. I used scissors to snip an opening in the puffs, spooned some caramel in the hole and used a piping bag to make a nice swirl of lemon curd cream….  You can’t see the color in the pics but the cream had a nice yellow glow.

These were gobbled up immediately… boys and their sweets? No time to wait until frozen! I kept half of them apart and froze them anyway without their knowing. So there will be a frosty surprise in the near future!

Notes:
- the recipe states to make a cookie dough and use cut outs on top of the unbaked cream puffs.  (you can see one right here on the pic). I still haven’t made my mind up about that one. I like the original idea, and the crisp of the cookie was a nice surprise against the softness of the cream puff. I do think however that I want my puffs to have their original bite.

- next time I will pipe the mounds of batter on my baking sheet instead of using a spoon to get a more finished end product

 

- I measured exactly 180 ml of eggs as stated in the recipe (about 3.5 eggs in my case)  but ended up leaving about 1 egg in the cup. So I used 2.5 eggs for this recipe to get a dough firm enough. It is a good thing to have your eggs ready and loosened a bit by a fork so you can pour as much in as you need.

 

- Mine were bit bigger than the recipe stated, I only got around 24 puffs. Sprinkled some sugar pearls on top of some of them.

- I liked the recipe and the way it was written, great puffs! On to the next challenge!

(to see what the other ABC-bakers made please check the blog list on the right hand side of the ABC blog or follow the links in the comment section. Thanks!)

Why moose have green feet (and other cookies)

13-yr old and me decorating cookies.

Mom, wouldn't it be fun if we had green icing? Or red? It's Christmas... White is boring. The green I had wasn't exactly the Christmas kind of green but let's pretend. It's green and he was happy. How happy I found out in an instant.

Getting another batch from the oven, I turned and saw moose with green feet.

Me: What? But.. why? Why moose with green feet?

13: Sure they have green feet, figures

Me: "?"

13: Well. Like. They happen to live in swamps right? Well Dûh...

Me: "?!"

13: (sighs) Hence the green feet...tssk

Ooookaaay fast forward. There's another 13yr-old in this house and he enters the building:

13 #2: Hey, moose with green feet. That's fun! (chews and swallows) And good!

Me: would you believe your brother gave the moose green feet?

13 #2: Have you ever seen a moose upside down in a swamp?

Me: No!!

13#2: Ha, see? Now you know why!

13#1 and 13#2 make a high five and leave the kitchen.....

Chocolate-toffee slice, spreading the love

Oh boy and you thought you were done baking for the holidays? No way you're going to bake again?

Way!

Maybe I can convince you: easy, freezes perfectly, nice give-away. My kids strongly advise you not to. Give it away. (That's not Christmas spirit boys!) They changed their mind: bake up a double batch and consider giving one away. Tsk! Boys!

Recipe is found and copied from Recipegirl and she found and adapted it from: The Weekend Baker by Abigail Johnson Dodge

CHOCOLATE- TOFFEE SLICE

1 stick (4 ounces or 8 Tbsp. ) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup (4 ounces) firmly packed brown sugar (I used soft light brown sugar)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 large egg yolk
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup ( 4 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
3 Tbsp. heavy whipping cream **
1/2 cup packaged toffee pieces (I used peanut toffee pieces***)
festive sprinkles, optional

1. Position an oven rack on the middle rung. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 9 1/2-inch tart pan with a removeable bottom. ****

2. In a large bowl, combine butter, dark brown sugar and salt. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until well-blended. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat just until combined. Pour in the flour and beat on low speed until the dough begins to clump together. Scrape the dough into the prepared pan, scattering the pieces evenly. Using your fingertips (lightly floured, if necessary), pat the dough onto the bottom (not up the sides) of the prepared pan to form an even layer. Bake until the top looks dry and the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the pan, 25 to 27 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate with the cream in a double boiler or in the microwave (30 second bursts, keep stirring after each burst, until smooth). When the crust is baked, transfer the pan to the rack. Pour the warm chocolate ganache over the warm crust and spread evenly to within 1/2-inch of the edge (an offset spatula is a good tool to use for this). Scatter the toffee pieces evenly over the ganache and gently press them into the chocolate. If you’re using festive sprinkles, sprinkle those on top and gently press into the chocolate too.

4. Let cool completely until the chocolate is completely set, about 4 hours at room temperature or about 2 hours in the refrigerator. Remove the outer ring of the tart pan and cut the “cookie tart” into wedges. Serve the wedges chilled or at room temperature.

** Had to use quite a bit of milk to get my chocolate smooth and soft enough for spreading, however it didn't influence the end result, it was smooth and nice and exactly right in texture. I used a couverture quality bittersweet block of chocolate which I chopped and melted bain marie.

*** For my Dutch readers: toffee bit are non-existant here, (I had some hidden in my pantry, all the way from the USA) but do chop up a Mars/Milky Way bar or attack some chewy toffees with scissors, something like that.

**** Couldn't resist using my new rectangular tart pan with removable bottom, so I had a little left-over dough and chocolate ganache and used a mini springform (upper picture). My neighbors -an older couple- were happy!

Lemon curd thumb print cookies (Wordless Wednesday)

Thumb print cookies

Lemon curd two ways

Stubborn is the word: Chewy Amaretti

You are not allowed to think of pink elephants.

Well? What happened? I bet you just did. Your mind ignores the "don't" word and goes straight on to the pink elephant. They say kids think like that. Never say: don't run. It summons the wrong mind image/attitude and whoops there they go..  Censorship attracts attention so to speak. 

She specifically mentioned it. NO marzipan. Unfortunately it triggered the exact opposite reaction. Hadn't Deb from Smitten Kitchen written that warning I would never have thought about that big chunk of marzipan in my fridge. But she did. And I made amaretto cookies with marzipan. Tsk tsk.

I had to feel my way around the marzipan. What I had in the fridge was a brick of raw marzipan which was quite firm and not as moist as almond paste (although I think even "your" almond paste differs from ours because it is sold in tubes and/or cans? Ours is sold -again- in bricks wrapped in foil and has to be kneaded with some egg yolk prior to use). 

So I added 1 tbs of cream and 1/2 tsp of lime juice to the marzipan in the food processor, used less sugar: 2/3 cup instead of 1. Mixed the marzipan with the liquid and sugar in the food processor and proceeded with adding 2 egg whites, pureed until smooth. Piped in nice rounds and baked for 15 minutes on 140 circulation oven.

My first attempt was nice, real chewy (as in warn the dentist chewy) but not entirely what I would have liked to see. My nicely domed buttons went flat during cooling and I thought they were not light enough, the center was still very moist. Nonetheless the test batch -left on the counter unattended- disappeared within an hour. Addicitively chewy! I returned to the kitchen and grabbed a handful. More than once.

Next batch I will omit the tbs cream and go with just the lime juice, add some zest as well for extra zing; try to use even less sugar; I'm thinking 1/2 cup.

Juweel van een koekje / Slice & Bake: Bejeweled cookies

(English? Please scroll)

Kennen wij dat eigenlijk ook in Nederland? Zo'n rol deeg waar je plakjes van af snijdt, in de oven legt en vervolgens koekjes van bakt? Geen idee eigenlijk. Het is natuurlijk wel verrekte handig, zeker omdat het deeg in de koelkast dagen goed blijft, en in de vriezer wel een paar weken. Je kunt net zoveel afsnijden als je nodig hebt en de rest leg je gewoon weer terug. (Haha... tuurlijk! Nou ja, het zou kunnen). Het zou praktischer zijn geweest om dit recept te posten vóór de Kerst, maar dat kwam er even niet van. Je hebt nu natuurlijk wel de kans om alle varianten uit te proberen, en wie weet er zelf nog een paar te verzinnen zodat je er hélemaal klaar voor bent. Voor Kerst. Volgend jaar. Het mág eerder hoor, ze zijn namelijk heerlijk. Bros, boterig, smaakje, erg lekker.

Basisdeeg:

200 gram boter, zacht op kamertemperatuur

125 gram basterdsuiker

2 eidooiers

1 a 2 tl vanille extract

300 gr patent bloem

klein snufje zout

voorbeelden van toevoegingen:

- rasp van 1 a 2 citroenen plus 2 el maanzaad

- rasp van 1 sinasappel plus 2 el gehakte hazelnoten en 75 gr gehakte gedroogde cranberries

- geraspte chocola plus amandelen

- 50 gr bloem vervangen door 50 gr cacao

In een kom met een houten lepel de boter en suiker goed mengen, dooiers en vanille-extract erdoor roeren. Kies je smaakje en voeg dit toe aan het mengsel. De bloem zeven met het zout en erdoor scheppen. (Niet overdadig roeren anders wordt het deeg taai, gewoon goed mengen). Je hebt nu een heel zachte deegpasta, zet dit een paar uur afgedekt in de koelkast om op te stijven.

Vorm van het inmiddels stijve maar plakkerige deeg twee (of drie) rollen, ongeveer 3-4 cm in doorsnede. Om het makkelijker te maken kun je het rollen alvast in plasticfolie doen dan plakt het niet zo.

Nu kun je de rollen ofwel invriezen, (goed verpakt in plastic blijven ze zeker een aantal weken goed in de vriezer), ofwel goed verpakt een paar dagen in de koelkast bewaren tot gebruik, óf in plakjes van ongeveer een halve centimeter snijden en afbakken in een matig warme oven. Ze blijven ietwat bleek met een goudbruin randje.

180 C (hetelucht 160C), ong. 10-13 minuten. 

Deze variant is toevallig met in stukjes gesneden gedroogde cranberries, stukjes hazelnoot en sinasappel, maar met citroen rasp en maanzaad zijn ze ook fantastisch. (De Lidl heeft deze week gedroogde cranberries!)

Brain wave! An RV, a Safeway, Grand Tetons area , 13 years ago, I bought a roll of frozen cookie dough. Together with son nr. 1 I baked cookies. Used a spoon to scoop the dough and I think we shaped it with our hands. Cookies. Maybe I should have read the instructions. Because all of sudden now I think that these must have been slice and bake cookies.  I don't think we know such a concept in the Netherlands, having baked these I'm a convert!

I found recipes for these addictive and oh so easy cookies in multiple  places (margarita flavour!) on the Net, all based on Dorie Greenspan's Lemon sablé recipe. The one I used is found here. 

Cookie exchange and a little improvisation

A day before our houses were invaded with guests fellow Bread Baking Babe and friend Monique (Living on Bread and Water) and I took a time-out to bake cookies together. Knowing our ability to blab and laugh a day to darkness we decided we would best prepare some different doughs and do a dough-exchange instead of baking cookies.

She prepared Crinkle cookie dough and Peanutbutter pecan chocolate chip cookies, I baked Mandel bread, Cinnamon roll cookies and had dough for lemon-poppyseed slice&bake ready for her in the fridge.

We exchanged doughs. We talked. Had coffee. Talked some more. Ended in the kitchen anyway at lunchtime and browsed a little booklet Monique had with her. Decided to bake. Improvise. We stirred a dough very much like this one. Instead of using a piping bag (which we tried but the dough was far too stiff to be piped) we rolled marble sized pieces of dough, placed them in mini-muffin tins and paper cups.

I'd mixed an equal amount of caramel and sweetened condensed milk and that became the base for the topping. We proceeded to place (carefully; with a keen eye for composition!) various nuts and candied fruit in each and every cup. Sprinkled some tiny sugar pearls on top and in the oven they went. 15 minutes 160C. 

They looked so adorable in their pretty paper cups, we hardly waited for them to cool and sampled.... Nothing! Absolutely tasted like nothing! How could that happen? 

A bit desillusioned Monique returned home with her stash of cookies and dough. I cleaned the kitchen, my dough in the fridge, put the kettle on and nonchalantly grabbed another one of the pretty/non-tasting cookies.

I loved it! Cooled they tasted of almond paste cookies, the caramel came through and the nuts were a welcome crunch! Quickly texted Monique to not throw them for the dogs (aka kids). Lesson learned: not every cookie is great right out of the oven! This one needs a thorough cooling and will keep for a couple of days!

Met liefde / With love

From Holland, Baking Soda and family wish you all a very Merry Christmas! I hope you're surrounded by people you love and feel warm, cozy and comfy. (and have access to nice and yummy food. That too!)

Recipe to be found here!

Most amazing! Cheese-cake smoothie

(even scrollen voor Nederlands)

I wasn't supposed to drink until after I made the pictures; and I forgot! This really is something.. And it's healthy! There's yoghurt in there, milk and fruit, no ice cream but simple ice cubes, and I'll just briefly mention the creamcheesecookiescaramel. See, I told ya: healthy!

Cheese cake smoothie

125 ml milk

1 banana (or equal weight other fruit)

60 gr cream cheese

75 ml yoghurt

1 tbs caramel sauce (nutella...?)

2 drops vanilla (or vanilla sugar)

4 ice cubes

2 ginger cookies (healthier option: 4 tbs granola)

Because I like my cheese cake with a crust I added 2 ginger cookies. (Made them last week and there were only 10 left -out of 50-, that good!)

Combine in a blender, blend and enjoy!

Voor alle zekerheid toch even in het Nederlands, dit is echt iets om uit te proberen, heel vlug klaar, erg lekker en gezónd joh! Melk, yoghurt, fruit, geen ijs maar ijsklontjes, en als ik heel vlug over de roomkaaskoekjescaramel heen fiets merk je het niet. Zie je? Hartstikke gezond, zei ik toch?

Kwarktaart smoothie

125 ml melk
1 banaan (of ong. hetzelfde gewicht aan ander fruit)
60 gr roomkaas (je hebt zelfs light tegenwoordig dussss)
75 ml yoghurt
1 el caramel saus (chocolade pasta? kan ook!)
2 druppels vanille (of 1 tl vanille suiker)
4 ijsklontjes

2 gemberkoekjes (4 el muesli is ook lekker)

Alles samen in een blender, mixen en klaar!

DB's Dare to d-eclair

that Pierre Hermé is their Sugardaddy by making his recipe for double chocolate éclairs their own. Meeta hosted this month's challenge, Toni acted as her side-kick and together they had us all set to make pate a choux, a -chocolate- pastry cream and a -chocolate- glaze.

I knew right from the start that this was a recipe that would score points in my family of chocolate lovers, helped by the fact that this is a familiar treat in Holland/Europe. Familiar in bakeries all over Holland by the name of "Soesjes" (tiny bite-sized cream puffs), their bigger brothers called "Moorkoppen".

and of course the city I live in is famous for their "Sjoklade bóllen"; really really big cream puffs, filled with whipped cream and topped with a very dark thick layer of shiny chocolate glaze.

The latter a meal in itself as Sue and Tanna discovered one Sunday summer morning last year.

So...

Was I scared? No.
Did I take necessary precautions? No.
Took time out of a busy schedule to prepare for this challenge? No.
Did I focus? Ummm, No not exactly.

I made choux pastry, and thought the dough didn't look like what I was used to. Less shiny, less elastic, but the consistency seemed allright so ahead with it. Baked according to the directions and yes they all puffed. A bit wrinkled on top, maybe they could have done with some more heat, or a longer oventime I don't know. I found them to be somewhat softer and moister than I was used to. Still, the inside was nice and dry, and showed an intricate web of holes and pastry.
Next was the pastry cream. We were allowed flavour variations, but had to keep at least one chocolate element; either the pastry cream or the glaze. I decided to go for a chocolate pastry cream. I aimed for a "Banana éclair", filling of chocolate pastry cream and fresh banana, topped with a vanilla glaze and some more banana slices....

While cooking dinner for five.
While having an after-school-talk to one kid in the kitchen.
While directing the others to set the table.
While welcoming the husband into the house.
While loading the washer.
Stirring pastry cream...

which needs some attention. I didn't cook the pastry cream long enough, I should have given it somewhat more time to get a firmer custard that I could pipe. I had to spoon it in, quickly added the banana, closed the eclair (quick, before the chocolate escaped!), piped some whipped cream on top and decorated with some more banana slices. We each had one after dinner, together with a small bowl of chocolate pastry cream pudding. My men didn't mind at all! Had to be quick to snap some blurry pictures. We had the rest of the pastry cream (which actually firmed up relatively nice during the stay in the fridge) as a dessert the next day.

Verdict: Think I won't use the cream puff recipe again, the pastry cream on the other hand was very very good! Nice challenge!

Nature or Nurture: Have a cookie.. or two? Dutch fare

The million dollar question... someone comes over for coffee and a chat. You go ahead, brew some fresh coffee, and sure enough something to nibble on.

What do you do?

A) Present a cookie, close the lid on the jar and put it out of reach?

or

B) Present a cookie, put the cookie jar out on the table and with a hand gesture encourage to go ahead and have some more?

A..... you're Dutch!

B..... might as well be Dutch but you've learned a thing or two...

I know the stories about the thrifty Dutch who, with one eye on the clock (6 pm) send guests out on the street when dinner time is nearing and it seems that the cookie thing is world famous. We (as in "we Dutch") offer sweets... one with each cup of coffee and that's it. Period.

When Ulrike asked me about the latter, I had to think...and blushed... I think it's true! Not too sure about my generation but I know for sure that for instance my mother in law had a strict schedule in presenting. Special days there were bonbons (one! with a tiny bonbon saucer) with the first cup of coffee. And a -one- butter cookie with the second cup of coffee. Oh and coffee; she used to ask how many cups of coffee you'd like and brewed exactly that amount... no way she'd risk throwing out any extra! Oooh stories... I have so many I could tell you... I think no one from my family in law reads this but let's keep it safe...

To assure you, (and show you the contrast hehe) I come from a family that habitually brews enormous pots of coffee, loads the table during birthday parties, always had plenty food for any guests (or inventive enough to come up with something), the cookie jar out on the table. Contrary..when my friends and I meet over coffee, we just have coffee.. but that might have to do with our hips and thighs.....

Recipe butter cookies:

200 gr butter, softened

100 gr soft white sugar

2 tbs (2 packages) gr vanilla sugar

1/4 ts salt

250 gr patent flour

1 egg, loosened with a fork (eggwash)

topping of your choice, eg: ginger, candied peel, sugar clumps, jam, sprinkles

Combine butter, sugars and salt (medium bowl, spoon or fork). Add the flour and make a soft-ish dough. Wrap in plastic and leave to firm in the fridge (at least 1 hour).

On a floured work surface proceed to roll out your dough, aim for 4 mm (1/4 inch). Either use a cutter or a knife to make squares, brush with eggwash and choose your topping. I made an assortment and used some of each.

Gather your scraps, and do it all over again. Bake for 15 minutes on 180C, keep an eye out they might brown easily and you'll have to pull them out before the timer rings.

Rest assured, this will make enough to survive one or maybe even two (!) coffee visits ;-D

Ei-vrije chocolate chip koekjes

Eén van de vriendjes van zoon nr. 2 en 3 heeft een flink lijstje allergieën, één daarvan is kippenei. Zijn moeder is een vriendin van mij en ik heb heel veel bewondering voor haar creativiteit in het verzinnen van alternatieven en aanpassingen. Het is niet makkelijk, zeker niet nu er de laatste tijd nogal wat "verboden" dingen zijn bijgekomen. De dagelijkse maaltijd is een ware uitdaging en zeker op het gebied van koek en gebak is ei-vrij natuurlijk een probleem.

Je kunt je voorstellen hoe blij ik was toen ik per ongeluk dit recept tegenkwam bij Patricia van Technicolor Kitchen. Toevallig was ik net bezig een voorraadje chewy chocolate chip cookies te maken (mijn favoriete recept is dat van King Arthur) en meteen hiervan ook maar een voorraadje gemaakt.

Recept:
280 gr patent bloem

1 tl baking soda*

3/4 tl zout

225 gr boter, gesmolten en licht afgekoeld**

220 gr kristalsuiker

80 gr donkerbruine basterdsuiker

1 tl vanille aroma/essence

3 el water

250 gr chocolate chips*** (ik heb minder gebruikt)

Mijn standmixer met K-klopper is ideaal voor dit deeg maar in een kom met een houten lepel gaat het natuurlijk ook.

Mix de boter met beide soorten suiker en de vanille.
Zeef bloem, zout en baking soda samen en voeg dit bij het botermengsel. Mix met een houten lepel totdat meel en boter net gemengd zijn. Het deeg ziet er nu los en krummelig uit. Voeg vervolgens de 3 el water toe en mix...zie daar, opeens een mooi zacht en glad deeg! Roer met een lepel de chocolade erdoor en schep met een eetlepel of een kleine ijsschep mooie gelijkmatige bergjes op een met bakpapier beklede bakplaat.

Afbakken: voorverwarmde oven, 175C (hetelucht), 17 minuten. Na het bakken 5 minuten laten koelen op de bakplaat, verder afkoelen op een rooster.

Resultaat: Absoluut goed! Lekkere, smaakvolle brosse koekjes. De jongens vonden de ei-loze brosse variant misschien nog wel lekkerder dan de originele "chewy" waar ik zelf nogal gecharmeerd van ben.

* Baking Soda is hier bekend onder verschillende namen; zuiveringszout, dubbelkoolzure soda, natrium bicarbonaat en uiteraard is baking soda te vinden op http://www.bakemyday.blogspot.com/;-). Ik koop het bij de apotheek, in een groen kartonnen doosje van het merk Gimborn. Kijk ook eens bij de Turkse/Marokkaanse winkels of toko's daar is het waarschijnlijk nog goedkoper te vinden.

** Boter. Soms vervang ik een deel van de -room-boter door margarine. Door het verschil in vocht kun je zo wat spelen met het uitlopen van het deeg.

***helaas nog steeds niet in de supermarkt...; rasp of hak met een groot koksmes een blok of reep chocolade in stukjes. Misschien heb je nog chocolade letters liggen?

Knibbel knabbel knuisje... / Gingerbread house goes Dutch

(scroll for a little English)

Leuk hoor, doe ik een poging om een ludieke edoch inspirerende draai te geven aan het Kerst thema... bel halverwege de constructie enthousiast mijn moeder om te vertellen hoe ontzettend blij ik weer bezig ben... Zegt ze doodleuk: ah! je hebt de Libelle gezien! Nou..... nee dus! Hmm, ik moet mijn literatuur wat beter bij gaan houden geloof ik. Hier zijn de printbare werktekeningen te vinden. Alhoewel ik graag een zij- en achterkant aan mijn huis wil maar dat valt simpel op te lossen natuurlijk....en een dak... Hihi, toch wat zelfwerkzaamheid dan maar? Toegegeven, de voorkant is wel erg leuk. Verder kun je je helemaal verloren zoeken met de zoekterm "Gingerbread house" en ook met "Lebkuchenhaus" is natuurlijk het e.e.a. te vinden. Ik heb het recept van King Arthur aangepast als volgt:

170 gr melk

85 gr margarine

225 gr basterdsuiker (of rietsuiker maar dat had ik niet)

170 gr ouderwetse stroop (uit die bekende gele kartonnen pot)

1 ei

700 gr bloem + nog zo'n 140 gram (de goedkoopste)

1 tl baking soda

1 tl gemberpoeder

1 tl kaneel

1/2 tl zout

Verwarm de melk met de margarine tot het net gesmolten is. Van het vuur af roer je hier de suiker en stroop door en klop je het ei erdoor. De kruiden met zout en baking soda door een gedeelte van de bloem mixen en aan het natte mengsel toevoegen. Roer met een houten lepel goed door. Nu in gedeeltes de rest van de bloem toevoegen tot je een glad en stevig deeg hebt. (Kan evt ook met de K-klopper van je mixer) Denk erom, doordat het melk-boter mengsel nog vrij warm is blijft het deeg erg zacht, het moet door het opstijven in de koelkast stevigheid krijgen. Vorm van het deeg 2 platte schijven, verpak ze in een plastic zak en laat opstijven in de koelkast. Uiteindelijk had ik zo'n 1400 gram klei-achtig deeg dat ik een nacht in de koelkast heb laten liggen alvorens het te gebruiken. Prima uit te rollen en uitstekend te snijden.

Probeer bij het uitrollen een gelijke dikte aan te houden, dan zijn de delen iets makkelijker aan elkaar te passen, niet te dun uitrollen want dan vervormen de delen bij het overhevelen van het snijvlak naar de bakplaat. Aangezien dit deeg toch wel richting de Duitse Lebkuchen gaat zwellen de onderdelen iets op tijdens het bakken en dat vind ik op zich wel iets gezelligs hebben. Afgezien van het uiterlijk is dit deeg ook erg makkelijk te bewerken, het is namelijk niet bros of breekbaar zoals speculaas-deeg. Ook een stuk minder lekker overigens, het is bouw-deeg, geen eet-deeg.Stom genoeg ben ik vergeten foto's te nemen tijdens de voorbereidingen, op de een of andere manier had ik maar 2 handen op dat moment. Enne....iedereen gaat je dus vertellen om Royal Icing te gebruiken als lijm. Tja, dat kan. Wat je ook kunt doen, is eerst een paar uur naar de gebakken onderdelen kijken, bang zijn om te beginnen, en dan zo rond een uur of 10 spoorslags naar de schuur lopen, je lijmpistool tevoorschijn halen, je echtgenoot van de bank rukken omdat je zijn handen nodig hebt en in 10 minuten zit je huis letterlijk muurvast! Tsjakka! (Had ik al gezegd dat we dit huis niet gingen eten? Dan weet je nu waarom niet).

Zet een kartonnen doos aan de binnenkant van je hoeken om ze keurig haaks te maken. Dat werkt uitstekend, rechte hoeken en de kartonnen doos muurvast......ahum.

Investeer eventueel in een pot Marshmallow Fluff, met een satéprikker of klein kwastje is dat uitstekend te gebruiken als lijm voor je decoraties. (Mocht je nog over hebben dan kun je daar ook terecht voor recepten...geloof me, je wilt het echt niet op je brood, niet te smeren dat spul).

Ik heb glas in lood ramen gemaakt door een blaadje gelatine op maat te knippen en de gestanste ruitvorm na te trekken met een rode viltstift. Voor het dak heb ik eetpapier rondjes gebruikt (ouwel) die ik in 4-en heb geknipt, maar choc. chips dakpannen zijn ook erg leuk en wat dacht je van cornflakes of andere ontbijtprodukten?

En dan kun je dus los op de versieringen! Jammer genoeg beschikken wij hier in Nederland niet over de kerst-kleurige snoepjes die in Amerika rond deze tijd te koop zijn (groen-wit en rood-wit gestreepte chocolate chips! Rood en groene M&M's!) maar met een beetje fantasie en een andere blik op het snoepschap is er een hoop te bedenken. Hoe meer kleurstof en nare E-nummers hoe beter in dit geval. Als je je huis wat groter maakt ben je misschien wat vrijer in je keuze van versieringen, kerstkransjes doen het erg leuk als krans op de voordeur. In mijn geval was waarschijnlijk de voordeur kreunend ten onder gegaan....

Het moeilijkste vond ik om een beslissing te nemen of ik over the top Amerikaans of elegant minimalistisch zou gaan.... Ik bedoel maar, een huisje in sober wit en bruin is natuurlijk ook erg leuk. Toch maar 2 maken dan? Mijn geplande elegante decoraties in wit en groene icing zijn helaas in rook opgegaan wegens tijdgebrek, volgende keer!

Euh...mocht je dit nu helemaal niet zien zitten...spoorslags naar een Ikea-vestiging in de buurt, daar hadden ze altijd kant- en klare bouwpakketten.

My first attempt in building a gingerbread house resulted in lots of trepidation, it took me days, literally, to muster up the courage to even start building... I knew I couldn't finish building and decorating in consecutive days so I hesitated to make Royal Icing. Finally, late at night, I did the unspeakable; I took to the glue gun! (not to inhale, just to build although that late at night I could've done with a little "pick me up"). Still procrastinating the darn RI.. I used marshmallow fluff to glue decorations, and planned to finally make some for elegant swirls and outlines. Alas, time was up and after a quick photo shoot (hence the crappy pics), the house was ready for a 2 hour drive. It's with a friend of mine now and I hope they enjoy it. I will be making another one, now that I know how to, but that might be postponed till next year.... This is my entry for the Gingerbread house event at Yumsugar

Front of the house prior to decorating...