Tag: biscuits and cookies

  • New York City’s Levain-style chocolate chip cookies

    New York City’s Levain-style chocolate chip cookies

    I’m not quite sure how I escaped it, but I only came across New York City’s Levain Bakery cookies a few months ago, despite their legendary status.

    After hours of research – comparing recipes, watching a 2008 video where the bakery’s founders shape the dough together . and a few tests in my own kitchen, I finally have a go-to recipe. Not quite the same as a flight to New York, but close enough.

    Six-ounce cookies with a deep golden crust and a fudgy crumb. I baked a few straight away, then tucked the rest into the freezer for later – because knowing they’re there, waiting, is a pleasure in itself.

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    New York City’s Levain-style chocolate chip cookies

    Adapted from Hijabs and Aprons.
    Big, craggy, gooey-in-the-middle cookies inspired by the ones from New York's Levain bakery. Perfect with a glass of cold milk or an afternoon coffee.
    I find that these are even better on the day after I bake them. 
    I usually make a couple of big ones – weighing 160-170g – then roll the rest in smaller balls – approximately 60-70g each – and freeze for later use. 

    Notes

    On baking smaller cookies
    For smaller cookies, divide dough into 60-70g portions and bake for 10-12 minutes.
    On freezing cookie dough balls
    To freeze dough balls, place them on a tray lined with baking paper and freeze until solid. Then, transfer them to a freezer bag. To remove excess air without a vacuum sealer, insert a straw into the bag’s opening, seal the bag around the straw, and suck out the air. Quickly seal the bag upon removing the straw.
    When ready to bake, place the frozen dough balls directly on a baking sheet and bake, adding a couple of extra minutes to the usual baking time.
    On vanilla sugar
    Vanilla sugar is a staple in many French and Swedish homes. However, a teaspoonful of vanilla extract will do the trick if you don’t have any on hand.
    If you wish, you can even make your own vanilla sugar. I always collect used vanilla pods, wash them if needed, and leave them to dry in a pot in my skafferi [pantry] until crisp. Then, I mix 3-4 dried pods with 200-300g of caster sugar, grind them to a powder, and store it in an airtight container.
    Author: Fanny Zanotti
    Prep Time30 minutes
    Cook Time15 minutes
    Total Time2 hours 45 minutes
    Makes 8 large cookies

    Ingredients

    • 115 g salted butter at room temperature
    • 200 g light muscovado sugar
    • 50 g golden caster sugar
    • 1 tsp vanilla sugar
    • 1 tsp flaky sea salt
    • 2 eggs
    • 300 g plain flour
    • 1½ tsp baking powder
    • 1 tsp baking soda
    • 250 g walnuts roughly chopped
    • 300 g dark chocolate chips I used Callebaut’s 56.9%

    Instructions

    • Preheat the oven to 190°C / fan 170°C. Line one or two baking sheets with baking paper.
    • In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, sugars, and salt until creamy, about 3 minutes.
    • Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
    • In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Add to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in the walnuts and chocolate chips.
    • Divide the dough into 8 rough balls, about 160-170g each. Shape them loosely into balls.
    • Place on the lined baking sheet, spacing them apart.
    • Bake for 14-16 minutes, until the tops are golden brown with lighter patches. Let the cookies set on the hot tray for at least 10 minutes before moving them – this allows the centers to firm up.
    • Allow to cool down completely, and store into an airtight container.

  • Chewy snickerdoodles

    Chewy snickerdoodles

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    Chewy snickerdoodles

    Adapted from Sarah Kieffer's 100 COOKIES.
    It is no secret that I absolutely love cinnamon in my biscuits, and yet, I had never baked snickerdoodles before.
    Like most thing cookies, I settled for Sarah Kieffer's recipe, making a few adjustments according to what my cupboard had to offer. the result? Chewy-centrered snickerdoodles with a crisp edge and a fragrant coating of cinnamon.
    A new favourite!
    Author: Fanny Zanotti
    Prep Time15 minutes
    Cook Time12 minutes
    Makes 24 cookies

    Ingredients

    For the dough

    • 220 g salted butter at room temperature
    • 350 g caster sugar
    • 1/4 tsp flaky sea salt
    • 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla sugar
    • 1 egg
    • 1 egg yolk
    • 355 g plain flour
    • 1 tsp baking powder
    • 1/4 tsp baking soda

    To coat

    • 60 g golden caster sugar or demerara sugar
    • 1 tbsp ground cinnamon

    Instructions

    • Preheat the oven to 175°C/fan 160°C.
    • Cream the butter, sugar, salt and vanilla using a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachement – although a hand-mixer works almost just as well – for 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy.
    • Add the egg and yolk, and mix util combined.
    • Add the flour, baking powder and soda, and mix again on low speed until the dough just starts to come together.
    • In a separate bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon for the coating and set aside until needed.
    • Place the dough on top of your work surface, and roll into a log. Divide in 4. Roll each piece of dough into a longer log, then divide in 6.
    • Roll each piece of dough into a ball, then coat in cinnamon sugar.
    • Place onto a baking tray lined with baking paper – around 8-9 cookies per tray, and bake for 12-14 minutes until the tops begin to crackle. As soon as the cookies come out from the oven, re-shape them using an upside-down glass or a round cookie cutter.
    • Allow to cool down and store in an air-tight container for up to 3 days.
  • Nigella’s butter cut-out cookies

    Nigella’s butter cut-out cookies

    Nigella's butter cut-out cookies

    Time stood still as Sienna and I flipped through the pages of Nigella’s Feast, searching for our next baking project; she stumbled upon numbers cut-out cookies, iced in vibrant colors, and I was immediately transported to the first time I ever baked these cookies, years ago.

    We’d just gotten back from a weekend getaway in London where I had bought snowflake cutters and silver sugar pearls from a quaint little cake decorating shop that lined a square, which name I’ve since forgotten, in Chelsea.

    I think I might have even shared the recipe on my first blog foodbeam, do you recall it too?

    Iced butter cut-out cookies.

    Fast-forward to last January, when Sienna and I eagerly pulled out our pepparkaksformar [gingerbread cutters] from the pantry. The countertops were soon covered in a dusting of flour as we mixed, rolled, and cut out the dough into – very much our of season – Christmas figures.

    Sienna’s eyes lit up with excitement as she iced the cookies and sprinkled them with violet sugar and snowflake sprinkles, a combination I can only recommend.

    Nigella's butter cut-out cookies

    We had the most wonderful time and the perfect fika, I couldn’t help but wonder why I had waited so many years to bake these cookies again. As I wiped clean the countertop, I promised myself it wouldn’t be long until the next time.

    To be continued!

    Nigella's butter cut-out cookies

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    Nigella’s butter cut-out cookies

    This classic recipe, adapted from Nigella Lawson's Feast, is celebration of buttery goodness and irresistible melt-in-your-mouth texture. Only using kitchen staples, these cookies are wonderful to make for every occasion – from everyday to birthday parties, from Christmas weekends to care packages – and the perfect recipe to make with children.

    Notes

    On baking iced cut-out cookies with children:
    – I find that piping a thin line of icing around the edge of the cookie and letting Sienna fill the cookies with a small piping bag of icing works best for everyone. 
    – I usually fill a disposable piping bag with a few tablespoons of icing for Sienna and then tie a knot or use a clip to seal the bag. 
    – Nigella says to ” colour as desired […] remembering with gratitude that children have very bad taste”; I most often opt not to use food colourings and will only give Sienna a few different scented sugars or sprinkles. And if I’m using food colourings, they have to be natural!
     
    A note on salted butter and salt:
    If you’d asked me years ago about my thoughts on salted butter I might have uttered a plain: “Non!”.
    But now, after living in Sweden for the past eight years or so, I almost exclusively bake using salted butter. And really, ‘m not ever going back, although I must admit it makes writing recipes harder as the salt content in butter varies greatly across the globe. Here in Sweden it is usually 1.2%.
    But that’s the reason why I reduced the amount of salt from the original recipe. If using unsalted butter, I’d recommend using a total of 1/2 tsp salt. 
    Author: Fanny Zanotti
    Prep Time20 minutes
    Cook Time12 minutes
    Total Time1 hour 32 minutes
    Makes 30 cookies

    Ingredients

    For the cut-out cookies

    • 90 g salted butter room temperature
    • 100 g caster sugar
    • 1 egg
    • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract or paste
    • 200 g plain flour
    • 1/2 tsp baking powder
    • 1/4 tsp salt read note above

    For the sugar icing

    • 150 g icing sugar
    • boiling water

    Instructions

    • Prepare two baking trays lined with baking paper.
    • Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
    • In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter and eggs, and mix it just starts to form a dough.
    • Shape into a thin disk and wrap in clingfilm. Allow to rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
    • When you are ready to make the cookies, preheat your oven to 180ºC/fan 160°C.
    • Sprinkle your work bench flour, place the disc of dough on it, and sprinkle with a light dusting of flour. Roll out to a thickness of about 5mm. Cut into shapes using cutters. If you find that the cutter sticks to the dough, dipping the cutter into flour as you go usually helps.
    • Place the biscuits a little apart on the baking sheets.
    • Bake for 8–12 minutes, or until lightly golden around the edges. Place on a write rack to cool.
    • When the cookies are cooled, get on with the icing. Place the icing sugar in a bowl, and add just-boiled water – a teaspoon at a time – until it forms a thick icing.
    • Decorate the cookies. I find that it’s easier to pipe a thin line of icing around the edge of the cookies, then fill in. At home, I’ll usually pipe the outline and then let Sienna fill the cookies in and add sprinkles.
    • Let the icing harden. When completely hard, transfer the cookies to an airtight container. They will keep for a week or two at room temperature.
    The aftermath!

    Nigella's butter cut-out cookies, the aftermath

  • Siennas chokladbollar

    Siennas chokladbollar

    [Sienna’s Swedish chocolate balls]

    A few things are always on rotation in our freezer. Really, if you’d come over – any day of the year – you’d very likely find the following: lingonberries and blåbär [blueberries] that we picked in the autumn, a bag of store-bought potatisbullar [hash browns] for an almost-instant school-night dinner, a few sausages from my favourite butcher, and Sienna’s favourite: chokladbollar [chocolate balls].

    Swedish chocolate balls are a staple in many homes. I might be wrong but I would say they’re categorised as små kakor [small cookies and biscuit] in Sweden. And thus the perfect companion for a Sunday afternoon fika. Or one that gets eaten after a day at pre-school, or even packed in a ziploc bag for a morning walk through snowy forests, along with our open-fire coffee pot.

    I often make them with Sienna. She will help cut the butter and weigh the sugar, oats and cocoa powder. But really, she’s mostly waiting to roll the dough into small balls. Depending on how festive we want the chokladbollar to be, we then roll them in a variety of toppings. Shredded coconut, sprinkles, cocoa nibs, or the very traditional pearl sugar.

    Sienna’s Swedish chocolate balls

    Makes 25-30 balls.

    200 g salted butter
    180 g caster sugar
    1 tbsp vanilla sugar
    250 g rolled oats
    60 g cocoa powder
    50 g strong coffee or milk

    To coat

    Pearl sugar
    Shredded coconut
    Sprinkles
    Cocoa nibs

    Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until combined. Form into small balls, 25-30g each. Coat in topping of choice. We love coconut and sprinkles! Refrigerate for an hour or freeze in an airtight container for later.

  • Apple pie shortbreads

    Apple pie shortbreads

    On snow.

    The first snow didn’t settle onto the ground. That night, the clouds broke into minute snowflakes as we stepped out from the house. And just like I did last year and the year before that, I stopped and stared into this black and white kaleidoscope for what could have been a nightlong, a lifelong really.

    It’s been snowing every day ever since. Flakes fluffy as cotton balls. At times for seconds, other times for hours. And although it still hasn’t turned our streets white, I have a feeling it won’t be long before it does.

    On nesting.

    There are the lamps on every windowsill, turned on as the sun sets, slightly earlier with every day that passes; for now, around half past four.

    There are the candles we burn, and the evenings spent threading rönnbär [rowan berry] into garlands.

    There is the soup plate that stands on our kitchen counter, by the right of the sink. In it, pinecones I collected during a walk in the forest, perhaps the last one before winter sets in. I turn them around every morning as I wait for my coffee to brew, and they open into an almost fractal pattern as they dry.

    There are the biscuits we bake. An early batch of pepparkakor [gingerbreads] – adapted from this recipe, more to come later -, crisp chocolate drömmar [dreams], made with hjorthornssalt [ammonium carbonate], and of course, cinnamon shortbreads. We keep a small tuperwareful of each in the last draw of our freezer, safely nested among the neverending bags of berries we picked under a summer that never really happened.

    But that’s another story for another day. In the meantime, here is to winter!

    Apple pie shortbreads

    These shortbreads were inspired by K., who suggested on one of our weekly trips to the store that we make biscuits filled with apple compote.

    We put a kilogram of small Swedish apples in our basket, along with a bag of caster sugar, and a block or two of butter.
    By the time we came home, we’d formed a pretty clear idea of these biscuits, even going as far as naming them apple pie shortbreads; because it is, essentially, what they are.

    The dough, made short with a lot of butter and a generous amount of starch is the updated version of this recipe by Leila Lindholm. Depending on what’s in my cupboards, I’ll make it with either potato starch or cornflour, and so should you.
    It’s a dough I use for many biscuits: from cinnamon shortbreads to hallon [raspberry] thumbprint cookies. A firm favourite in our house.

    The compote is cooked quickly over medium heat until the apples have released their juices, and begin to soften.
    You can use any apples that hold their shape well during baking. The list is long, but I’d suggest braeburn, royal gala, fuji, golden or granny smith, just to name a few really.

    You could pass on the glaze, although I think it is a wonderful addition, both in terms of sweetness and texture. As mentioned in the recipe below, I would however leave it out if keeping these in the fridge or the freezer, then glazing them right before they’re ready to be served.

    And as always, I bake my biscuits quite darker than the Swedes usually do; perhaps a French trait I can’t seem to rid of, I truly find that it makes for a better texture and a slight caramel flavour.

    Apple pie shortbreads

    Makes 24.

    For the dough
    300 g plain flour
    80 g potato starch or cornflour
    1 tsp sea salt
    320 g unsalted butter    , diced
    130 g icing sugar
    1 tbsp vanilla sugar

    For the apple compote
    2 generous tbsp unsalted butter
    200 g peeled, cored and diced apples    , around 2-3 medium
    30 g caster sugar
    1 tsp ground cinnamon
    a pinch of salt

    For the glaze
    icing sugar
    boiling water

    Line two baking trays with baking paper and preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C.

    Whisk the flour and potato starch to combine, then set aside.
    Cream the butter, icing sugar and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until a dough forms.

    Roll the dough into a log and cut it into 24 even slices.

    Roll each slice into a ball, then flatten it onto the prepared baking tray. Gently dent each shortbread using your thumb or the bottom of a small glass. Repeat with the remaining slices, and chill in the fridge while you get on with the apple compote.

    In a frying-pan set over high heat, melt the butter until it just starts to foam. Add the diced apples and stir to coat. Add the sugar, cinnamon, and salt, and reduce the heat. Cook until the apples start to soften, around 8-10 minutes.
    Immediately transfer to a small plate and set aside to cool down slightly.

    Fill each indent with a fat teaspoon of apple compote.

    Bake in the pre-heated oven for 20 to 24 minutes, or until golden-brown. Allow to cool down completely.

    Make the glaze by mixing icing sugar and just-boiled water until it has a firm pouring consistency. Drizzle the glaze over the cookies and allow to set for 10-15 minutes.

    Stored into an airtight box, these will keep for a week at room temperature.
    Without the glaze you can keep the shortbreads for a little over a week in the fridge and up to three months in the freezer.

  • Swedish pepparkakor

    Swedish pepparkakor

    This Swedish pepparkakor recipe isn’t one that comes with many traditions. It was in fact created on the very first weekend of advent earlier this month after days of formula research and calculations.

    We had just brought upstairs two cardboard boxes labelled hastily JUL 2015 [Christmas 2015] from our förråd [storage] and there were candles lighting our house to the most beautiful shade of gold; the sharp and intense smell of resin diffusing through every room, like a morning promenade through the forest.

    I had just unpacked a small pink plastic basket, filled to the rim with pepparkaksformar [cookie cutters] that I’d found last summer at a garage sale at one of the houses we’d cycle by every morning.
    After a quick run under warm soapy water, I left them to dry over my favourite torchon [kitchen cloth], the light grey one with nid d’abeilles [honeycomb] fabric.

    Later that night, we used them to cut through the dough we’d made the night before. And as I pressed each and everyone of them through the softly spiced pepparkaksdeg, I couldn’t help but think about the many Christmases these cutters had known. And just like that, a tradition-less recipe actually perpetuated one that I suspect lasted many decades and created a new tradition for us to hold over the coming years.

    Here is to the next first of advent!

    Pepparkakor

    I chose to make the lighter kind* of pepparkakor, one of many really. In some houses, the dough calls for whipping cream or baking powder. Muscovado sugar and treacle syrup. A pinch of cinnamon and a fat tablespoon of ground ginger.

    That day, I made the pepparkakor that I’d knew I’d love. Light and crisp with just enough bite to hold well when dipped in a cup of coffee – something I can only warmly recommend.

    I might try, next time I make a batch, to replace the caster sugar with light muscovado sugar or even brun farinsocker, a sugar that we have here in Sweden, and which is almost halfway between dark and light muscovado sugars; if you choose that road, you could most definitely substitute the caster sugar in the recipe below with 125 g dark muscovado and 100 g light muscovado.

    I will also perhaps replace the golden syrup for chestnut honey, as a reminiscence of my childhood pain d’épices (which I also need to tell you about).

    * Nowhere as light as they appear to be in the pictures I took here. Yes, I am still in dire need of figuring out this whole winter lighting thing.

    Pepparkakor

    Makes around 100 small biscuits.

    75 g water
    105 g golden syrup
    225 g caster sugar (read note above)
    175 g unsalted butter
    1 heaped tbsp ground cinnamon
    1 heaped tsp ground ginger
    3/4 tsp ground cardamom
    3/4 tsp ground cloves
    480 g plain flour
    1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
    1/4 tsp sea salt

    Bring the water, syrup, and sugar to the boil in a small pan. Off the heat, add the butter and spices, and allow to cool down to around 30-35°C.

    In a bowl, mix the flour, bicarbonate and salt.

    When the syrup has cooled down enough, slowly pour over the flour, and mix with a silicone spatula until a loose dough comes together.

    Place the dough onto a large piece of clingfilm, and flatten it into a square using the palm of your hand. Cover tightly with clingfilm, and refrigerate for at least 12 hours or up to a month.

    When you’re ready to bake your pepparkakor, take out your dough from the fridge and leave it at room temperature for 20-30 minutes.

    Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C.

    On a slighty floured surface, roll the dough to 3-4mm thick and cut out into the desired shapes. If you wish to hang your pepparkakor, make sure to cut a small hole before baking them.

    Arrange them onto baking trays lined with baking paper, and do not to mix the larger biscuits with the small ones as they won’t bake evenly.

    Bake for 5 to 8 minutes, depending on the size of the pepparkakor, or until the edges start to turn golden brown.
    When cooled down, decorate with royal icing if you wish, and store in an airtight container for up to a month.


    More Christmas adventures in the north of Sweden on Instagram: #fannysjul <3

  • Our favourite cinnamon shortbreads

    Our favourite cinnamon shortbreads

    winter walk-3

    It’s still very much winter here in Skellefteå. In fact, we’ve had a blizzard over the weekend; snow, at times twirling around with the winds; and at other times, falling almost horizontally. A western under the snow. Not unlike the Dyonisos album that lullabied my teenage years.

    Oh love me, Oh kiss me,
    I’m lying on western under the snow
    You’re the sky of my heart
    So come to me and take off your clouds

    But there’s been something different in the air. It might have started on a Monday, almost a month ago.

    There are the birds. And a sun warmer and brighter than it’s been for months. There are the morning walks by the river. And the temperatures that have risen from -26°C to -10°C.

    Today, we opened our windows as the sun rose – the crisp air filled our flat while we were safely nested under the duvet. A make-believe spring of some kind. Something only we know; or perhaps, something only we make up.

    Not much has happened in our kitchen. Dinners made of glass noodle salad with barely-warm roasted salmon. A few nights made of crispy rice and red wine. And Kalle’s wonderful breakfasts; the latest edition involving tomato sauce with plenty of onion and garlic, golden-brown bacon, eggs – with a yolk runny as it should be, perhaps some beans too. But most importantly, the råg or vete-kakor [soft polar bread] that he cuts into four and fry in the rendered bacon fat until almost burnt.
    You’d also find a glass-jarful of biscuits on the counter. Sometimes, drömmar or syltkakor; but mostly our favourite cinnamon shortbreads.

    And just like we were in love with a crispy cinnamon biscuit recipe last year (which you should try too as they’re on the opposite spectrum of the shortbreads I’m showing you today), 2016 has been about kanelkakor.

    Our favourite cinnamon shortbreads
    Adapted from Leila Lindholm’s A Piece of Cake.

    In Swedish, these shortbreads are called spröda kanelkakor; literally brittle cinnamon biscuits. And they are just that. Crisp and golden. With cinnamon just so. And when bitten, they’ll crumble into tiny morsels.

    I like to bake them until golden-brown, which would be considered an offense by any Swedish mormor [grand-mother]. Yes, here, most biscuits are likely to be baked into the palest shade of gold; when the base just starts to brown around the edge.
    But no matter how far north I now live, you can’t take the French in me away from deep-caramel tones.

    The original recipe calls for a tablespoon of water, which I of course replaced with vanilla extract. Yes, vanilla never is a bad idea. And yes, you can forever-quote me on that.

    The dough itself comes together in a minute or so. And perhaps, that’s why we’ve baked these shortbreads more than any other over the winter.
    And although the recipe rightfully suggests to leave the dough wrapped in clingfilm in the fridge for at least an hour before baking, I haven’t found it necessary when I used cold butter. However, if your kitchen temperature exceeds 18°C, I’d recommend going ahead with this step to make sure your shortbreads won’t spread too much.

    Our favourite cinnamon shortbreads

    Makes 12 larges biscuits or 16 smaller ones.

    For the dough
    225 g plain flour
    75 g icing sugar
    60 g potato starch
    1 tsp sea salt
    1 tbsp vanilla extract
    225 g cold butter    , cut into 0.5cm cubes

    For the eggwash
    one egg, beaten

    For the cinnamon sugar
    Combine:
    100 g granulated sugar
    1 tbsp ground cinnamon

    Line two baking trays with baking paper and preheat the oven to 175°C (165°C for a fan-assisted oven).

    Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and mix on low speed until it forms a dough.

    Roll the dough into a log and cut it into either 12 or 16 even slices, depending on the size you want your shortbreads to be.

    Roll each slice into a ball, then flatten it onto the prepared baking tray. Repeat with the remaining slices.
    Press a fork into each shortbread, then brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar.

    Bake in the pre-heated oven for 20 to 24 minutes, or until golden-brown. Allow to cool down completely before placing them into an airtight box. These will keep for at least a week; although they’ve never lasted this long in our home.

  • Zimtstern à la cannelle

    Zimtstern à la cannelle


    We found a tree, just a few nights before Christmas. A bit of a happy coincidence. Not that we hadn’t looked everywhere before. Sold out or cheap plastic.

    And there it was, still wrapped in some sort of net. We named it Charlie; forgot about the pizza we’d set off to eat, and proceeded to carry it home on K’s shoulder across London. We stopped at the shop, the one around the corner, and got a pizza there. Twenty minutes later, we sliced into it, and later that night, we let the multi-coloured lights (with a green chord and cone-like bulbs; that remind me so so much of the ones my grand-mother brought back with her and her children when they moved back from Tahiti to France) lullaby us to sleep.

    And at that exact moment. With the twinkling lights and the smell of forest filling our room. That was Christmas. My Christmas.

    But really, I’m not sure why I’m telling you that.

    You see, I had amazing plans for this year. I wanted to share with you my favourite – old and new – recipes for biscuits to bake during those nights made of wool socks and candles and mulled wine and peeks through the window wishing for snow.
    But before I even knew it, Christmas had well gone. Not that we still have Charlie in our bedroom. Perhaps, we’ll go to the park at the end of our street one night, and dig through the earth to make him a new home.

    So we’ll have to make it an extended Christmas this year. Recipes from another time for the one to come maybe; if you don’t mind.

    After all, I went to every possible shop to find the perfect star cookie cutter. Buying anything star-shaped that came my way. And I no have many. Possibly six too many.
    One thing I know for sure though, you won’t have too many zimtsterns. Ever.

    Zimtstern à la cannelle
    Adapted from Mingou’s beautiful zimstern (via Pauline, the must-visit source for anything Christmas biscuit related)

    Just like we’re not in Kansas anymore, Christmas is far gone. However, as I write this, a couple of weeks after it all happened (for us, it was a delicious lunch at the pub with a little too much wine and a lot too-much laughs), I’m snuggled in bed with Ash in my ears and the comforting thought of many biscuits – cut and arranged in plastic containers – ready to be baked at any time. In fact, as long as we have Charlie on and a wreath on our door, I’m not planning on giving up on the holidays.


    Zimtstern(s?) are new to me. And really, when I first saw them, I knew they were going to be something special. Beautiful chewy, with a subtle cinnamon flavour. A bit like a macaron and yet not quite.
    Mingou’s recipe isn’t traditional as it calls for flour. I guess it makes them a little bit cakier (in a good way) and way easier to work with.

    I made the soft dough and rolled in – still in between two sheets of baking paper – then cut it and baked it for barely ten minutes. As Mingou says, it’s definitely better not to overbake them as they’ll turn quite hard. The edges will just start to brown slightly when they’re ready.

    As they cool down, make the glaze, a simple royal icing; I wanted to add vanilla, but then I forgot, although it would make a lovely finishing touch. Next time, tomorrow perhaps?

    When it comes to dipping the biscuits in, place them in the icing, then go up and down to get rid of the excess. Finally you can tap the biscuit slightly on your table to smooth the glaze.

    Zimtstern à la cannelle

    Makes around 50 small biscuits.

    200 g ground almonds
    100 g icing sugar
    60 g caster sugar
    3 tsp ground cinnamon
    1 tsp maldon sea salt
    160 g plain flour
    2 egg whites

    Preheat the oven to 150°C and line two baking trays with baking paper.

    In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add the egg whites and mix until it forms a dough. Roll in between two sheets of baking paper to around 8mm thick. Cut out using your favourite cutter, from what I’ve seen, the must is a six-point star, something that seemed to be absolutely unfindable in my corner of the world.
    Arrange the biscuits onto the prepared baking trays and bake for around 10 minutes, or until slightly puffed up and the edges just begin to brown (ever so slightly).
    Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool down completely.

    For the royal icing

    2 egg whites
    380 g icing sugar
    seeds from one vanilla pod

    Prepare the icing by mixing the egg whites with the icing sugar until smooth. It should be soft to touch, but not too runny. Gently dip the top of one biscuit into it, then remove, allowing the icing to drip for a couple of seconds. Place back onto the baking sheet, iced-side up. Repeat with the remaining biscuits and allow them to set at room temperature for a couple of hours.

    The zimtsterns will keep in an airtight container for a couple of weeks.

  • Biscuits croustillants à la cannelle

    Biscuits croustillants à la cannelle

    [Crisp cinnamon biscuits]

    I don’t want fig leaf or oak bark infusion. I don’t want gimmicks and royal icing where it’s not needed. I want to explore flour, sugar, butter and eggs.

    Give me cinnamon. And whole wheat flour. Oats. And dark brown sugar.

    I want to look underneath a biscuit. And see a golden colour. And little ridges. And above all, I want to build a collection of solid recipes for the years to come. For traditions that don’t exist yet, but will. And for those that are already there.

    Yes, at times, I love to experience with crazy flavours. The next big thing. Or more. But as I’ve told you yesterday, for me, Christmas is all about rituals and beautiful habits. I hope you feel the same way.

    Biscuits croustillants à la cannelle
    Adapted from Trine Hahnemann.

    When it comes to a biscuit texture you can get: crisp, crunchy, sandy/short, caky or chewy. These ones are full-on crisp. A beautiful texture which makes them – perhaps – the best biscuits I’ve ever eaten.
    So much, in fact, that this year, I’ve decided to forgo my usual vanilla shortbreads and use this recipe as a base instead. Maybe try different shapes, perhaps even thumbprint cookies and see how that goes.

    I think their insane texture comes from the initial sanding technique, when the butter gets rubbed into the flour and sugar, which created beautiful layers within the biscuit. So I might experiment with this instead of the usual creaming that most of my biscuit recipes use.
    They also make me want to try more of Trine’s recipes. Have you ever? If not, then please, make a batch of these.

    As I usually do, I rolled the dough between two sheets of baking paper (but as I mentioned yesterday, it makes me miss the feuilles guitare I use at the restaurant, SO. MUCH. BETTER.) as soon as it gets made, and then go on with the chilling. I’ve found that resting the dough before rolling doesn’t improve the texture, and really, makes it so hard to roll that you have to 1) bash it with a rolling pin to make it somewhat workable or 2) let it outside to warm up a bit (hence, erasing all the benefits of keeping the dough cold at all times: making the water content of the butter less available for gluten to bind).

    Two or three important things though when it comes to rolling the dough.
    – always roll in different directions.
    – every now and then, lift the baking paper and smooth any wrinkles out. They tend to make the dough fragile and the biscuits less pretty.
    – before you cut out your biscuits, remove the top layer of baking paper, then place it back (it won’t stick as much), before filliping around and removing the second layer of baking paper. This way, as you cut out, the shapes will stay in your cutter, instead of sticking to the paper (hope that makes a semblance of sense at all?!).

    Also, re-rolling the trimming? I would usually say it’s a big no. But f*ck it, it’s home baking after all.

    Biscuits croustillants à la cannelle

    makes around 30-40 biscuits

    For the dough
    375g plain flour
    125g light soft brown sugar
    1 tsp baking powder
    1 tsp ground cinnamon
    1/2 tsp sea salt
    250g cold butter    , cubed
    one egg

    For the sugar topping
    one egg, beaten
    100 g demerara sugar
    4 tsp ground cinnamon
    gold shimmer powder    , optional

    Mix the sugar, cinnamon, and gold shimmer (if using) to combine.

    Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl, and mix to combine. Add the butter, and rub it in the flour mix until it resembles coarse oats. Add the egg and work the dough until just smooth.
    Roll the dough between two sheets of baking paper until it’s around 4-5mm thick.
    Place on a baking tray that fits in your fridge, if the dough is too large, you can cut through the paper to make two or more rectangles. Chill the dough overnight.

    The next day, cut out your biscuits using either a round 5cm cutter or different shapes, and place on a large sheet of baking paper. Brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle generously with the cinnamon sugar. Shake off the excess and place on a baking tray lined with paper. At this point you can either freeze the biscuits for a month or so, or bake them straight away.

    Preheat the oven to 170°C. Bake the biscuits for 14-18 minutes, depending on their size. They’re ready when evenly brown. Allow to cool down completely and keep in an airtight container. Trine says they’ll keep for a month. If so, my dreams of the perfect biscuit have come true.

  • Chewy flapjacks

    Chewy flapjacks

    I started collecting objects, to make up for memories I forgot. A blue pool ball, a broken cigarette, a plastic table number.

    I read words. Most of the time, at night. Yes, all it took was a few words. Perhaps, a bad google translation too. In fact, some words don’t translate well into French. But it was cute. And it made me miss him even though I thought he was part of those long gone memories.

    And when the world we both knew started to fold itself and disappear, I employed magical thinking. Of the good kind. Possibly involving flapjacks. Because, let’s face it, they seem to be a bit of a mystery around here these days.
    Some people want them crunchy. Most go for chewy. A pinch of flour or not? And what about condensed milk…

    Chewy flapjacks

    Those are, by no means, the best flapjacks ever. There are in my own world. But then, I wasn’t lucky enough to be brought up on crumpets and marmalade, and had to make the most of croissants and confiture.

    They are those flapjacks with a thin crunchy crust and soft chewy – almost – fudgy crumb. If you’re after the crunchiest kind, I would suggest to use a larger pan (so the overall thickness is thinner) and bake them at a slightly higher temperature. Perhaps, 190°C.
    Here, I bake them at 180°C. But please, as with all baking, keep in mind that I have a diplodocus of an oven. Non fan-assisted. And with all the heat coming from two gas burners at the bottom. If you have a fan oven, it’s good to reduce the temperature by 20°C (and open a bottle of champagne).

    There are two important steps – if they can even be called this way. The first is to line the pan all the way to the top with baking paper. And the second is not to bring the sugar/butter mixture to the boil before adding the oats. You just want the butter and light brown sugar to be happily melted.

    Chewy flapjacks

    makes 10-12

    200g condensed milk
    150g butter
    85g light brown sugar
    60g golden syrup
    5g maldon sea salt
    320g oats

    Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C, and line a 20x20cm baking tin with baking paper. I like to butter the pan first so the paper nicely sticks to it, without any crease.

    In a large pan, place the condensed milk, butter, light brown sugar, golden syrup and salt, and cook over slow heat until the butter has dissolved.

    Mix in the oats until nicely coated. Spread into the lined tin, pressing down with the back of a spoon to chase any air. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the edges just start to brown.

    Allow to cool, then slice into rectangles – trimming the edges, as you do so – with a sharp knife.