Cookies | My Danish Kitchen

Archive for the ‘Cookies’ Category

World Peace Cookies – Secret Recipe Club

Posted in Chocolate, Christmas, Cookies, Secret Recipe Club, tagged chocolate, cookies, peace, secret recipe club, world, world peace cookies on December 19, 2011| 16 Comments »

World Peace Cookies

This is my second month of participating in The Secret Recipe Club and I was assigned to go sneak around Everyday Insanity’s food blog. Everyday Insanity is a very lovely blog run by Cindy who lives in Utah and who has grown children as well as grandchildren. The blog has an even mix of wonderful savory foods and delicious sweets. Since Christmas is quickly approaching I really wanted to stick with the Christmas theme. When I came across Cindy’s World Peace Cookies I immediately knew what I was making. What could possibly be more appropriate for the Christmas season than World Peace Cookies?

I had already heard wild rumors about how delicious these cookies are and I am here to tell you that the rumors are true. The cookies are fairly simple and quick to make. I did read a piece of good advice which was to remove one tablespoon of flour and it worked out really well. So I measured out 1 1/4 cups flour and then removed 1 tablespoon. The final dough appears a little bit crumbly but simply just press the dough together gently. After the cookies are done baking they may look undercooked to you, but they really are fully cooked so don’t be tempted to over-bake them.

The cookies are slightly crumbly yet a little chewy and wonderful chocolaty with a hint of sea salt. I believe they will become a stable Christmas cookie here at our house. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe Cindy 🙂

World Peace Cookies

Ingredients:

1 stick plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (11 tablespoons), at room temperature

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

a small 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour – minus 1 tablespoon

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

5 ounces bittersweet chocolate (use chips or chocolate that’s chopped into small chocolate chip size)

Directions:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until soft and creamy. Add brown sugar, sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Continue to beat for two minutes more, scraping sides of bowl and paddle as needed.

Sift together flour, cocoa powder and baking soda. With the mixer off, add dry ingredients to butter mixture. Pulse the mixer on low about five times, one or two seconds each time. Continue to mix on low-speed just until the flour disappears into the dough, do not over-mix. The dough will look crumbly. Add the chocolate pieces and mix only to incorporate.

Turn dough out onto work surface, press it together and divide dough in half. Working with one half at a time, press and gently roll the dough into logs that are 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees, making sure rack is placed in the center of oven. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Using a sharp knife, cut the cold logs into 1/2 inch slices. If the sliced dough cracks, simply just press them together again. Arrange cookies 1 inch apart on baking sheet and bake one sheet at a time for 12 minutes. Do not over-bake cookies even though they may not look done to you. Transfer baking sheet to a cooling rack and let cookies rest until room temperature.

Note: the dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. If you are using frozen dough, you do not need to defrost it before baking (although it is a lot easier to slice if it’s defrosted) – just slice the logs into cookies and bake for 1 minute longer. Enjoy!

Source: Cookbookhabit via Everyday Insanity

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Anvil Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Posted in Chocolate, Cookies, Frosting, tagged anvil, blacksmith, chocolate, cookies, forge, gentile, gentile forge, icing, jganvil, sugar on December 12, 2011| 13 Comments »

Anvil Cookies

My husband Joe asked me if I could make cookies in the shape of an anvil. I said “sure, but I don’t think you’ll find an anvil cookie cutter in the stores”. Of course I should have known that it wouldn’t stop him on his quest for anvil cookies. And so he proceeded to make an anvil cookie cutter…is there anything that man cannot make?

Gentile Forge Cookies

The cookie cutter is nice and sharp and it worked like a charm. I choose a delicious chocolate sugar cookie and to make sure the dough does not spread out during baking it’s important to let the cut-out cookies chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes before baking.

Anvil Cookies

Anvil Chocolate Sugar Cookies (makes 44 cookies)

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (355 grams)

3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa powder (75 grams)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup unsalted butter (226 grams), at room temperature

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar (350 grams)

2 large eggs, at room temperature

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the Icing:

2 cups powdered sugar (220 grams)

1 1/2 tablespoons meringue powder (15 grams)

1/4 teaspoon almond extract (can use other extract flavors if desired)

1/4 – 1/2 cup warm water (60 – 120 ml)

food color, if desired

Directions:

To make Cookies: In a large bowl sift together flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder and set aside. In the bowl of an electrical mixer, beat butter and sugar until creamy and smooth (about 3-4 minutes). Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla extract, mix until combined. With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients. As dry ingredients becomes incorporated you can increase speed. Mix only until it forms a homogeneous dough. Divide dough into two portions, wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C).

Remove one half of dough from refrigerator. Lightly flour your work surface and roll dough out to a thickness of 1/4 inch (6 millimeters). Keep turning the dough so it does not stick to counter. Cut out desired shapes using a lightly floured cookie cutter. Transfer cookies to baking sheets. Place baking sheets in refrigerator for 15 minutes (to prevent cookies from loosing their shape during baking). Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes or until firm around edges. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Frost with Icing if desired.

To make Icing: Note – for these particular cookies I only iced along the edges of cookies. If you plan on filling in cookies with icing, I would recommend doubling the icing recipe.

In a medium bowl sift together powdered sugar and meringue powder. Add almond extract. Add warm water in increments, while mixing with your electrical mixer. Add food color if desired. Beat on medium speed until smooth and glossy. Proper consistency is when a ribbon of icing falls into bowl and remain on surface for a few seconds. Add more confectioners sugar if icing becomes too thin. Use icing immediately or store in an airtight container covered with plastic wrap directly on the surface.

Be sure icing in completely set before storing cookies in an airtight container. It could take several hours for icing to set.

Source: adapted from Joy of Baking

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Havregrynskugler – Oat Balls

Posted in Chocolate, Christmas, Cookies, Danish, tagged chocolate, christmas, coconut, cookies, Danish, havregrynskugler, jul, no-bake, oats on December 5, 2011| 11 Comments »

Havregrynskugler

Havregrynskugler is a Danish Christmas treat that children of almost all ages can really get involved in making. They are a fun activity and super easy to make and also no-bake.

There are numerous different recipes for Havregrynskugler varying from low-fat to much richer, lower sugar to sweeter as well as adult versions containing alcohol and coffee. I like this version because it does not have a lot of butter, contains Marzipan which I love and it has a slight crunch from the sugar. If you don’t care for the sugar crunch you could substitute with confectioners sugar.

Havregrynskugler

Ingredients:

50 gram unsalted butter, at room temperature (4 tablespoons)

50 gram marzipan (1.75 ounces)

75 gram sugar (2.63 ounces)

125 gram oats (1 1/2 cups)

25 gram unsweetened cocoa (0.87 ounce or 4 tablespoons)

1 -2 teaspoon almond extract

1 -2 teaspoon rum

2 teaspoon seedless raspberry jam

about 100 gram coconut flakes, chopped finely (3.51 ounces)

Directions:

Optional: process oats in a food processor for a few pulses to break up oats a little.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment add butter and break marzipan into small pieces, cream together until smooth. Add sugar and continue to beat for 1 or 2 minutes longer. Add oats, cocoa, almond extract, rum and raspberry jam, continue to mix until homogeneous.

Form into small balls by pressing the dough together and rolling in your hands. Immediately roll each ball in the coconut. Place covered in refrigerator. Serve cold. Enjoy!

Source: adapted from Kvalimad

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Whoopie Pumpkin Pies

Posted in Autumn, Chocolate, Cookies, Dessert, tagged autumn, baking, cookies, fall, filling, halloween, Pie, pumpkin, whoopie on October 10, 2011| 11 Comments »

Whoopie Pumpkien Pies

Fall is quickly approaching and I am starting to see pumpkins and Halloween decorations all over the place. If you follow my blog then you know that I am a huge pumpkin fan. I love everything pumpkin…pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies and now…Whoopie Pumpkin Pies. I found these little babies in Food Network Magazine and the recipe moved straight to the top of my very long “to do” list. (Do you notice how these “to do” lists never get any shorter) Anyway, these Whoopie pies are wonderful!

When I was making the cookie batter I got a little worried because, after I added the buttermilk, it looked like the batter was starting to separate. But once I started adding the dry ingredients everything came together beautifully, so no need to worry. Also, the flavor of the filling slowly intensifies so these can easily be made a day in advance. I wrapped each cookie in plastic wrap to keep them fresh and to prevent them from sticking together, then in a large Tupperware container and into the refrigerator. I also took half of the finished cookies and stuck them in the freezer. It turns out that they freeze really well, just let them thaw in the refrigerator. I hope you enjoy these babies as much as we have.

Whoopie Pumpkin Pies

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

Pinch of kosher salt

For the filling:

4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature

4 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup confectioners sugar

1/4 cup canned pure pumpkin

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Pinch of kosher salt

Directions:

Line three baking sheets with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

To make the cookies: In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt, set aside. Using a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then the buttermilk and vanilla. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing just until combined.

Drop 2 tablespoons of batter for each cookies to be made, onto prepared baking sheet, spacing batter 3 inches apart. Bake until edges are set but the cookies are still soft, about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer cookies to a baking rack and cool completely.

To make the filling: Beat cream cheese and butter with a mixer until smooth. Slowly beat in the confectioners sugar. Add the pumpkin, cinnamon and salt and beat until smooth.

To assemble the cookies, spread a heaping tablespoon filling onto the flat side of one cookie and sandwich with another cookie. Repeat with remaining cookies. Enjoy.

Source: Food Network Magazine, The Neelys’

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Cookie Shop Chocolate Chip Cookies

Posted in Chocolate, Cookies, tagged chips, chocolate, cookie shop, cookies, oats, old-fashioned, the good cookie on March 21, 2011| 5 Comments »

Cookie Shop Chocolate Chip Cookies

One of my favorite baking books is The Good Cookie book which was given to me a long time ago. This is my “go to” cookie book and I have used it time and time again. I particularly love this Cookie Shop Chocolate Chip Cookie because it has rolled oats in the dough. What’s not to like about wonderful oats:) Helpful hint: when shaping the dough try to handle as little as possible. If the dough becomes warm, it is more likely to spread and the cookies will loose their shape.

Oats and chocolate chip

Ground oats and chips

Ingredients:

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

2 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate morsels, divided

1 cup (2 sticks) plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 large eggs, room temperature

Directions:

Place two racks near the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In the bowl of a food processor, combine oats and 1/2 cup chocolate morsels and process until finely ground, about 45 seconds. Stir the oat mixture into the flour mixture and set aside.

In the bowl of an electrical mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract at medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down sides as needed. At low speed, add the dry ingredients, mixing just until combined. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the remaining 2 cups chocolate morsels.

Measure out rounded tablespoonfuls of dough and, using wet hands, roll each portion into a ball. Arrange balls 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Flatten the balls into 1 3/4 inch disks.

Bake the cookies, two sheets at a time, for 9 to 13 minutes, just until golden brown. Switch positions of the baking sheets halfway through baking time. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and cool completely.

Cookie Shop Chocolate Chip Cookies

Source: slightly adapted from The Good Cookie

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Red Velvet Cake Balls

Posted in Chocolate, Cookies, Dessert, tagged balls, cake, cake balls, chocolate, dessert, red, valentine, velvet on February 7, 2011| 40 Comments »

Red Velvet Cake Balls

Valentine’s Day is upon us once again. A day for celebrating your affection for your loved ones and for buying massive amounts of chocolate, flowers and Hallmark Cards. The truth of the matter is that I do not celebrate Valentine’s Day. I think it is much more sincere and natural to show your affection in a spontaneous manner….besides I don’t like an overly crowded restaurant. However, I did think it would be fun to make something in a Valentine’s theme and I have been itching to make these Red Velvet cake balls.

The balls turned out very delicious and they were easy to make but a bit time-consuming. If you make cake balls make sure they are thoroughly chilled for easier handling. I worked with 3 or 4 balls at the time so they wouldn’t warm up before i could get them dipped in the chocolate. A tip which worked out really well (courtesy HubPages) was to take a plastic fork and break off the middle two digits which allowed for quicker and better draining off the excess chocolate. So first I rolled the ball in the melted chocolate, then scooped it onto the fork and spooned chocolate over the remaining cake ball and placed it onto a baking sheet to set. I also melted the chocolate in small increments because the cake crumbs make the chocolate thicken pretty quickly.

The best part of making these wonderful Red Velvet Cake Balls was to hear my sons reaction over the phone when he recieved them at his college 🙂

Red Velvet Cake Balls

Ingredients:

1 box Red Velvet cake mix (follow baking instructions on box)

16 oz can Cream Cheese Frosting

2 – 12 oz bags chocolate/white chocolate

1/2 lb colored candy wafers (optional – for decorating)

Directions:

Bake red velvet cake according to directions on box. Allow cake to cool completely.

Break up cake into large chucks, place in food processor and process until fine crumbs. Place cake crumbs in a large bowl. If you don’t have a food processor you can certainly crumble it by hand. Add cream cheese frosting to cake crumbs and mix together. It may be easier to use your hands for the mixing, but a bit messy. Roll cake mass into quarter size balls and place on a baking sheet. Refrigerate cake balls for several hours or place in freezer to speed up the cooling process. You want them very cold for easier handling before dipping in chocolate.

Melt chocolate over a warm water bath or in microwave according to package directions. Using a spoon and fork, gently roll each ball in the melted chocolate to cover, spooning more chocolate over the ball as needed. Place ball on baking sheet or parchment paper until chocolate has hardened.

If decorating, melt colored candy wafers over a water bath or in microwave. Load into a small zip lock bag, cut off the corner tip of zip lock bag making a tiny hole. Drizzle over chocolate covered balls and let set. Enjoy.

Baked Red Velvet Cake

Break up cake

Crumbs with frosting

Source: Bakerella

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12 Days of Christmas – Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles

Posted in 12 Days of Christmas, Christmas, Cookies, Dessert, tagged chocolate, christmas, dessert, flettede, flettede hjerter, flettede stjerner, hazelnut, julestjerner, kræmmerhuse, truffels on December 3, 2010| 7 Comments »

Hazelnut Truffles

Truffles, small delectable treasures. These particular truffles have toasted hazelnut in them which gives a slight crunch. Of course, hazelnut paired with chocolate is a match made in heaven. You just can’t go wrong. Or can you? Well not with the truffles themselves but I did have quite a bit of trouble with this recipe, but I worked out the kink. The original recipe instructed me to melt the bittersweet chocolate in the microwave, which turned out to be a horrible mess. I think my microwave oven was heating at too high heat. The chocolate would harden up and become unmanageable after just dipping 1/3 of the truffles. So I tried again, but this time melting the chocolate over a water bath which turned out so much better. And so, in the end everything turned out alright. Now we can finally enjoy these delicious little truffles.

Flettet julestjerne

Danish Christmas Tradition: Juleklip (Paper cut-outs)

Paper cut-outs such as flettede hjerter (braided hearts), kræmmerhuse (cones), angels, Christmas trees and flettede stjerner (braided stars) is a common part of Danish Christmas decorations. They are made by children and adults alike, possibly at home but always in schools planned as a special day of fun with colored paper, glue, scissors and baked goods. These homemade treasures often times end up as an important part of the Christmas Tree decorations.

I first learned to make the braided star as an adult. I meet once a month with other Danish ladies for an evening of stimulating conversation and good food. It was during one of these evenings many years ago that my Danish friend Lise’s husband Bill taught me how to make the braided star. He would make them at any given time of the year and he was very enthusiastic about making them. I now make them every year around Christmas time and they remind me of Lise and Bill, who has since passed away. It’s a happy memory.

Hazelnut Truffle Ingredients

Ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream

1 (11.5 ounce package) semi-sweet chocolate chunks

8 (1 ounce) semi-sweet chocolate squares – chopped

2 cups hazelnut – chopped, toasted and divided

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 (11.5 ounce package) bittersweet chocolate chips (60% cacao)

Directions:

Chop hazelnuts and toast them on a dry pan over medium heat until fragrant. Stir often to make sure they don’t burn. Remove nuts from heat.

Place chocolate chunks in a medium bowl. Chop chocolate squares and add to bowl. Bring heavy cream to a simmer and then add the hot cream to the chocolate, stirring well to melt the chocolate. Add vanilla and 1 1/2 cups of the toasted hazelnuts. Stir to combine. Place in refrigerator to chill for 1 to 2 hours or until hard enough to keep a shape.

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop 1-inch balls from chocolate mixture and roll quickly between hands to smooth edges. Place on prepared baking sheets and refrigerate for 1 hour or until cold and firm.

Bring a saucepan filled with 1 inch water to a simmer. Once water is simmering turn heat all the way down to low. Place bittersweet chocolate in a medium heat-proof bowl and place over the saucepan, making sure bowl is not touching water. Stir chocolate occasionally until melted and smooth. Place chocolate ball on a fork and drizzle warm melted chocolate over the chocolate ball to cover. Use a toothpick to help push the truffle off the fork onto to the baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining hazelnuts and refrigerate to harden.

Glædelig Jul and Merry Christmas♥

Chocolate and cream

Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles

Source: adapted from Taste of the South

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12 Days of Christmas – Florentine Cookies

Posted in 12 Days of Christmas, Christmas, Cookies, Dessert, tagged almonds, baked, chocolate, christmas, christmas tradition, cookies, florentine, jul, orange, Sankta Lucia, St. Lucia on November 29, 2010| 24 Comments »

I first made these Italian cookies for Christmas a couple of years ago and it was Love at first bite. Since then, they have become a “several times a year, kinda thing” at our house and they dissapear faster than any other cookie I make. They are nutty and crispy with a hint of orange, 2 cookies held together with a generous layer of chocolate. Orange and chocolate, does it get any better than that?

Almonds

Danish Christmas Tradition: St. Lucia (Saint Lucy’s Day)

St. Lucia is believed to be a saint who suffered a martyr’s death around AD 310. The tradition of celebrating St. Lucia was imported from Sweden during WWII as a passive protest against the German occupation. St. Lucia is celebrated on December 13th and it is seen as a procession lead by one girl wearing a crown of candles on her head followed by other girls who hold a single candle in their hands. All the girls are dressed in white and they sing “Sankta Lucia” while walking slowly and carefully. The St. Lucia procession is performed in schools, hospitals and nursing homes where they bring great joy and excitement.

Bring to a rolling boil

Florentine Cookies (makes 28 small sandwiched cookies)

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups sliced blanched almonds (200 gram or 7 oz)

3 tbsp all-purpose flour

zest of 1 orange (about 2 tbsp)

1/4 tsp fine salt

3/4 cup sugar (155 gram or 5.4 oz)

2 tbsp heavy cream

2 tbsp light corn syrup

5 tbsp unsalted butter (70 gram or 2.5 oz)

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

6 oz semisweet chocolate (170 gram)

Directions:

Position a rack in the center of oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Pulse the almonds in a food processor until finely chopped, but not pasty. Stir together the almonds, flour, zest and salt in a large bowl.

Put the sugar, cream, corn syrup and butter in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a rolling boil and sugar is completely dissolved. Continue to boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, then pour mixture into almond mixture and stir just until combined. Set aside until cool enough to handle, 30 minutes.

Scoop rounded teaspoons (for 3 inch cookies) or rounded tablespoons (for 6 inch cookies) of batter and roll into balls. Place on prepared baking sheets, leaving 3 to 4 inches between each cookie since they spread.

Bake 1 pan at a time, until the cookies are thin and even golden brown color, rotating pan halfway through baking time, about 8 to 11 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool. Repeat with remaining batter.

Chop semisweet chocolate and place in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with 1 inch water to a simmer and set bowl filled with chocolate over the saucepan, making sure bowl is not touching water. Stir chocolate occasionally until melted and smooth.

Drop a generous amount of melted chocolate (1/2 to 1 teaspoon) onto the flat side of a cookie and press together with a second cookie to form a sandwich. Return to rack and let chocolate set completely.

Glædelig Jul and Merry Christmas♥

Florentine Cookies

Source: Food Network Kitchen

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12 Days of Christmas – Jam Thumbprint Cookies

Posted in 12 Days of Christmas, Christmas, Cookies, Dessert, tagged baked, butter, christmas, cookies, jam, jul, marmelade, småkager, thumbprint on November 19, 2010| 6 Comments »

Jam Thumbprint Cookies

Jam Thumbprint cookies are a regular visitor in our home at Christmas time. It has been my son’s favorite ever since he was a little boy and they always seem to simply just disappear. Use whatever your favorite jam is. What I used this time was strawberry, cherry and a wonderful jam containing apricot, peach and passion fruit which have become wildly popular here at our house. Also, it is not an accident (well it actually is….but it’s not) that the recipe calls for both vanilla bean as well as vanilla extract. I did that totally by accident one year because I misread the recipe but it turned out even better, so ever since then I have used both. But if you don’t have the vanilla bean on hand just go with the extract, they still turn out great. 🙂

Thumbprint Ingredients

Thumbprint Cookies (makes 37 cookies)

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (230 g)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 whole stick or 113 g), at room temperature

2/3 cup sugar (140 g), plus more for rolling

1 large egg

1 vanilla bean – seeds scraped from pod (optional)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup of your favorite jam (strawberry, cherry etc)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Stir together flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

In another bowl, whip the butter and sugar with an electrical mixer until smooth and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the egg, vanilla bean (if using) and the vanilla extract until combined. Slowly beat in the dry ingredients in 2 additions, mixing just until incorporated.

Scoop the dough into a 1 inch ball, toss in the extra sugar and roll using the palm of your hands. Place about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Press a thumbprint (or I use a 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon) into the center of dough ball, about 1/2 inch deep. Fill indentation with about 3/4 teaspoon jam.

Bake cookies until edges are golden, about 15 minutes. Rotate the pans from top to bottom about halfway through baking. Cool cookies on the baking sheets. Enjoy.

Store cookies in a tightly sealed container.

Glædelig Jul and Merry Christmas♥

1/2 teaspoon measuring tool makes indenting the cookies easy

Fill with your favorite jam

Source: adapted from Food Network

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12 Days of Christmas – Vaniljekranse (Vanilla Wreaths)

Posted in 12 Days of Christmas, Christmas, Cookies, Danish, Dessert, tagged baked, christmas, cookies, Danish, danmark, dansk, denmark, jul, småkager, vaniljekranse, vanilla on November 15, 2010| 18 Comments »

Vaniljekranse

Vaniljekranse is a traditional Danish cookie made in the weeks leading up to Christmas. I have very fond memories of helping my Mom and Dad make vaniljekranse when I was a little girl. It’s a fun process of the dough coming out of the grinder into strips, cutting the strips into pieces and forming them into circles. The cookies have a sweet vanilla flavor and are slightly crunchy on the outside. Making Vaniljekranse makes for wonderful Danish family “hygge” (coziness).

Vaniljekranse are not difficult to make, however, it took some doing to actually make it happen. The reason being, that in Denmark there is an attachment to your meat grinder that has a star shape on it. So the dough is run through the meat grinder with the star attachment. I could probably just have used a pastry bag with a star tip, I tried it, but it takes a lot of muscle to get the dough out. The other option would be to use a cookie press and you can get some sort of circle pattern, but I really wanted to show the making of this cookie the authentic way.

Vaniljekranse

So I described the attachment to my wonderful husband Joe, he looked at the thickness of the meat grinder discs, and him being a Blacksmith and all, he was able to fabricate the disc for me…Yeah! My wonderful husband is so brilliant, I think I’ll keep him 🙂 He helped me make this cookie the authentic way. Thanks Joe.

Update: I have since then been able to buy a star attachment in Bilka in Denmark while we were home for a visit, it fits my KitchenAid mixer perfectly.

Star attachment for KitchenAid

Vaniljekranse

Ingredients:

375 grams flour (13 oz)

125 grams cornstarch (4.4 oz)

375 grams salted butter (13 oz)

100 grams slivered almonds (3.5 oz)

250 grams sugar (8.8 oz)

1 vanilla bean

2 teaspoon vanilla powder

1 egg

Directions:

Place slivered almonds in food processor and blend until a powder. Set aside.

In a large bowl add flour and cornstarch, blend together. Cut butter into small pieces, add butter to flour mixture and blend together on low-speed with a handheld mixer until it starts to become crumbly. Cut open vanilla bean and scrape out seeds. Add vanilla seeds, vanilla powder, almonds and sugar, blend to combine. Add egg and mix to combine. Using your hands, press mixture together until it forms a dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 390 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Using the star attachment for your meat grinder, pastry bag or cookie press to form your cookies. Traditionally, you will use a star attachment for your meat grinder. Cut dough into small segments and load into the meat grinder. Run the dough through the star attachment into long strips, place dough onto floured surface. Then cut dough into 4 inch long pieces and form into circle. Place on prepared baking sheets. Bake in the middle of oven for 8 minutes or until slightly golden. Cool on baking sheets.

Glædelig Jul and Merry Christmas♥