Tag: vanilla extract

Snowball Christmas Cookies

A holiday cookie platter just isn’t complete without Snowball Christmas Cookies. These are buttery, coated in sugar and packed with pecans. These will also melt in your mouth.

Snowball Christmas Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup soft butter
½ cup powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2¼ cups flour
1 cup finely chopped pecan
1 cup powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
IN a mixer, beat butter and powdered sugar.
On low, add salt, vanilla, flour and pecans.
Roll into one small balls-I used a food scale and made each ⅝ ounces.
Bake on parchment lined cookie sheets for 10 mins.
Cool just a bit and then place a few at a time in a ziploc with the powdered sugar to coat them.
Once cool, roll in the powdered sugar again!

3.4.3177

Adapted from Small Town Woman

The post Snowball Christmas Cookies appeared first on Hugs and Cookies XOXO.

Portuguese Custard Tarts – The Hieronymites Got This Right

I’ve made custard tarts before, but never the world-famous Portuguese custard tarts, and I’m thrilled to report the results were shockingly good. This really was one of the best pastries I’ve ever enjoyed, custard or otherwise.

Which is a good thing, since they do require a bit of effort to produce. The recipe itself is simple, using just a few basic ingredients, but there are numerous steps, and a certain amount of finesse is required, but the results are so worth it. After watching a few dozen videos on the technique, I decided to try the short cut version first, which uses frozen store-bought puff pastry. The results were not good. Since puff pastry is leavened with yeast, and contains so many more layers of butter and dough, my crust turned out too thick, and gummy, and wasn’t nearly as thin and crispy as it should’ve been. It may have been my technique, but officially I’m blaming the dough.

So then I attempted an “authentic” dough recipe from scratch, which was infinitely better. It’s a little tricky to work with, since the dough is very sticky, but I think that’s one of the keys here. Seems like the extra moisture in the dough, which is activated by the very hot oven, is what creates the signature flaky, crispy texture.

As far as the custard goes, it’s a relatively simple procedure, and we even streamlined one of the steps. You’ll have to decide whether you’re going to include lemon, cinnamon, and vanilla, which are apparently considered optional ingredients in Portugal, but I really enjoy the flavor, and wouldn’t change a thing. Regardless of what you decide to add, or not add to yours, like I said in the video, these should be on everyone’s baking bucket list. So, I really do hope you give them a try soon. Enjoy!

For the dough:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/3 cup cold water

Note: adjust with more flour or water to achieve what’s shown in the video

1 stick (4 ounces) very soft, high-quality unsalted butter

For the sugar syrup:

3/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon water

1 cinnamon stick (or 1/4 teaspoon ground)

zest from 1 lemon

For the custard base:

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 cups milk

6 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

– Bake tarts at 550 F. for 12 minutes or until the pastry is browned and bubbly, and the tops start to blister and caramelize.

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Jujube Spelt Streusel Bars

Jujube, or Chinese date, is a hoarder of nutrients. Like dates, jujube fruit is loaded with energy, essential vitamins and minerals (magnesium, potassium, copper, niacin, calcium, manganese, phosphorus, and iron), which provide its many health benefits. These erythritol sweetened cookie bars with a Quark cheese & butter crust and a streusel topping are packed full of fibre and wonderful as a breakfast cookie or a healthy after school treat.

Jujube Spread	Streusel	Crust
300 g Jujube dates, red or black 70 g Erythritol 50 g Butter	100 g White spelt flour 50 g Erythritol Pinch of salt 80 g Unsalted butter, chopped 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract	100 g White spelt flour 70 g Whole spelt flour 50 g + 20 g Hazelnut meal 50 g Erythritol 1 tsp Baking powder 150 g 20% Quark 1 Large egg 50 g Butter, chopped and softened

Cover jujube dates with water and let soak for 1 hour. Using a paring knife, slice down lengthwise into the date. Pull open the date and remove the pit. Place them in a medium pot and fill with enough water. Cover the pot, bring to a boil and simmer for 25 minutes. Use an immersion blender and blend the jujubes until smooth.
Cook the mixture over low-medium heat until it has thickened, about 1 hour. Stir in butter and mix well. Set aside to cool.
Place spelt, erythritol and salt for the streusel together in a mixing bowl. Add in chopped butter and vanilla extract. Rub everything together until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Place all the ingredients for the crust, except 20 grams of hazelnut meal, in a mixing bowl. Beat with a handheld mixer until a smooth dough forms. Press the dough evenly into a 22x26x4cm baking pan lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle the reserved hazelnut meal over. Spread the jujube spread over. Top with prepared streusel.
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Bake the bar in the middle of hot oven for 35-40 minutes until nicely golden. Remove and cool completely before slicing into bars.

Eat,Drink And Be Merry!