cookies

I tried these shortbread cookies today and they came out very well ..My hubby was so happy after having this delicious cookie.Origin of these cookies are scotland, this rich, tender and crumbly straw colored biscuit (cookie) was once only served during Christmas and New Year’s Eve. In its most basic form, shortbread’s are made with just four ingredients, butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and flour. While today they are made in various shapes and sizes, at one time the dough was baked in a round mold and then cut into wedges that were given the name “petticoat tails”.  They are called royal short breads bcoz they are dipped in melted chocolate .

Another valentine treat from my kitchen  :)..

Ingredients 

1 cup all-purpose flour

A pinch of salt

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup  powdered (confectioners or icing) sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For Chocolate Dipped Shortbread:

1 cup semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Method
In a separate bowl whisk the flour with the salt.  Set aside.

In the bowl , beat the butter until smooth and not too creamy fora minute or so. Add the sugar and beat until smooth for 2 min or so.  Beat in the vanilla extract. Gently stir in the flour mixture just until incorporated.  Flatten the dough into a disk shape, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill the dough for at least an hour or until firm.

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

On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough into a 1/4 inch (.6 cm) thick circle.  Cut into rounds or other shapes using a lightly floured cookie cutter.  Place on the prepared baking sheets and place in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes.Refrigeration helps the cookies to maintain the shape while baking.  Bake for 8 – 10 minutes, or until cookies are very lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.

For Chocolate Dipped Shortbreads:

Place the finely chopped milk or dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl and place it over a saucepan of simmering water. Melt the chocolate. Add the remaining chocolate and stir with a wooden spoon until it has completely melted and is smooth and glossy. Taking one cookie at a time, dip one end of each cookie in the melted chocolate and place it on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Dip all the cookies halfway and place it on a parchment paper till the chocolate sets.

Store in air tight container for 15 days .

Ginger Cookies are so my favorite, but I haven’t given it a try. Anything, unless tried, shouldn’t be ignored is my mantra . I tried these cookies the outcome was really good and  When you bite into one you will find the texture soft and chewy with a flavor that is crispy and spicy. The combination of  jaggery  with  ground ginger makes eating one just about impossible.  These cookies are perfect  for winter .. enjoy these cookies with a hot coffee or tea… Merry christmas to all !!! Disclaimer – If you are not fond of ginger flavor, these cookies are not for you. try adding some other flavor if you like.

Recipe Inspired – Joyofbaking

Ingredients

150 ml olive oil
150 gms jaggery
4 tbsp hot boiling water
6 tbsp hot milk
300 gms all purpose flour ( 150g maida + 150g  whole wheat flour)
2 tbsp cornflour
2 t/s baking powder
1 inch fresh ginger juice
3 tbsp ground ginger powder
1 t/s salt
4 tbsp cranberry juice / 2 tbsp yogurt

Method

• Preheat oven at 160°C ten mins before baking. Grease the tray Or pan with oil.
• Firstly grate ginger and squeeze the pulp. Extract the juice and keep aside.
• Sift all dry ingredients (flour, cornflour, ground ginger, salt and baking powder).
• Take a microwave safe bowl and combine milk, olive oil, water and grated jaggery. Microwave for 2 mins on high power. Mix all well until all blend well.
• Make a small well into dry ingredients. Slowly add warm jaggery mixture. Also add cranberry juice. Mix all nicely kneading into a dough. Finally add ginger juice. If the dough is too sticky add little water and oil.
• Keep this dough into freezer for 15 mins. Remove the dough from the fridge. Form the dough into balls.
• Flatten these balls with your hand. You can even create various patterns on the cookies eg . you can prick the cookies with fork or make some lines using fork .  Roll them and cut them using a cookie cutter.
• Place these balls into greased pan. Bake at 160°C for 10-12 mins. Kindly don’t over bake them. When you remove the cookies. Initially it would be soft but later it will firm up once cools down. Keep them in airtight container.
• Your Ginger Cookies is ready..
• You can even frost these cookies using some royal icing or cake frosting.. I frosted the cookies using cake frosting .

It was my turn to make snack for the children’s at my daughters school for over 10 kids and her mam already told me to bring cookie’s .. As we are pure veggies i had to bake egg less sugar cookies … I made these sugar cookies with whole wheat flour to increase the nutritive value as it was for kids.. Making these cookie’s are really easy and the best part is you don’t have to refrigerate the cookie dough before making cookies.. You can mix up all the ingredients , roll them , shape them and bake them in one go..

I made these cookies before for my daughter’s school snack which was pumpkin shaped as the class theme was “Pumpkin cookies” :)..
Now the theme was ” good night moon” so i made  star shaped cookie’s… Lets see the ingredients and method for this scrumptious cookie’s  

(Adapted from my diverse kitchen)

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup sugar
200 gm butter, softened at room temperature
3 to 5 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp teaspoons baking powder
1/2 tsp teaspoon salt

Method:

• Beat the sugar and butter together in a bowl, with a hand mixer, till smooth and fluffy. 
• Add the milk and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Set aside.
• In another bowl , sift together the flours, baking powder and salt. 
• Add this to the wet ingredients in batches, and mix well by hand till combined. 
• If the dough isn’t quite coming together, add a tsp or so of milk and knead. 
• Do not be tempted to add too much milk or knead more than necessary to bring the dough into a ball which can be rolled out, as your cookies will become tough.
• Roll the dough out uniformly till just about 1/4″ thick. Cut out cookies and place them on the cookie sheets. 
• You can place them quite close to each other as the cookies will not spread out or puff up much.
• Bake them at 180C (350F) for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the size and thickness of your cookies. 
• When done the cookies must still be pale and just beginning to turn golden at the edges. 
• Let them cool on the tray for about 5 minutes and then cool completely on a  wire rack.

Store these cookies in an airtight container .. I decorated my cookies with some frosting and sprinklers … You can even decorate these cookies with royal icing ..Before frosting these cookies they have to cool completely.. 

1/2 cup butter  softened

• Heat oven to 375°F(180 C) . In large bowl, beat sugar and butter on medium speed until blended. Beat in Milk, oil and vanilla. In separate bowl stir in  the sifted  flour, oats, baking soda and salt. Stir in the cereal(cheerio) and raisins.

• Now combine the liquid ingredient and dry ingredients..The consistency of tis cookie batter must be a little loose and not tight.. It should be scoop-able ..

• Drop dough by slightly rounded tablespoonfuls or using an ice cream scoop  2 inches apart onto cookie sheet which should not be greased .I used a round  large tablespoon which is like an ice cream scoop..

• Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until light brown. Remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack or a wire rack..

• Enjoy them with a hot cup of coffee , milk or tea in the morning …

Tips

No need to use your hands for these cookies as the cookie batter should be scoop-able and you Should be able to drop the scoop of batter on the baking sheet. After dropping do not disturb the batter on the sheet and just bake them, They will spread and from a round shape .. no need to worry about shapes these cookies look really good as such and tastes yummy ..
These cookies are great filling breakfast with milk and kids will love them..

In place of raisins, try dried cranberries or cherries.