Lavender Cookies

Finally, the flowers are blooming again! My favorite flower is lavender. They smell and taste so good, which is why I wanted to make cookies with them. These cookies are delicious and you can taste the lavender really well. They are also pretty easy to make. It is best to make these cookies with fresh lavender buds, because fresh lavender has more flavor. However, they are also delicious with dried lavender. Enjoy!

Makes 18-20 cookies

Action time: 15 minutes + 30 minutes cooling time + 10-13 minutes baking time

Ingredients:

1/3 cup / 75 g sugar

1 tbsp (fresh) lavender buds

1 stick / 115 g cold butter, diced

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup / 165 g flour

Extra: food processor, baking sheet, parchment paper

1. In a food processor, grind the sugar with the lavender buds until the buds are crushed. 

2. Add the butter, vanilla, flour, and a pinch of salt and pulse several times until the dough comes together. On a work space, shape the dough into a sausage with a diameter of about 2" / 5 cm. Let the dough rest in the fridge for about 30 min.

3. Preheat the oven to 350*F / 175*C. Cut the dough into slices of about 1/5" / 0.5 cm. Put the slices on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and bake for 10-13 min. or until the edges start to turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Dutch Chocolate Covered 'Kruidnoten'

On the 5th of December The Netherlands celebrates Saint Nicolas Day. It's one of the most important holidays of the year. Saint Nicolas, like Santa, bring presents for children and adults. On this very traditional holiday we eat lots of very traditional sweets. One of my favorite sweets are these kruidnoten. 'Kruid' means spices, and 'noten' means nuts. They are tiny nut-like cookies made with spices and brown sugar. It's very nice to cover them in chocolate, so that's what I did. It's a yummy, chocolaty seasonal treat.

For about 100 kruidnoten, you will need:

125 g/4.5 oz unsalted butter, 250 g/9 oz flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 125 g/4.5 oz dark brown sugar, 2 tbs pumpkin pie spices (to make your own, see below), 2-3 tbs milk, 100 g/3.5 oz dark chocolate

Note: If you don't like dark chocolate you can use milk chocolate instead.

Of course, you can always buy pumpkin pie spices (speculaaskruiden in Dutch) from the store, but I decided to make my own. All you need is:

2 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp cardamom, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp cloves powder

1. If you are making your own pumpkin pie spices, just combine all the spices in a bowl.

2. Cut the butter in pieces. Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, spices, and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Add the butter, and rub it with the tips of your fingers until it looks like fine bread crumbs.

3. Add the milk and kneed the dough until it becomes a ball. Wrap it in cling film and let it rest for 1 hr. in the fridge.

4. Preheat the oven to 350F/175C. Roll the dough into about 100 very little balls of approximately 1/2 inch (1,5 cm).

5. Put the kruidnoten on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake them in batches for 12-13 minutes. Take them out of the oven and let them cool completely. Now you can finally cover them with chocolate!!!

6. Break the chocolate in pieces and put them in a bowl that can be heated (or use a Bain-Marie pan, like we did). Put the bowl on a pan with boiling water in it. Make sure the water doesn't touch the bowl. Melt the chocolate slowly on a low temperature. Stir from time to time. Dip about 5 kruidnoten in the chocolate at a time. Take them out with a fork and put them on a board covered with parchment paper. You do not have to cover all of the kruidnoten, but you can if you want to.

7. Put the kruidnoten in the fridge until they are set. 

These kruidnoten taste delicious with hot chocolate!!!

Gluten Free Chocolate Almond Thumprint Cookies

Last Friday I wanted to bake chocolate cookies after school. We were out of butter, so I couldn't bake cookies that would contain butter. I talked it over with my mom and then we came up with these chewy thumbprint cookies, which are made with ground almonds and egg white instead of flour and butter. They turned out more than delicious, and they are so easy to make! I'm definitely going to make them more often.

Makes 24 cookies

7 oz/200 g sugar, 7 oz/200 g ground almonds, 4 tbsp cocoa powder (plus extra for dusting), 2 egg whites, apricot jam (for the filling)

Extra: 2 cookie sheets, parchment paper

1 Preheat the oven to 350F/175C. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Mix the sugar, ground almonds and cocoa in a bowl. Add the egg whites and mix until you have a sticky dough.

2 Divide the dough into 24 tiny balls and place them about 2 inches (5 cm) apart on the cookie sheets.

3 Wet your thump and press a well into the center of each cookie.

4 Fill each cookie with about 1/2 a teaspoon of jam.  Bake the cookies 12-13 minutes in the oven, rotating the sheets about halfway through baking.

5 Let stand for 5 minutes and transfer to a wire rack. The cookies firm up as they cool. Dust lightly with cocoa before serving.

Screaming Cookies

We are at home, because Hurricane Sandy is coming. Luckily, we still have power so I can work on my blog. It's almost Halloween, so I decided that I wanted to make something for the holiday. I invented and designed these cookies myself (with a little help from my Mom). The recipe for the dough is based on a very old Dutch recipe from my great grandma who is still alive. It takes some time to make them, but it's nice for rainy days or if you are waiting for a Hurricane to arrive!!!

 For the dough:

You will need 300 g (2 cups) flour, 150 g (2/3 cups) sugar, 3 tbs cocoa, 200 g (1 stick + 5 tbs) unsalted and soft butter, 1/2 tsp vanilla, and 1 1/2 tbs milk.

For the icing:

You will need 200 g (1 1/2 cup) powdered sugar, and 50 g (scant 2 oz) dark chocolate.

1. Mix the flour, sugar, and cocoa in a bowl. Add the butter, vanilla and milk and kneed everything into a big soft dough ball. Wrap the dough and put it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

 2. In the meantime, design your screams. Draw them on a piece of thick paper and cut them out (you do not need to draw a face on them. I just thought it was fun for the picture).

3. Preheat the oven to 190 C (375 F). Take your dough out of the fridge and roll it out on a floured surface until it is as thick as about 1/2 cm. (scant 1/4 in.).

4. Put your paper screams on the dough and cut around them with a knife. When cut out,  transfer to a baking sheet.

5. Put the cookies in the oven for 10-12 min.

6. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack, and let them cool completely.

7. Mix the powdered sugar with 1 1/2-2 tbs of water to make the icing. If it's too liquid, add a little bit more powdered sugar. If it's too thick, add a little bit more water. Then, cover the cookies with icing. Let the icing dry.

8. To make the faces, break the chocolate in pieces and put them in a bowl that can be heated. Put the bowl on a pan with boiling water in it. Make sure the water doesn't touch the bowl. Melt the chocolate slowly on a low temperature. Stir from time to time. Make the faces with the melted chocolate, using a small teaspoon. 

9. Let the faces dry. Enjoy your screaming cookies. Happy Halloween!!!