These sandwich cookies from Argentina are from the city Cordoba. They are named alfajores cordobeses in Spanish. They are characterized by a type of sugar cookie filled with quince paste or dulce de membrillo, which is then dunked in icing glaze. They are so delicious!
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Today I am introducing a very old and very German recipe: quince paste. In its basic form it only contains quinces and sugar. This means it requires a lot of time and patience. You may not need to do much and there is a lot of waiting involved, but this is something that is done over the course of several days. First you will need to cook the quinces so that they become soft. Then they will sit with sugar overnight and on the next day you are going to cook them with sugar for at least an hour. Once you managed to make the paste, you need to wait until it is dry and can be cut into squares or cubes. Yes, this is some commitment. All I can tell you is that every time I gifted these, e.g. in a cookie box, I was instantly asked what this is and inquired about the recipe. In my opinion this is a wonderful contrast to all the Christmas cookies and a nice twist to a cookie.
These lemon crescents are bursting of lemon flavor as they contain lemon zest in the dough as well as in the sugar dusting. They are a relative of the famous German vanilla crescents especially popular during Christmas time. I am already starting my Christmas cookie baking and I am going to publish a total of seven cookie recipes and some more articles dealing with typical problems. Usually people already know which Christmas cookies they are going to bake every year, maybe this one will also go on the list. I intentially am going to introduce not the traditional Christmas cookies here, but more unusual ones, such as these lemon crescents. As far as I understand, people like to stick to their list, but are open to try one or two new cookie recipes. So let’s get started.
Some people don’t like mushrooms (who are you?), but I think you may enjoy these mushroom cookies. Emphasis on cookies. Think a melt-in-your mouth cookie with a nice vanilla flavor. If you like that kind of cookie, this one is for you. The awesome thing about these cookies is that a) they are a true showstoppers as they look so similar to real champignons, and b) that they taste delicious. So let’s get to it!
Do you remember the dog treats I posted here when we got Hazel as a pup? Those were homemade cookies with a lot of peanut butter. When she munched them away, we noticed that she got a weird rash on her belly, it looked very itchy. After consulting with the vet and testing, we realized, she apparently was allergic to peanut butter. Which is a shame since a lot of dogs are crazy about peanut butter. But alas, I couldn’t make any homemade treats containing peanut butter anymore. So I looked for an alternative. Almond butter seems to be doing the trick. However, almond butter contains more liquid so I had to adjust and tweak recipes accordingl. Below is a dog treat with no peanut butter, in case yours is allergic.
Wow, I believe I was naive. When I asked you if you would be interested in my Easter cookies, 82% of you replied postively when I asked you on Instagram. I honestly didn’t expect that. Unfortunately, cookies are usually only baked during the winter and Christmas season in Germany. We even have a special word for it “Plätzchen” instead of ‘Kekse.” I love cookies all year round and for that reason published a cookie recipe recently. In February I introduced you to chocolate chip cookies with whisky. But apparently Easter is the big exception and even Germans don’t mind a cookie during this season, so yay, cookie time it is. As is often the case, I also shipped some cookies to some friends of mine who can’t bake anymore or simply don’t have time. The ones pictured were shipped one way or another. Today I will introduce the three types of cookies you see pictured below. These are hazelnut cookies as rabbites, lemon cookies with lemon curd, also shown as rabbits, and lambs and Easter eggs, which are sugar cookies with royal icing. I made the hazelnut and lemon cookies as sandwich cookies, glued together with hazelnut cream or lemon curd. They are similar to Linzer cookies. Since I didn’t have the correct cookie cutters for Linzer, I cut out the hole with a nozzle.
If you know me, it won’t come as a surprise that I am a huge fan of any type of chocolate chip cookie. I tried so many different recipes before I finally settled on this recipe for chocolate chip cookies. The below recipe contains whisky or bourbon, and also includes rye flour and rolled oats. It is only a distant relative of the original, but be it as it may, these cookies are extremely delicious. You will definitely taste the whisky flavor, but it is not too dominant. The only downside is that you definitely need to chill these cookies as otherwise you will not get a lot of whisky flavor. Best is 24 hours or overnight.
I probably sound like a broken record, but my very favorite cookie from my birth place Uruguay is alfajores marplatenses. This translates to a chocolate sandwich cookie, which is filled with caramel aka dulce de leche. A decadent delicacy. Obviously I already have a recipe on the blog, however, this time I thought I may give another recipe a try. The recipe below follows the recipe by Isabel Vermal, an Argentinian pastry maker. Her dough is slightly different from my first recipe, it is slightly drier and contains more flour. It is a beautiful contrast to the dulce de leche filling. May I interest you in making below recipe?
Are you also baking cookies for the season? I was and it is so much fun! You especially seem to like my new recipe for spritz cookies without a cookie press. Below I give you a lot of new ideas (including previious years of my cookie plate) so that you have an abundance of cookies available. Have fun baking!
Have you heard of Springerle cookies from Germany? Traditionally they are made with anise seed. However, I don’t really like that flavor and instead made them with orange zest and vanilla extract. If you want to do the traditional flavor, I have you covered as well. Springerle cookies are a cookie that needs to be made in advance. It takes three days until they are baked and will intesify in flavor over the course of weeks. For that reason I recommend making them already now if you want to try them for Christmas. If you believe Wikipedia, Springerle cookies were already made in the Middle Ages and served for a lot of festivities, including weddings. The cookie molds were made from pear trees and passed down from generation to generation. I found my cookie mold here in Munich at the store Holzstandl, you may also try Etsy.
