Kissmoni's Honey Cookies and Stained Glass Cookies/ Fursecuri Vitraliu

Kissmoni’s Honey Cookies

These cookies are delicious! I have the recipe from a wonderful cook  I met on a culinary forum, Kissmoni. She decorates them beautifully with royal icing. The first time I made them, using royal icing seemed intimidating to me, so I tried to do a stained glass cookie .But  these cookies vanish no matter how you choose to decorate them.  

Ingrediente

1.    2 ¾ cups (400g ) flour

2.    1 2/3 cups powdered sugar

3.    ½ stick(60g) butter

4.    2 eggs

5.    3 tbsp. honey

6.    1 tsp. baking soda

7.    2 ½ tsp.  baking powder

8.    1 tbsp(apple cider) vinegar or lemon juice

9.    1 tsp. vanilla extract

10.  ½ tsp. cinnamon

11. 1tsp Ginger (I used about 1/8 tsp. allspice this time, 1/8 tsp cloves)

12.  Royal icing, or to make stained glass cookies you’ll need hard candies. I used life savers, but I plan on using candy canes for Christmas .

Beat butter, half the sugar and honey ,add the eggs ,the rest of sugar and half of the flour,vanilla cinnamon and ginger ,Mix well. Add baking powder and baking soda, vinegar and the rest of flour. Mix well.

 Divide in 2 ,wrap each half in wax paper or plastic wrap, an refrigerate for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 350° F (180°C) .Flour your work surface and your rolling pin. Roll dough to about 1/8 in (3-5 mm) thickness, then use a cookie cutter or a wine glass to cut your cookies.

Bake for about 8-10 min or until slightly golden brown on the edges. Remove to a wire rack to cool. Decorate with royal icing as desired.

Stained glass cookies

To make stained glass cookies you will need a small cookie cutter (about ½ in) to cut the center of your cookies (before you bake them).  Place cookies a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, fill holes with finely crushed candies .You can use two different color candy for a nice colorful stained glass. Bake as above, but let cool on the baking sheet before moving to wire rack, otherwise you’ll ruin your glass  L

Keep them in tin lined with parchment paper.

Enjoy!

Fursecuri Kissmoni

Aceste fusecuri sunt delicioase! Retata o am de la o bucatareasa extraordinara ,Kissmoni,o prietena pe care am avut placerea sa o cunosc pe forum ( culinar.ro ). Fursecurile ei decorate cu royal icing arata nemaipomenit!  Prima data insa cind am incercat aceste fursecuri eram inca in faza de recupare dupa ce am facut un un royal icing care nu s-a intarit nici dupa 3 zile …Prin urmare am zis ca n-ar fi rau, folosind  retera Monicai sa fac niste prajituri vitraliu . Dar nu conteaza cum hotariti sa decorate prajiturile , pentru ca se vor topi numai decit.

Ingrediente

1.    400g faina

2.    160g zahar pudra

3.    60g unt

4.    2 oua

5.    3 linguri miere

6.    1 lingurita bicarbonate

7.    2 ½ lingurite praf de copt

8.    1 lingura otet sau suc de lamiie

9.    1 lingurita vanilie

10.  ½ lingurita scortisoara

11. 1lingurita Ghimbir (eu am folosit un vf cutit ienibahar macinat de data asta ,1vf cutit cuisoare-4 cuisoare pisate)

12.  Royal icing ,sau daca doriti sa faceti fursecuti vitraliu ,bomboane tari, colorate .

• Bateti bine untul ,jumatate din zahar,si mierea,apoi adugati ouale(lele) J ,restul de zahar,jumatate din cantitatea de faina,vanilia,scortisoara,si ghimbirul.Amestcati bine.Adaugati apoi praful de copt, bicarbonatul, otetul si restul de faina .amestecati .
• Impartiti aluatul in 2 ,inveliti fiecare jumatate in hirtie cerata sau folie de plastic si lati la rece pentru cel putin o ora.
• Incalziti cuptorul la180°C. Intindeti o foaie de aluat groasa de aproximativ 3-5 mm ,decupati prajiturile  puneti-le in tava si dati la cuptor pentru 8-10 minute sau pina ce marginile devin aurii. Se scot din cuptor se racesc si apoi se decoreaza cu royal icing.

Fursecuri Vitraliu

• Pentru a face fursecurile vitraliu ,aveti  nevoie de inca  o forma de decupat prajituri de aproximativ 1 cm diametru ,cu care sa decupati mijlocul fursecului inainte (inainte de a-l coace).Asezati fursecurile pe o tava tapetata cu hirtie de copt,si umpleti centrul prajiturii cu bomboane sfarimate marunt. Puteti pune doua culori diferite pentru un vitraliu frumos colorat. Coaceti ca mai sus ,dar lasati fursecurile sa se raceasca in tava inainte de  a le transfera ,altfel riscati sa stricati vitraliul L .
•  Pastrati in cutii de metal captusite cu hirtie de copt.

Pofta buna!



Lemon Sugar cookies

Ingredients

1.    3 cups all-purpose flour

2.    1 cup sugar

3.    1cup (2 sticks ) unsalted butter softened

4.    1 egg

5.    1 tbsp. milk

6.    Pinch of salt

7.    ¾  tsp. baking powder

8.    1 tsp. vinegar or lemon juice

9.    1 tbsp. lemon zest

10. Powdered (confectioners )sugar

Sift flour, salt and baking powder. In a large bowl beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, milk and lemon zest and beat well.  Add 1/2 of flour, then the vinegar or lemon juice mix well. Add the rest of the flour .Once dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, divide it in 2, wrap each half (about 1 inch thick) in wax paper or plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°F Sprinkle work surface and your rolling pin (glass bottle works well ) with powdered sugar. Roll out dough ¼ inch thick Add some more powdered sugar underneath, to make sure it won’t stick. Use a cookie cutter (or a wine glass or an aluminum can for round cookies) to cut desired shape, and place in baking sheet (lined with parchment paper) about 1 in apart, bake for 8-10 min or until slightly golden brown on the edges. Remove from oven ,and if you haven’t lined your sheet with parchment paper ,use a spatula to transfer  cookies to the wire rack to cool .To Serve ,dust with powdered sugar while still warm, or decorate with icing when completely cool .

First batch came out as brownies

Chocolate almond spritz cookies

1.     2 ½  sticks(275g)  butter   

2.     2/3  cup sugar

3.     2/3  cups (dark) brown sugar
4.     1  tbsp. vanilla extract

5.     2  eggs

6.     2/3 cup cocoa

7.     2  cup all-purpose flour

8.     ½  cup almond meal(ground up almonds)

9.     ¼  tsp. baking soda(use ½ tsp. if you don’t have baker’s ammonia)

10.  ½  tsp.  baker’s ammonia

11.  2  tbsp (apple cider)vinegar or lemon juice

12.   ¼  tsp. salt

I know you have a question about baker’s ammonia. This is an ancestor of modern baking powder. It is still used in Europe to make cookies very light and crisp. It may leave an unpleasant ammonia flavor especially if used in baked goods with high moisture. We used it a lot back home, and I was thrilled when I found it here! Some cookies just taste better with BA than with baking powder /soda, which makes them kind of hard.  Do not confuse this with your ordinary household ammonia, which is poisonous.

Now lets get back to our cookies

Preheat oven to 375 °F. In a bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at the time, incorporate well. Add vanilla, cocoa, almond meal ,salt and ½ of the flour. Beat well. Mix bakers ammonia with vinegar and quickly add it to the dough, mix well. Then add the baking powder and the other tsp. of vinegar and mix .I find that mixing the baking soda, ammonia with vinegar reduces that after taste in the baked goods .Add the rest of the flour, fill your cookie press, choose your template and press cookies onto cool ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 min (or less in convection ovens). Remove, cool on rack, and decorate as desired.

ENJOY!                             

Dipped in Milk Chocolate