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Christmas Cookies Redux


Jaymes

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Sylvia, make some gingerbreads the lazy way, first the dough one day, then roll it out the next and then " artisan" cookies with a pizza slicer, DONE:

 

I have never in my life been able to roll out cookie dough.  It always sticks to the rolling pin, sticks to the board, sticks to my fingers, ends up in unattractive misshapen globs on the cookie sheets while I'm red faced and cranky.  If I use enough flour to keep this from happening, my shapely cookies taste like cardboard.  It's a curse. 

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I have never in my life been able to roll out cookie dough.  It always sticks to the rolling pin, sticks to the board, sticks to my fingers, ends up in unattractive misshapen globs on the cookie sheets while I'm red faced and cranky.  If I use enough flour to keep this from happening, my shapely cookies taste like cardboard.  It's a curse. 

I roll cookie dough between two sheets of parchment - remove the top sheet, cut the cookies, remove the "trimmings" and slide the parchment onto the baking sheet.  I do several sheets at once, stack them, even chill if the kitchen is warm.

After cooking I just slide the parchment onto the cooling rack and slide another full unbaked batch onto the sheet pan and right back into the oven.

 

This saves considerable time - no need to transfer the indifidual cookies before or after baking. 

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"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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Sylvia,  I will give you my grandmothers gingerbreads,  Stockholms pepparkakor,  you only roll balls, bake  and it taste like Christmas.

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Cheese is you friend, Cheese will take care of you, Cheese will never betray you, But blue mold will kill me.

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I roll cookie dough between two sheets of parchment - remove the top sheet, cut the cookies, remove the "trimmings" and slide the parchment onto the baking sheet.  I do several sheets at once, stack them, even chill if the kitchen is warm.

After cooking I just slide the parchment onto the cooling rack and slide another full unbaked batch onto the sheet pan and right back into the oven.

 

This saves considerable time - no need to transfer the indifidual cookies before or after baking. 

 

Another vote for using parchment paper! Except that I use plastic wrap on top instead of parchment, as it's more flexible and I find the dough tends to curl a bit as I roll it out. With this method, I almost never need to use additional flour unless the dough is exceptionally sticky.

 

I also use wooden craft sticks as guides for my rolling pin so I get a consistent thickness.

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I'm gonna go bake something…

wanna come with?

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Stockholms pepparkakor

 

250 gram brown sugar

200 gram caster sugar

50 gram butter

300 ml  golden syrup , cane juice, sugar cane syrup or light treacle  ( if you luck out, Swedish ljus sirap)

300 ml whipping cream ( try to get additive free)

1 tablespoon of ground ginger

A few drops of oil of lemon  ( old recipe says 1/4 teaspoon but for some oils that is too much)

2 tablespoon of bicarbonate soda

1 - 1½ litre of flour.

 

Whip the cream  fluffy, add  sugars, syrup and soften butter,  Whip some more until combine, add oil and ginger.  Mix  the bicarb with 500 ml of the flour and  in. Now with your hands add in as much flour you need until you have a soft   dough that holds it shape and isnt sticky. Leave  over night.   Next  day roll small  balls ( hazelnut size) or slightly larger balls and place on a baking sheet  ( should be covered with paper).  Bake  at 175 C  until done, dont burn them dear, about 5- 12 minutes  depending on size will do. Leave to cool on rack, yes they crack but that is perfect.  Dunk into coffee or milk, or you dentures have had it and it be an very expensive Christmas.  

Love. NN

 

That is how it is written on how to make them  and  it is a over 70 year old recipe, it is most likely older  because this is written pre  WWII in my  grandmothers  old cookbook and it is written with a typewriter  with a flaw, so I know who gave this recipe to my gran.  I  , my self have few letters with the same flaw.

Edited by CatPoet (log)
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Cheese is you friend, Cheese will take care of you, Cheese will never betray you, But blue mold will kill me.

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I'll have to buy the whipping cream...no problem...but exactly how does one measure a litre of flour?  Would it be 4 cups? 

 

I doubt I can get oil of lemon where we are, but I could add lemon zest.

Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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I'll have to buy the whipping cream...no problem...but exactly how does one measure a litre of flour?  Would it be 4 cups? 

 

I doubt I can get oil of lemon where we are, but I could add lemon zest.

Try a health food store - or older pharmacy.

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I'll have to buy the whipping cream...no problem...but exactly how does one measure a litre of flour? Would it be 4 cups?

I doubt I can get oil of lemon where we are, but I could add lemon zest.

Try the Bulk Barn on Landsdowne West.

Edited for spelling of street name

Edited by Anna N (log)

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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Thank you CatPoet. 

And Kerry and Anna I'm in the middle of not much in Utah.  I even bring my own mint when we come here.  Lots of red rocks and blue skies but not a lot of anything else.

Edited by Darienne (log)

Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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I'll have to buy the whipping cream...no problem...but exactly how does one measure a litre of flour?  Would it be 4 cups? 

 

I doubt I can get oil of lemon where we are, but I could add lemon zest.

 

If you don't mind waiting for delivery, you could order it from Golda's Kitchen. – oh whoops, I didn't see that you were in Utah right now! Disregard...

Edited by emmalish (log)

I'm gonna go bake something…

wanna come with?

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Ah yes - forgot you were south - should be even easier to find.  Look for the little Lorann bottles.  Cheap as chips.  Check Michael's Arts and Crafts.

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No, no Kerry.  Not in Moab.  There's a Kroger's here but it lacks candy making stuff...which I bring from home.  And a lot of other things too.  Buff tourists do not back.

 

No Lorann here.  And certainly no Michael's.  There's an Alco...and it's closing.  That's it.  Moab is two hours from anywhere.  Two hours north and east is Grand Junction...you could get it there.  Two hours south and east is Cortez.  Both are in CO.  I have no idea what you can get in Cortez.  Not much I think. 

 

Now if you wanted cliff climbing equipment or bicycle tires or jeeping stuff...you could get it here.  ATVs, river rafts, hiking boots.  Yes.  Motorcycles even.  But not foodstuffs.  Remember the young man who had to cut his arm off with a penknife to survive?  That was just outside of Moab. 

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Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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Oh, YAY!   I just found my Grandma' Springerle rolling pins!!!   I think I know what's next on the to-do list!  I have the blocks somewhere too, but I don't know where. The pins will have to do the job.

 

When I was really young, I remember watching Grandma make a little hole at the top of the cookie's border. She explained that the imprint/picture on the cookie could be painted, and then a ribbon tied through that little hole, and then it was hung on the tree as an ornament. I remember seeing her finished (painted) cookie with the imprint of the cardinal sitting on a tree branch. 

Anyone else ever paint the cookies?  Gram enjoyed all the kind of stuff. Just a fun thought....

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-Andrea

 

A 'balanced diet' means chocolate in BOTH hands. :biggrin:

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I'd just use some fresh lemon zest to replace the oil. If you don't want the actual lemon zest in the cookies, just mash some around with the sugar for a bit then strain it out. The oils transfer to the sugar quite easily.

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It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

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Oh I forgot,  you can also roll  STockholmspepparkakor and cut them out if you want to.  If the dough crumbles, add bit of butter.

Cheese is you friend, Cheese will take care of you, Cheese will never betray you, But blue mold will kill me.

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Fixed recipe, it been a time since I made these and I made them today and then it didnt work as it should. So I called   a relative and  she told me the recipe is wrong, wrong type of  treacle and too much flour and too short cooking time.  So I  fixed that for you all.


 


Stockholms pepparkakor


 


250 gram brown sugar


200 gram caster sugar


50 gram butter


250 ml  golden syrup , cane juice, sugar cane syrup or light treacle  ( if you luck out, Swedish ljus sirap)


50 ml  of dark molasses


300 ml whipping cream ( try to get additive free)


1 tablespoon of ground ginger


A few drops of oil of lemon, or lemon extract or the peel of ½ lemon  ( old recipe says 1/4 teaspoon but for some oils that is too much)


2 tablespoon of bicarbonate soda


1 - 1½ litre of flour. ( dont use it all)


 


Whip the cream  fluffy, add  sugars, syrup and soften butter,  Whip some more until combine, add oil and ginger.  Mix  the bicarb with 500 ml of the flour and  in. Now with your hands add in as much flour you need until you have a soft   dough that holds it shape and isnt sticky. Remember this need to be a fatty dough, Leave  over night.   Next  day roll small  balls ( hazelnut size) or slightly larger balls and place on a baking sheet  ( should be covered with paper).  Bake  at 175 C  until done, dont burn them dear, about 12 - 15 minutes  depending on size will do, they should crack,  Dunk into coffee or milk, or you dentures have had it and it be an very expensive Christmas.  


Love. NN


Edited by CatPoet (log)
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Cheese is you friend, Cheese will take care of you, Cheese will never betray you, But blue mold will kill me.

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I roll cookie dough between two sheets of parchment - remove the top sheet, cut the cookies, remove the "trimmings" and slide the parchment onto the baking sheet.  I do several sheets at once, stack them, even chill if the kitchen is warm.

After cooking I just slide the parchment onto the cooling rack and slide another full unbaked batch onto the sheet pan and right back into the oven.

 

This saves considerable time - no need to transfer the indifidual cookies before or after baking. 

 

That's what I do with pie dough, which I am not capable of rolling out without sticky disaster.  The dough usually sticks to the paper in spots, but I'm able to scrunch enough off and reshape in the pie plate so it's not terrible.  Not pretty but at least looks like food instead of.... Well, I won't go on. 

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That's what I do with pie dough, which I am not capable of rolling out without sticky disaster.  The dough usually sticks to the paper in spots, but I'm able to scrunch enough off and reshape in the pie plate so it's not terrible.  Not pretty but at least looks like food instead of.... Well, I won't go on. 

 

If the dough is reeeeeally sticky, I'll sprinkle a bit of flour in addition to using parchment paper. And if it still sticks, I'll use a lightly floured offset spatula to slide under the dough to help release it.

I'm gonna go bake something…

wanna come with?

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I agree with above suggestions, but also try putting the dough in the fridge for 10-15 minutes. If dough is very sticky, it's often because the butter is too warm/soft. When I roll cookies, I use wax paper but also I roll a small amount and leave the rest in the fridge, which I roll only when the first piece of dough is already rolled out and cut.

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When it comes to the roll out gingerbread recipe I have posted http://forums.egullet.org/topic/149950-swedish-gingerbread/ ,a light dusting  of flour and a lighter hand on the  rolling pin is all that is needed and it works like a charm.   I use this dough just because I know  it won't be to hard to roll  or stick like crazy.

Cheese is you friend, Cheese will take care of you, Cheese will never betray you, But blue mold will kill me.

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I agree with above suggestions, but also try putting the dough in the fridge for 10-15 minutes. If dough is very sticky, it's often because the butter is too warm/soft. When I roll cookies, I use wax paper but also I roll a small amount and leave the rest in the fridge, which I roll only when the first piece of dough is already rolled out and cut.

Very true.  Part of the problem is that my hands are always hot, real radiators.  My mom was an ace pastry maker and she had cool fingers -- we'd work alongside each other and she could never understand why my pastry was always a sticky mess while hers looked like it was done by a food stylist.  Ah well, miss her for many reasons, including that incredible flaky tender pastry she could make. 

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