Alfajores ( Sandwich Cookies With Dulce De Leche)#BakingBloggers

Welcome to Baking Bloggers event, today we are posting recipes from Central America to South America, from Mexico south to Argentina and all points between.

Made these tender crumbly cookies which are sandwiched with dulce de leche – Alfajores are such delicate kind of cookies that are mouth melting and you will love it.

I have used my homemade dulce de leche to sandwich these tender cookies, it take's these cookies to another level... almost irresistible.. you can't stop at one.. they are too good.

Makes 12 sandwich cookies

Ingredients
100 Grams Unsalted Butter - the butter should be cold
25 Grams Salted Butter - the butter should be cold
50 Grams Powdered Sugar
1 Egg Yolk - only- from the refrigerator
1 Teaspoon Vanilla extract
105 Grams All Purpose Flour
105 Grams Cornflour
1/2 Teaspoon Level Baking powder
1/8 Teaspoon Baking soda
5 - 6 Tablespoons Dulce De Leche - Homemade
Icing sugar or Shredded Coconut for dusting


Method
Sieve the cornflour and all purpose,sugar, baking powder and soda, keep aside.

Grate the cold butter in a big bowl, rub the sieved ingredients into the butter lightly with your hands, add the egg yolk and essence lightly bring it together into a ball. Wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes ( chilling the dough is must). Do not knead the dough too much or else the cookies will become hard and loose that crumbly texture.

Once the dough has cooled, roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and using light pressure as possible roll it approximately 1/4 inch thick and it into cut small circles with a cookie cutter. 

Place them on a lined cookie sheet/baking sheet/tray. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Place the tray back into the refrigerator to chill for at least 15 minutes. 

In the meantime preheat the oven to 170 C. 

After the cookies are cold then bake the cookies for exactly 11 to 12 minutes until they are just starting to brown very slightly at the sides. They should still be very pale. Leave to cool for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack. 

When the cookies are cool, put a small spoonful of dulce de leche on one cookie and press another on top lightly (these tend to break if extra pressure is used while sandwiching these) . 

Hold them in the center lightly while sandwiching so that they don't break. 

Dust them with icing sugar.

Enjoy these mouth melting cookies. 

My Notes

If you are using unsalted butter then add a pinch of salt.

The number of cookies is based on the cookie cutter size - I have used  a 2.1/2 cookie cutter and then when a little dough  made small ones with 2 inch cookie cutter. The small ones look cute and are also easier to sandwich they do not break. Would suggest using a 2 inch cookie cutter.

I wanted to roll these in coconut, but my hubby said no, he prefers icing sugar. 

Labels : Biscuits & Cookies, Baking Bloggers, Dulce De Leche, Homemade, Sandwich Cookies, American, Baked

Baking Bloggers

Central and South American Desserts

• Alfajores - Dulce de Lech Sandwich Cookies by Sneha's Recipe
• Chajá by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Cocada de Forno - Brazilian Baked Coconut by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Golfeados by Caroline's Cooking
• Guatemalan Pastel Borracho (Drunk Cake) by Home Sweet Homestead
• Sequilhos de Coco – Brazilian Coconut Cornstarch Cookies by The Schizo Chef
• Tres Leche Cake - 3 milk cake by Recipe Pocket

Ginger Butter Cookies#FantasticalFoodFight

Made these cookies for the Fantastical Food Fight wherein the theme for the month is: Gingerbread . These cookies are eggless, mouth melting and crisp. 

You will definitely love the addition of ginger powder in it.

Ingredients  

1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/3 Cup Icing Sugar
100 Grams Salted Butter
13 Grams Vegetable Shortening
2 Tablespoons Milk
2 Tablespoons Custard powder
1 Teaspoon Vanilla essence
1 Teaspoon Dry Ginger powder - Homemade
¼ Teaspoon Level Baking powder

Method

Take all dry ingredients in a bowl except sugar mix well and keep aside. 

Take butter, shortening and sugar in a bowl and mix till light and fluffy. Add vanilla essence, milk and mix again. Now  fold in the add all dry ingredients and  mix it well. Mix everything well together with a help of a spoon or spatula. 

Take a piping bag with  big size star nozzle and fill it with cookie dough. Line a baking try or pan with parchment paper and pipe the cookies on it at little distance. Bake at 180 degrees for 15- 20 minutes. 

Baking time may vary depending on Oven. 

Once done take out them on a cooling rack serve when completely cools down.

How to make Air fryer Dehydrated Ginger Powder at home.

Ingredients  

500 Grams Ginger

Method

Remove the skins and wash the ginger and pat them dry.
Then using a grater or a chopper, I used my V slicer to cut into fine slices.

Then place these in the basket of the Air fryer at 80 degrees. Then no need to preheat the Air Fryer. It will take around 40 to 45 minutes.

Every 15 minutes give it a good stir so that they are evenly dried and crisp. If necessary keep it for another 10 to 15 minutes more. 

Dry the ginger slices on a cloth and leave it for about an hour or two so that they are cool and dry completely.  

Then powder them in a blender or a coffee grinder. 

Store it in a air thight container and keep this in your kitchen cabinet.

Ta Da.. Ginger Powder is ready..

Labels : Eggless, Cookies, Biscuits & Cookies, Fantastical Food Fight, Ginger, Air Fryer, Dehydrated, Ginger powder, Homemade
You can learn more about our group and how to join in the fun over at this site.


#FantasticalFoodFight

Be sure to check out the other Fantastical "food fight" recipes this month !

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Check out the other recipes below!

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Cinnamon Roll Twists#BakingBloggers

Light and flaky cinnamon twist pastries can be made quickly and easily from oven to plate in just 20 minutes.

I have used home puff pastry,  you can use a packet of ready rolled puff pastry, brush melted butter onto it, sprinkle some cinnamon and sugar on and then cut it into strips. Twist it, then bake for 10-15 minutes. Done.

Ingredients
250 Grams Puff pastry
2 tbsp butter, melted and slightly cooled
3 - 4 Tablespoons Light Brown Sugar
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon powder
For the Puff Pastry
250 Grams All Purpose Flour
180 Grams Unsalted Butter
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
Cold Water as required 

Method

For the Method of making the Puff Pastry see here.
Preheat oven to 200 degree C and line 2 baking trays.

Place light brown sugar and cinnamon into a small bowl and stir until combined. Leave to one side.

Place the rolled pastry sheet onto a cutting mat and brush melted butter all over.

Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mix all over the pastry and press slightly with the back of a spoon, just to make sure it's stuck.

Slice into strips, about 1 inch thick, but this will depend on the size of your sheet.

Take either end of the strip and twist; twist one hand away and the other towards until the twist meets in the middle.

Place twists on baking tray, with 2 inch space between them.
Place in oven for 12-15 minutes until risen, puffy and golden.

Leave to cool on the trays completely.

My Notes :

Whenever I make puff pastry, use the sides to make Cinnamon Roll Twists, nothing goes to waste.

Labels : Puff Pastry Sheet, Light Brown Sugar, Cinnamon, Biscuits & Cookies, Baking Bloggers.

Baking Bloggers
Baked with Puff Pastry
Baked Apricot Pistachio Camembert by Food Lust People Love
Cherry Turnovers by The Redhead Baker
Cinnamon Roll Twists by Sneha's Recipe
Homemade Taco Hot Pockets by A Day in the Life on the Farm
Matcha Puff Pastry Twists by Tara's Multicultural Table
Napoleonskager by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
Puff Pastry Chicken Packets by Hardly a Goddess
Spinach Ham and Cheese Bites by Karen's Kitchen Stories

Baking Bloggers is a friendly group of food bloggers who vote on a shared theme and then post about it once per month. If you are a food blogger interesting in joining in, inquire at our Baking Bloggers FaceBook Group. We'd be honored if you would join us in our baking adventures.

Southern Buttermilk Biscuits

When I went to make these biscuits, looked into the bag of self rising flour found only a cup. Actually this recipe requires only self rising flour, but substituted one cup with all purpose flour. The biscuits turned out good but not so flaky, the extreme hot weather in Mumbai made the butter just melt as I was incorporating it into the flour. Tried keeping the dough in refrigerator but that too did not help.

Sending these to Foodie Extravaganza Party - theme Buttermilk Biscuits our host of the month is Kathleen, thank you for hosting this event. 

Ingredients
1 Level Cup Self-rising flour
1 Level Cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
2 Tablespoons Light Brown Sugar powdered
3/4 Cup Buttermilk - chilled
¼ Cup Heavy Cream - chilled
110 Grams Butter - chilled

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Line a tray sheet with butter paper. Set aside.
In a large bowl add flour, salt and brown sugar. Whisk until well combined.
Grate the cold butter into the flour mixture.
Use a fork,  to cut the butter  into the flour mixture until it resembles large crumbs.
Make a well in the center of the bowl. Add the heavy cream and lightly mix it with your finger tips. Then add the butter milk gently little at a time to make sticky dough ( do not knead the dough).
Sprinkle flour generously on the work surface. Place dough onto floured surface.
Sprinkle the top of dough with flour and flour your hands as well.
Very gently, knead the dough by folding it in layers a few times while just a little flour,  so that the dough is not sticking to your hands or your work surface. 
Gently pat the dough out into a small rectangle about 1 inch thick, flour your biscuit cutter and cut out circles.  Place biscuits on the baking tray.
Bake for 15 minutes or until golden. 

Brush with melted butter as soon as they come out of the oven. Serve warm and enjoy with a cup of tea.

Labels :  Biscuits & Cookies, Foodie Extravaganza Party, Buttermilk

Today's Foodie Extravaganza day is celebrating the Buttermilk Biscuit. Kathleen, from Fearlessly Creative Mammas is the host this month, and to celebrate her southern roots, she picked Buttermilk Biscuits as the theme. May 14th is actually Buttermilk Biscuit day, but we get to pick from any of the foods in the specific month, so Buttermilk Biscuits it is. We pick our foods from the website The Nibble. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board! Looking for our previous parties? Check them out HERE.


Cacio e Pepe Biscuits by Laura at Baking in Pajamas Buttermilk Biscuit Mixed Berry Shortcake by Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm 

Savory Buttermilk Butter Biscuits by Kathleen at Fearlessly Creative Mammas 

Tarragon Sweet Potato Biscuits by Caroline at Caroline's Cooking 

Maple and Bacon Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits by Rebekah at Making Miracles 

Cinnamon Sugar Buttermilk Biscuits by Lauren at From Gate to Plate 

Bacon Honey Mustard Biscuits by Stacy from Food Lust People Love 

Buttermilk Lemon Biscuits by Kathya from Basic N Delicious Southern Buttermilk Biscuits by Georgina from G'Gina's Kitchenette 

Biscuit Cinnamon Rolls with Chopped Pecans by Elaine from Cookin and Craftin 

Biscuit French Toast by Teri from The Freshman Cook Southern Buttermilk Biscuits by Sneha from Sneha's Recipes

Mini Nutella Cookie Cups - Eggless

These are so delightful when baked, that you just wait when you can pop them in to your mouth.  They simply melt.    

Ingredients
50 Grams butter (softened)
50 Grams Icing sugar
25 Grams Brown sugar - powdered
2 Drops Chocolate essence
70 Grams All-purpose flour
1/2 Teaspoon Cocoa powder
A pinch of soda - bi - carb
A pinch of salt
25 Ml Milk
A Small Jar of Nutella

Method 

Preheat oven to 180 degrees . Grease your mini muffin tin. I made these in the appe pan since I did not have a mini muffin pan.

 Seive the flour, salt, baking soda, keep aside. 
Cream butter and both sugar in bowl until light, smooth and fluffy! Gradually add the seive flour  until all the flour is mixed in. Add milk a teaspoon at a time and lightly bring it to together to form a dough.  (Do not use knead the dough too much or else the cookies will become hard and tough.

Roll dough into balls.

Pop them in the mini muffin tin / appe pan  and bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown but not too dark around the edges.

When done, remove from oven and let sit for about 2 minutes. 

Then make wells for the nutella with a shot glass. 

Add 1 tbsp Nutella to each cup – it will start to melt quickly so you can swirl it around and make it nice and smooth.

Let cool 15-20 minutes in tin. 

Remove from tin and relish them. 

Nutella  solidifyed in about an hour, which  I, then transported to my friends!



Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#55

Labels : Biscuits & Cookies, Eggless, Blogging Marathon

Makrout - Moroccan Date Cookie

This delicious moroccan pastry is made with semolina and date . 

Makrout in it's various forms is present on all celebration tables especially during Ramadan .  Makrout, also spelled Maqrout, Makroudh, Maqrut, Mqaret, Imqaret or Makroud. The word makrout in arabic means "diamond shaped" as these small delights are traditional diamond shaped.

This pastry has so much of ghee and oil that while making it I had a tough time.  The heat in Mumbai is so much that the pastry was melting.   Had to keep it in the fridge to set after every rolling.  But the end result was fantastic.  We enjoyed it, even my friends loved this cookie.  A healthy and tasty cookies.  Do try it.

Ingredients
For the dough
1 Cups  Fine Semolina

1 Tablespoon All purpose flour
2 Tablespoons Rose water
1. 1/2 Tablespoon Ghee

1. 1/2 Tablespoon Oil
1 Tablespoon Sugar
A pinch of salt

Ingredients for the filling
1.1/2 Cups of Pitted Dates
1 Tablespoon Rose water
1 Tablespoon Butter
1/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon powder
a pinch of ground nutmeg

Honey

Method
To make the dough

Melt ghee, when melted, add the oil.

Mix the semolina, flour, sugar and salt.  Slowly add the melted ghee mixing thoroughly. Add water just enough to wet the semolina.  Keep it aside covered overnight.  Next day grind the semolina  to paste without adding any water.

Knead this into a soft ball/ very smooth texture. Keep it in the refrigerator for an hour to set.  

To assemble

Transfer the dough on to a flat surface, divide the dough into two parts. 

Roll out one part into a small thick chappati and place the date paste over it. Cover it with the other part of the dough.

Roll this in a thick chappatti.  Cut with a square cookies cutter.

I used a small mould to decorate the makrouts.

I din't fry them in oil, but baked them in the oven. Place this on to lined  baking tray . 

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes till light golden on top.  

Dip it in honey immediately after you remove it from the oven.  Keep it to drain.  Serve, enjoy .... 

This recipe goes to Mena's Cooking Club.


Labels : Dates, Honey, Semolina, Moroccan, Biscuits & Cookies, Mena Cooking Club, Continental Cuisine

   

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