Christmas Calendar 2020 Day 12 - Cinnamon Dream cookies

After I baked these cinnamon cookies, I decided to make various changes (only to use butter, more cinnamon and less ammonium hydrogen carbonate). I also decided to sprinkle the cookies before baking with cinnamon sugar . I also decided to place the cookie dough cool in the refrigerator, so I could slice the cookie, prior to baking them.  

Cinnamon Dream cookies: - 30-50 cookies

• 175 g butter - soft
• 200 g sugar
• 2½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 200 g wheat flour
• ½ teaspoon ammonium hydrogen carbonate
• cinnamon sugar for sprinkling - optional

1. Whip the sugar & butter white and foamy using a hand mixer.
2. Add in the cinnamon, and whip again.
3. Afterward add in the wheat flour and ammonium hydrogen carbonate and whip again.
4. Divide the cookie dough into two portion. Each portion in place on cling film and rolled in long cookie roll.
5. Place the cookie dough cold in the refrigerator night over.
6. Heat up the oven to 150'C.
7. Slice the cookie rolls into cookies.
8. Place the cookies on baking trays covered with baking parchment. 
9. Sprinkle the cookie with cinnamon sugar.
10. Bake at 150'C for  approx. 20 minutes.
11. Cool down the cookies, before they are stored in an air-tight container.

Christmas Calendar 2020 Day 7 - Cinnamon cookies

It is time to start baking cookies, so the cookie tins can be filled up for Christmas. And today I have been testing a recipe on cinnamon cookies, which I have located in the weekly magazine "Søndag".

I had expected a stronger taste of cinnamon in these cookies, and the feed-back from my colleagues, is that taste of cinnamon is not very dominating. Also, the cookies was very crumbling, which I think comes from the amount of ammonium hydrogen carbonate, so next I will increase the level of cinnamon on decrease the amount of ammonium hydrogen carbonate.

Cinnamon cookies: - 30-50 cookies

• 100 g butter - soft
• 2½ dl sugar
• 1 dl rape seed oil
• 2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 dl wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon ammonium hydrogen carbonate

1. Heat up the oven to 150'C.
2. Whip the sugar & butter white and foamy using a hand mixer.
3. Add in the rape seed oil together with the cinnamon, and whip again.
4. Afterward add in the wheat flour and ammonium hydrogen carbonate and whip again.
5. Use two teaspoons to take small pieces of the cookie dough, which is placed on baking tray covered with baking parchment. 
6. Bake at 150'C for  approx. 20 minutes.
7. Cool down the cookies, before they are stored in an air-tight container.

Easter calendar 2020 - Easter cookies

Today it is Easter Sunday, which is the fourth day in the Danish Easter vacation.

And to day it is time to bake some cookies. I found this recipe on the weekly magazine "Hendes Verden" issue 15/2020, which I brought do to some knitting recipes on light sweater.

However, I also locate this recipe on a giant Easter cookie, which should be baked in the shape of an egg. However, in these times of corona virus I decided to bake this cookies as individual cookies.

Otherwise I have made no changes to the recipe. I find it to be a very good basic cookie recipe, which I easily think could be used for other types of cookies with addition of spices like cinnamon and other ingredients like raisins. Or change the sugar from plain sugar to brown sugar or muscavado sugar.

Easter cookies: - 25 cookies

• 100 g butter - soft
• 100 g sugar
• 2 tablespoons of syrup
• 1 egg
• 125 g (cake) wheat flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1½ teaspoon vanilla sugar
• 120 g (fine) oat flakes
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 bag of chocolate coated almonds

1. Heat up the fan oven to 170'C.
2. Whip the sugar, syrup and butter together with an electrical whipper.
3. Add in the egg, and whip for 1 minute.
4. Add in the flour, salt, vanilla sugar, baking soda and oat flakes.
5. Whip for another 2 minutes.
6. Cover two baking trays with baking parchment. 
7. Use two teaspoons to place the cookie dough on the baking tray with distance between each other.
8. Bake the cookies at 170'C for appox 15 minutes. After 8 minutes baking turn around with the baking trays to get an even baking.
9. Right after baking press a chocolate coated almond down into each cookie.
10. Cool down the cookie.
11. Store in an airtight container.
12. Enjoy with cup of tea/coffee :-)

Christmas Calendar 2019 Day 17 - Pepper nut with licorice

I continue to bake for the Christmas coffee taking place later this week, this time is one of the Danish Christmas classic in form of "pepper nuts". "Pepper nuts" is a spiced small round cookie, where there is an extra addition of licorice, which is another typical Danish classic.

I have this recipe in a small leaflet, which I got together with the weekly magazine "Søndag".

You could also have a look at these recipes on "pepper nuts" licorice pepper nuts, giant pepper nut cookies, pepper nut muffins & pepper nuts a la Urtekram.


Pepper nut with licorice: - plenty

• 190 g butter - cut into smaller pieces
• 190 g sugar
• 1 tablespoon dark syrup
• 1½ teaspoon cardamon
• 1½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 1/4 teaspoon licorice
• 1 egg
• 340 g wheat flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 50 g white chocolate
• 1½ teaspoon licorice granulate

1. Start by adding all the ingredients into the mixing bowl of the stand alone mixer.
2. Knead the ingredients together. End by knead the dough by hand.
3. Cover the dough with cling film and let the dough rest in refrigerator the night over.
4. Heat up the oven to 200'C.
5. Divide the dough into smaller pieces, which is rolled by hand into a small ball.
6. Place the ball shape cookie on a baking tray covered with baking parchment.
7. Bake the pepper nuts at 200'C for approx. 10 minutes.
8. Let the pepper nuts cool down.
9. Cut the white chocolate into medium size, which is melted.
10. Dip the top of the pepper nuts into the white chocolate.
11. Afterwards sprinkle the white chocolate with licorice granulate.
12. Store in airtight containers.

Christmas Calendar 2019 Day 16 - Cookies with ginger and lime

And I keep baking for the upcoming Christmas coffee taking place Thursday evening this week. This dough requires a minimum rest of 4 hours in the refrigerator after you have kneaded it together. So, I made this dough yesterday afternoon, and when I did the baking this evening after work. So, these cookies requires some planning.

I have found the recipe in a small Christmas leaflet coming together with the weekly magazine "Søndag", and I have made no changes to the recipe, besides from not removing the skin of the almonds before grinding them into flour, perhaps you can call this "whole grain" almond flour ?

The combination of ginger and lime zest is great, and the amount of ginger is fine in my opinion as it gives a strong ginger flavour.

Cookies with ginger and lime: 25-40 cookies

• 125 g almonds - grained into flour
• ½ teaspoon carbamate
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 2 organic limes - zest 
• 125 g brown sugar
• 125 g wheat flour
• 65 g butter
• 1 egg
• 200 g icing sugar
• 2 organic limes - the juice

1. Add all the ingredients into the mixing bowl of a stand-alone mixer. Knead the dough together.
2. The last part of the kneading is done by hand to really collect the dough into a homogeneous mass.
3. Roll the dough into 2 long rolls, which is covered with cling film and place in the refrigerator for minimum 4 hours or night over.
4. Heat up the oven to 180'C.
5. Cut the cookie roll into thin slices.
6. Place the cookie slices on a baking tray covered with baking parchment.
7. Bake the cookies on the second lowest oven shelf for 8 minutes at 180'C.
8. Cool down the cookies.
9. Mix the icing sugar and lime juice together for decoration of the cookies.

Christmas Calendar 2019 Day 15 - Chocolate Crinkles

I keep baking for the upcoming Christmas coffee, which takes place in the coming week. I have found this recipe the small leaflet from the weekly magazine Søndag. I have made no changes to this recipe.

Chocolate Crinkles: - 20-25 cookies

• 110 g soft butter
• 150 g brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 160 g wheat flour
• 80 g cocoa powder
• 1½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 dl icing sugar
• peppermint candy - crushed for decoration

1. Heat up the oven to 175'C.
2. Add the soft butter and brown sugar into a mixing bowl and whip it into a foamy mass.
3. Add in the egg one by one, whip between each addition of the eggs.
4. Add in the remaining ingredients but the icing sugar, whip into a homogeneous mass.
5. Use a soup spoon to take to divide the cookie dough into pieces.
6. Form each piece into a ball shape, which is place in soup bowl full of icing sugar.
7. Roll the cookie dough, so it is completely covered by icing sugar.
8. Roll the cookie into ball shape.
9. Place the cookie dough on baking trays with baking parchment.
10. Sprinkle the cookies with icing sugar.
11. Bake the cookie at 175'C for 12-13 minutes.
12. Cool down the chocolate crinkles.
13. Store in airtight containers.
14. Before serving sprinkle the chocolate crinkles with crunched peppermint candy.

Christmas Calendar 2019 Day 14 - Christmas biscotti

It is time to bake some cookies for the upcoming Christmas coffee, so i fill the stomachs of my guests. I have found this recipe in small Christmas recipe leaflet from the weekly magazine Søndag. I have made no changes to the recipe. You could also have a look at this recipe on muscovado biscotti.

Christmas biscotti:

• 150 g marzipan - cut into smaller pieces
• 300 g wheat flour
• 200 g sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground carnation
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 150 g whole almonds

1. Heat up the oven to 175'C.
2. Add all in the ingredients in the mixing bowl of the stand alone mixer.
3. Knead everything together.
4. At the end knead the dough together by hand on a piece of baking parchement
5. Divide the dough into two parts.
6. By hand roll the each dough piece into a size of 5 x 35-40 cm.
7. Bake the dough at 175'C for 20 minutes.
8. Remove the biscotti from the oven.
9. After a cool down, slice the biscotti into pieces of 1 cm.
10. If needed bake the biscotti pieces at 150-C for 5-10 minutes to get the desired dryness.
11. Cold down.
12. Store in an airtight container.

Oat cookies with raisin and cinnamon

At my recent birthday coffee I served oat cookies with raisin and cinnamon. Some of my birthday guests thought, that the raisins were dark chocolate, so it was a bit of a surprise, when biting into a raisin ! I sued this recipe on oat cookies as starting point Valdemarsro havregryns cookies without the addition of dates and dark chocolate.

In USA oat cookies is always served with raisin and cinnamon, so I used this good flaour combination.

As other suggestions for oat cookies, you could also look at oat cookies a la Louisa Lorang or cookies with oat flakes, rhubarb and white chocolate.

Oat cookies with raisin and cinnamon:- 12-14 cookies

• Heat up the fan oven to 175'C.
• 50 g soft butter
• 50 g sugar
• 50 g dark muscovado sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoon full-fat milk
• 120 g oat flakes - fine
• 100 g (cake) wheat flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 75 g raisins
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Heat up the oven to 
2. Add soft butter, sugar and muscovado sugar into the mixing bowl. whip it into a foamy mass
3. Add in the egg and milk into the butter-sugar mass. Whip it together.
4. In another mixing bowl add oat flakes, wheat flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon, blend it together.
5. Stir the dry mixture of ingredients into the liquid cookie mass. Stir it well together.
6. Finally stir in the raisins.
7. Cover the baking trays with baking parchment.
8. Use to teaspoons to scoop up the cookie and place it on the baking tray with a good distance between each cookie, as the cookie will float out during baking.
9. Bake the cookie at 175'C for 15 minutes.
10. Swap the baking tray around in the oven after 8 minutes baking.
11. After baking cool down the cookies, before storing them in airtight containers.

Christmas Calendar 2018 - Speculoos cookies

In the December 2018 issue of Country Living I found this recipe on speculoos cookies, it was actually a cookie sandwich with a dark chocolate ganache. However, after my recent difficulties in getting the right texture in these eggnog truffles, I decided only to bake the cookies and not to try my hands on the ganache creme.

I made the following modifications. Replacement of the light muscovado sugar with the dark version of muscovado sugar, as I could not locate the light version in my local supermarket. I actually think, that the use of the dark version give a more spicy flavour.
As I did not have any mixed spice, I decided to use a mixture of spices for the German lebkuchen.

If you are looking for other suggestions for spicy cookies, when take a a look at these bastognes.

Speculoos cookies: - 24 cookies

• 125 g butter - soft
• 125 g dark muscovado sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 250 g (cake) wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground German Christmas cake spice mixture or ground mixed spice
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• ½ teaspoon salt

1. Whip the butter and muscovado sugar together until pale and fluffy using an electrical hand mixer.
2. Add in the milk, and beat again.
3. In a separate mixing bowl weight in the flour, baking powder and soda and all the spices. Stir everything together.
4. Add the flour and spices mixture little by little into the butter-sugar mixture.
5. After the final addition the cookie dough looks like bread crumble, but keep whipping for another 2 minutes, until the dough texture changes and stick more together.
6. Divide the dough into 2 portions, which are shape in a discs shape, which is covered in cling film. 
7. Let the cookie dough rest cold for minimum 1 hours, night over or up to 2 days.
8. Take the cookie dough out of the refrigerator. Let it rest for ½ hour.
9. Heat up the fan oven to 170'C.
10. Roll the cookie dough into a thickness of approx. 5 mm.
11. Use a biscuit cutter of approx 6 cm to stamp our the cookies.
12. Re-roll the cookie dough until, all the dough is used. If the dough becomes too warm, when let the dough rest cold for 30 minutes.
13. Place the cookies on baking tray covered with baking parchment.
14. You can stamp a pattern into the surface of the cookie using a glass with a pattern in the bottom.
15. Bake the cookies at 15-18 minutes at 170'C (fan oven), until they are they are firm.
16. Cool down the cookies, before they are stored in airtight containers.

The world´s best cookie - version 2

It is time again for the annual cake regatta at rowing club, where I have the honor of being the host here in 2018, as my cake hindbærsnitter (raspberry cuttings) won the title of 2017 champion baker of Vejle Roklub.

As the host for the annual cake regatta I get to select the theme for this year´s, and here I have selected the theme"cookies" as the challenge.

I will bring version 2 of the World´s best cookie as my contribution for the cake regatta this afternoon.

By adjusting the baking time, when baking cookies, you can get your preferred texture in cookies. The baking time mentioned below will give you a chewy texture, which is my preferred texture in cookies.

The addition of nuts are optional. I decided to use a combination of almonds and walnuts. In the original recipe the added nuts are hazelnuts. So just your preferred nuts in order to make these world´s best cookies into your best cookies :-) An option could be to added pecan nuts.

This time I used a combination of dark milk and white chocolate instead of a combination of dark and white chocolate, as I am not really a fan of dark chocolate, as I do not like the bitterness in dark chocolate. Again add in your preference within chocolate.

Concerning the resting time for the cookies, the minimum time is 1 hour. However, everything between 1 hour and 72 hours are feasible. So in theory you can bake a small amount of the cookies for 3 days in a row allowing you to enjoy freshly baked cookies for 3 days :-)

As the cookies float a lot during baking it is important NOT to place too many cookies on one baking tray, so my recommendation is to place 5 cookies per baking tray, as seen on the photos below.

World´s best cookies version 2: - 18 cookies

• 240 g (cake) flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 140 g butter
• 145 brown sugar
• 115 g sugar
• 1½ teaspoon vanilla sugar
• 1 egg
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 100 g dark milk chocolate - chopped into small pieces
• 50 g white chocolate - chopped into small pieces
• 50 g walnuts - chopped into small pieces
• 50 g almonds - chopped into small pieces

1. Whip sugar, brown sugar and butter together on a mixer.
2. Add in the egg, and stir well again on the mixer.
3. Add in the salt, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla sugar and flour and mix everything into a homogeneous mass on the mixer.
4. Finally stir by hand the chopped chocolate and nuts.
5. Place the cookie dough in a mixing bowl, which is placed cold in the refrigerator for 1-72 hours.
6. Heat up the (fan) oven to 175'C.
7. Divide the cookies dough in small lumps of 50 g each. Roll the lumps into ball shape.
8. Place the cookie dough on a baking tray covered with the baking paper. There should be good distance between the cookies as the cookies will start to float during the baking.
9. Bake the cookies at 175'C for 14-18 minutes.
10. Let the cookies cold down, before they are stored in an airtight container.

Christmas Calendar 2017 - Bastogne biscuits

I have a small addiction for Bastogne biscuits, and when a new package of Bastogne biscuits is being opened in my kitche, I have to hide them, so they do not disappear too fast.

I have found this recipe on Bastogne kiks, which I have no made changes to. During the baking process, my new taste modification were jumping into my mind, so sooner or later I taste new modification with you.

Bastogne biscuit a la Valdemarsro:

• 50 g brown sugar
• 50 g marble syrup
• 50 g butter . soft
• pinch of grated ginger
• ½ teaspoon cardamon
• pinch of vanilla sugar
• pimch of salt
• ½ organic lemon - only the zest
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 125 g wheat (cake) flour

1. Mix the brown sugar and marble syrup together in a medium mixing bowl.
2. Add in the butter, and whip it together using an electrical mixer.
3. Add in the flour, lemon zest, ginger, salt, vanilla sugar, cardamon and baking powder into the mixing bowl, and whip gentle. Finish off by knead the dough together by hand to bring the dough together entirely.
4. Place the dough cold in the refrigerator for minimum 1 hour or longer.
5. Heat up the fan oven to 180'C.
6. Cover the baking tray with baking parchment.
7. Divide the dough into 2-3 smaller portions. roll out each portion by hand to longer rool with a diameter of 1½ cm.
8. Press the roll flat using a fork to give the biscuit a pattern.
9. Cut each roll into a length of 3-4 cm.
10. Place the buscuits on the baking trays with a good distance between each biscuits.
11. Bake the Bastogne biscuits at 180'C for 10-12 minutes.
12. Cool down the Bastogne, before they are placed in an airtight container.

Christmas Calendar 2017 - Cookies with pickled ginger

I have found this recipe on Christmas cookies with pickled ginger in the weekly magazine "Søndag". I made a few modification, as I did not have all the required ingredients in my kitchen. The taste of these cookies is just great.

Christmas cookies with pickled ginger: - 20 cookies

• 75 g  milk chocolate - roughly chopped
• 50 g pickled ginger - finely chopped
• 170 g butter
• 220 g brown sugar
• 3/4 dl dark syrup
• 1 egg
• 275 g (cake) wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 5 cloves - mined in a molter

1. Heat up the oven to 180'C fan oven.
2. Whip the butter together with the brown sugar, dark syrup and egg.
3. Add in the wheat flour, baking soda, cinnamon and cloves, and whip until homogeneous.
4. Stir in the chopped chocolate and ginger
5. Use two teaspoon to place dough in a size of walnuts on baking tray covered to the baking parchment with a distance of 5-6 cm.
6. Bake the cookied at 180'C for 12 minutes. After 6 minutes shift around with the baking tray to obtain an even baking.
7. Cool down the cookies, before they are placed in an airtight container.

Christmas Calendar 2017 - "Pepper nuts" a la Urtekram

I have been filling the first Christmas baking of 2017 into my Christmas cookie tin collection. I have started of with "pepper nuts", which is a classic/traditional Christmas cookie here in Denmark. Previously I have baking Giant pepper cookies and Liquorice pepper cookies as versions of pepper nuts/cookies.

I found a metallic tin containing the spice mixture for pepper nuts in my local supermarket, so I decided to test out it´s recipe.

Later I have been using this pepper nut spice mixture for the creation of these pepper nut scones.

"Pepper nuts" a la Urtekram:

• 150 g sugar
• 150 g butter - diced into smaller pieces
• 300 g wheat (cake) flour
• 2 tablespoon Peberbød spicemixture from Urtekram
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons water

1. Heat up the fan oven to 200'C.
2. Add sugar, flour and spice mixture into a large mixing bowl.
3. Add in the diced butter pieces. Rub the butter pieces into flour-sugar mixture using only your fingers (not the palms of your hand), until the mix resembles breadcrumbs.
4. Add in the egg and water. Knead the dough until it is homogeneous.
5. Divided the dough into smaller portion.
6. Roll each portion into a size of 3 cm in diameter.
7. Cut each roll into 1-2 cm length. Roll each piece into a round ball.
8. Cover the baking trays with baking parchment. 
9. Bake the pepper nuts at 200'C for approx. 12-15 minutes. After 6 minutes baking shift the position of the baking tray in the oven.
10. Cool down the pepper nuts.
11. Place the pepper nuts in an airtight container.

Spiced Easter biscuits - Easter Calendar 2017

Today it is Good Friday (Langfredag) being the second day of the Danish Easter vacation. And today I have been baking spiced Easter biscuits using a recipe from Country Living (issue April 2016) with a few modifications. As I did not had enough currants, I used a combinations of currant and dark raisins. And instead of mixed spiced I created my own mixed spice selection from cinnamon, mace, all spice and cloves.

Spiced Easter biscuits: - 40 biscuits

• 300 g (cake) wheat flour
• 150 g icing sugar
• 175 g cold butter - diced
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon mace
• 1/4 teaspoon all spice
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• 1 egg beaten together with 1 tablespoon water
• 125 g currants and dark raisins
• 1 egg white
• sugar for sprinkling

1. Add flour, icing sugar, butter and spices into a food process, where they are whizzed together.
2. Add in the egg and whizz untill the dough comes together.
3. Remove the dough from the food processer, and placed it on the kitchen table, where the currants and raisins are kneaded into the dough.
4. Flatten the dough into a disc shape and cover it with cling film.
5. Place the dough in the refrigerator for ½-1 hour.
6. Heat up the fan oven to 160'C.
7. Roll out the dough on baking paper, until a height of 4 mm. Stamp out cookies using a cookie cutter.
8. Place the cookies on baking tray covered with baking paper. 
9. Beat the egg white with a fork until foamy.
10. Glaze the surface of the biscuits with egg white and sprinkle the surface with sugar.
11. Bake the biscuits at 160'C (fan oven) for 12-15 minutes until lightly golden.
12. Cool down the biscuits on a wire rack.
13. Store in airtight container.

Christmas Calendar 2016 - Christmas biscotti

It is time to be baking again in my little kitchen, this time it is Christmas version of biscotti. I have found this recipe in the weekly magazine "Feminda" (issue 46/2016), and I have made no modification to it.

Christmas biscotti: - approx 80 biscottis

• 150 g marzipan - diced into small pieces
• 300 g (cake) wheat flour
• 200 g sugar
• 1 teaspoon cardamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon cloves
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 150 g whole almonds

1. Heat up the oven to 175'C.
2. Add wheat flour, sugar, baking powder and spices into a mixing bowl. Stir everything together.
3. Add eggs and marzipan, and knead everything together.
4. Cover a baking tray with baking paper.
5. Divide the dough into two pieces. Shape the roll into a roll of 35 cm and 5 cm wide.
6. Bake the roll in the oven at 175'C for 20 minutes.
7. Remove the rolls from the oven, and let them cool down slightly.
8. Cut the roll into slices of 1 cm with a shape knife.
9. Place the slices on the baking tray again.
10. Bake the biscotti at 175'C for another 10-15 minutes.
11. Cold down on a rack.
12. Store the biscotti in airtight containers.
13. Enjoy together with coffee/tea and a glass of brown cake liqueur.

Christmas Calendar 2016 - Giant pepper cookies

I need to fill more of my many cookies tins, so today it is time to bake a giant version of the classic pepper cookies (pebernødder). The good thing about the giant version is, that it does not take forever to roll the pepper cookies into ball shape.

I have found this recipe in the weekly magazine "Søndag" (Julen 2016 issue).

Giant pepper cookies: - approx 35 cookies

• 250 g (cake) wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon carbamate
• 1 teaspoon cardamon
• ½ teaspoon ginger
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon freshly grained pepper
• ½ organic lemon - only the zest
• 125 g sugar
• 75 g cold butter - diced into small cubes
• 50 g almond - grained into flour
• 2 eggs - whip into homogeneous mass

1. Add flour and all the spices into a mixing bowl, and mix everything together.
2. Add in the lemon zest, almond flour and sugar.
3. Add the butter pieces and rub the butter into the flour mix, until it look like fine breadcrumbs.
4. Add in the eggs, and form the mix into a dough without kneading it too much. The dough should be more pressed together.
5. Store the dough cold in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
6. Divide the dough into 4 portion, which is placed on cling film and roll into roll with a diameter of 3 cm.
7. Cut each roll into pieces of 2 cm, and roll the pieces into ball shape.
8. Cover the baking tray with baking paper.
9. Heat up the oven to 200'C.
10. Bake the pepper cookies at 200'C for 10-15 minutes, until they are golden in colour.
11. Cold down on a rack, before storing the pepper cookies in airtight containers.

Scary Halloween cookies with liquorice

I have found this recipe on scary Halloween cookies with liquorice in the monthly magazine of Samvirke (issue Oktober 2016). And when I saw this recipe I knew at once, that I should bake these cookies for the afternoon after the cultural expedition together with my good friends from Horsens. These cookies combined the word "scary" and liquorice, where my use of liquorice can scare my good friends from Horsens !!!

When tasting these cookies my good friends from Horsens were not scared at all ! The taste of liquorice was almost "invisible", so next time I will add in some more liquorice. You could taste the liquorice, when you were bitting into a pice of the liquorice (Heksehyl).

I have made one modification to the recipe, as I have replace the dark chocolate with milk chocolate, as I personally prefers milk chocolate much more than dark chocolate.

Halloweeb cookies with liquorice:

• 250 g brown sugar
• 150 g butter - soft
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon liquorice syrup
• 250 g (cake) wheat flour
• 125 g milk chocolate - roughly diced
• 130 g liquroice Heksehyl - roughly diced
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Whip butter, brown sugar and liquorice syrup together for 5 minute at speed 2 on a stand-alone mixer.
2. Add in the egg, and whip for another 2 minutes at speed 2.
3. Mix flour, baking soda, salt, diced chocolate and diced Heksehyl.
4. Stir by hand this flour mix into the sugar-egg-butter mix. Until stir until the mass is homogeneous.
5. Divide the cookie mass into 2 portion, which is place on cling film. Press the cookie dough into roll shape, cover it with the cling film, and roll the dough into equal size.
6. Place the cookie dough in the refrigerator for minimum 8 hour or up to 2-3days.
7. Heat up the oven to 170-180'C (fan).
8. Slice the cookie rolls into slices of 1½ cm, which is placed on baking trays covered with baking paper.
9. Bake the cookie at 170-180'C for 15 minutes.
10. Cool down the cookies.
11. Store the cookies in air tight containers.

Oat cookies with rhubarb

Continuing with my rhubarb theme I will share this recipe on havrekager med rabarber (oat cookies with rhubarb). These cookies are very easy to make and the addition of the rhubarb pieces give freshness to the taste.

I wonder, if you can call these cookies healthy due to the oat flakes (beta glucan ) ? Anyway these cookies really needs to be enjoyed on the day of the baking, as they turn soft very fast.

Oat cookies with rhubarb:  - 30 cookies

• 1 rhubarb - cleaned and cut into pieces of 1-1½ cm
• 150 g soft butter
• 85 g sugar
• 75 g oat flakes
• 125 g (cake) wheat flour

1. Heat up the oven to 175'C.
2. Whip the butter and sugar together with an electric whipper.
3. Add the oat flakes and wheat flour and stir the cookies mass together.
4. Use tea/table spoons to to place cookie dough balls on a baking tray covered with baking paper. There should be around 30 dough balls in total.
5. Press the cookie dough ball into a more flat shape using your hand.
6. Press the small rhubarb piece into the top of the cookie dough.
7. Bake the cookies in the oven at 175 for approx 12 minutes.
8. Let the cookies cool down on a baking wire.
9. Enjoy :-)

Christmas Calendar 2015 - Cookies with chocolate, orange peel and walnut

It is time to get started working in my kitchen. I will start with an easy thing such as cookies, as you can not have a Christmas without cookies ! The perfect thing about cookies is, that they take very little time to make. And you can easily prepare the cookie dough in advance, freeze it down for later use. So you later on during the busy Christmas days easily can serve freshly baked cookies for guests or bring newly baked cookies as hostess gifts. Well I am ready for you to come around :-)

I have located this cookie recipe in a newspaper magazine (Livsstil week 48/2015). I decided to replace the dark chocolate with milk chocolate, as I do not like dark chocolate ! And instead of hazelnuts I decided to use walnuts, as I again prefer walnuts over hazelnuts.

The cookie dough is very soft, so I prefer to cool it down in the refrigerator, so I can cut the dough with a knife. Doing it this way means, that you avoid to mess up your fingers with cookie dough.

Adjust the baking time in the oven to your preference for either soft cookies or cripsy cookies.

Cookies with chocolate, orange peel and walnut: - 30 cookies

• 150 g milk chocolate - medium - finely chopped
• 75 g walnut - medium chopped
• 150 g butter - soft
• 150 g sugar
• 1 organic orange - only the peel finely chopped
• 1 egg
• 200 g (cake) flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

1. Whip the butter, sugar and egg with an electrical beater into a homogeneous mass
2. Mix in the orange peel, flour and baking powder and whip again.
3. Mix in the chopped chocolate and walnut with spoon.
4. Divide the soft cookie into two portions. Place each portion of dough on a piece of baking paper. 
5. Roll the cookie dough into longer string. Cover each cookie string in baking paper.
6. Place the cookies dough cold, either in the refrigerator or freezer.
7. Heat the oven to 190'C
8. Cut the firm cookie dough into slices of 1 cm.
9. Place the cookies on a baking tray covered with baking paper.
10. Bake the cookies in the upper part of the oven at 190'C for 15 minutes.
11. Cool down the cookies, before storing them in airtight containers.

Easter cookies with marzipan and milk chocolate - Easter Calendar 2015

Today it is Maundy Thursday (Skærtorsdag), which is a public holiday here in Denmark and starting off the Danish Easter vacation with 5 days off from work. And at the same time it is the start for my little  Easter Calendar 2015, where I every Easter day will be sharing a new recipe having a relation to Easter of some kind.

As alternative to making home-made Easter eggs from marzipand and choclate, I decided to use these Easter eggs ingredients (chocolate and marzipan) for making cookies.

I have use the cookie dough recipe from these liquorice cookies with cranberries as dough base for these cookies with raspberry and white cookies.

You can easily use this cookie dough as a hostess gift, as you can wrap the dough including the baking instruction, so the hostess/host afterwards can bake her/his own home-made cookies.


Easter cookies with marzipan and milk chocolate:

• 500 g all purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 375 g cold butter - diced in small squares
• 500 g sugar
• 2 eggs
• 100 g marzipan - roughly grated
• 100 g milk chocolate - roughly chopped

1. Sieve the all purpose flour into the mixing bowl. Add in the salt and butter squares.
2. Mix on KitchenAid using the K-spade on speed 3-4, until the butter has disappeared into the cookie dough.
3. Add in the sugar, eggs, marzipan and milk chocolate. Mix until the cookie dough just gathers. Over mixing will give cookies with less crispness.
4. Divide the dough into 3 portions of 500 g each.
5. Roll the cookie dough into longer strings. Cover each cookie string in baking paper.
6. Place the cookies dough cold, either in the refrigerator or freezer.
7. Heat the fan oven to 190'C
8. Cut the firm cookie dough into slices of 1 cm.
9. Place the cookies on a baking tray covered with baking paper.
10. Bake the cookies in the upper part of the oven at 190'C for 8-10 minutes.
11. Cool down the cookies, before storing them in airtight containers.