As someone who loves a good meal, cooking one, came to me as a natural passion. I belong to a family where meal times consisted of not just food, but also noisy conversation centered around the events of the day and discussing the menu for the next. (ah yes, we are a greedy lot! )

For the most part of my life so far, my contribution in the kitchen was assisting mom and my duties were limited, to chopping veggies and laying the table. Then along came the great Indian wedding, and I was suddenly the queen of my very own kingdom. My curiosity about this magical world, coupled with an enthusiastic sous-chef (my husband, Vineet), led me to take on the challenge of preparing meals on a daily basis, and not succumbing to the convenience of hiring a cook.

This blog is a product of my experiments with food (not all are life threatening :D) for my fellow culinary enthusiasts - especially the newly weds and hungry bachelors and is dedicated to the women who've inspired me in the kitchen;
Aji (s),Ma and Nigella Lawson.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Jam-filled Fun cookies

As a kid, I was a big fan of jam cookies. My favourite part would be to open the cookies, lick off the filling and sham on eating the now, not-so-interesting shell :)
So I figured, that since some childhood favorites never change, to make Tania's (my friend and host of the BBQ party that I went to earlier this week) son a little treat to enjoy all on his own once the party was over :P, except these cookie shells with the lemon zest is equally yummy!

This recipe makes about 30 filled cookies.

Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup Sugar
- 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp Butter, softened
- 2 tsp grated Lime zest
- 1 Egg yolk
- 2-1/4 cups All purpose Flour
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/4 cups each of assorted Jams ( I used strawberry, black cherry & orange)




Method:

1.) Beat the butter + sugar + lime zest till fluffy. Crack an egg and separate the yolk from the egg white. Add the Egg yolk and to the mixing bowl along with the salt. Beat again on a medium speed.







2.) Spoon in the flour little by little and beat lightly till a dough begins to form. Resist the urge to over-beat the mixture. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface. And knead well till it forms a soft yet firm ball of dough.







3.) Divide the dough into four equal balls. Wrap each ball separately in clear plastic wrap. Flatten the ball slightly by pressing between your palms. Chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.





4.) Pull out one of the 4 flattened dough balls. Line your board or counter-top with grease-proof paper. Warm the dough ever so slightly between your palms to make it more pliable.

Unwrap the dough from the plastic wrap and place it on the board. Lay the plastic wrap over the dough and gently roll out the dough till its about 3-4 mm thick.


5.) Using a cookie cutter cut out the larger circular (or any shape of your choice) shapes. Divide the round cookies into 2 sets. Using the smaller cookie cutters, cut out shapes from within the round cookies of one set.

Ensure that you have the same number of plain and cut-out cookies.


6.) Knead the scraps of dough together and roll into a ball. Wrap in the plastic wrap and pop it back into the refrigerator to chill.


7.) Arrange the cookie cut-outs on a grease-proof paper and bake in an oven preheated to 180 deg C for about 8-10 minutes. These cookies are still a little soft when fresh out of the oven, but they harden as they cool.





(Alternatively,the cookie cut-outs can be frozen at this stage to be baked at another time.)
Repeat the rolling, and cutting process with all the of the dough. Make sure that the dough is always cold yet pliable.


8.) Once you're done with cutting out all of the shapes, get started with the Jam. Heat the jam along with 5-6 tbsps of water in a non-stick saucepan. Whisk as the jam heats an make it into a liquid jelly like consistency. Switch off the heat and allow the jam to cool. The jam with thicken and become stickier as it cools.

9.) Make pairs of the solid and cut-shape cookies. Spoon some jam onto the plain round cookies and sandwich using the cut-out cookie on top. Gently press together to stick and lay on a wire rack to set completely.

These cookies will keep very well for about 10 days when stored between layers of grease-proof paper in an air-tight container. Eat up! :)





3 comments:

  1. hey..loved this one...but could u plz tell me the substitute of an egg yolk here...can i use something else?

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  2. wow i would luv to try dis one tanya.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Meera... I believe that gelatin can be used As a substitute for eggs in cookies.... I haven't tried this for this particular recipe, but you can:
    Combine 1 tsp unflavoured gelatin(veggie gelatin is also readily available in stores) With 3 tbsp of Chilled water. Add 2-3 tbsp of boiling water to the mix....as a substitute for 1 egg.... Do let me know if this works.... Will be a big help to others who might be looking for egg substitutes in cookies.... :)

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