Cookies in Milk

Father Frost revisited us for the duration of Easter break. Knowing that it could not last too long, considering that March is practically over, we enjoyed the view of the whirling snowflakes outside. Books, crafting hands, imaginative play, romping and last but in no way least cooking and baking filled our days. One especially pleasing goody was the simplest of all our baking efforts; it did not get ohs and ahs, rather our slipper clad feet tapped away under the heavy wood table with possibly a drip of milk on our chins. It had been ages since I stirred up a bowl of sour creme cookies. They are understated cookies not attention grabbers; plain with a cakey bite. Consideration: should they be a nutmeg walnut creation, lemon zest and poppy, or chunked with chocolate. Choosing the first two variations, we were pleased to eat them warm fresh out of the oven but they were by far the best the day after we baked them. The next morning we broke them up, put them in a shallow wide tea cup and carefully drizzled milk in…for breakfast. mmm Thick, dense, crater filled sour creme cookie pieces in a wide cup of milk. Spoon not necessarily required.

Having looked through my cookbooks and at on-line recipes, I determined there are no significant variations on the basic dough for sour cream cookies, only that some use baking soda or both baking soda and baking powder. The following recipe is based on the Sour Cream Cookie recipe in my dog eared college copy of “the New York Times Bestseller” Betty Crocker´s Cookbook. I have altered it by adding more vanilla, more nutmeg, include nuts and combine the ingredients slightly differently. The possibilities with this basic cookie dough are broad: make it as spicy, nutty, lemony or chocolaty as you crave.

Sour Cream Cookies

1 cup/250g softened butter

2 cups/400g light brown sugar

3 eggs, gently beaten

2 tsp/10ml vanilla

4 cups/630g sifted flour

2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp fresh ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup/250ml sour cream

1.5 cups finely hand chopped walnuts (if using processor careful not to pulverize)

preheat oven to 190°C/350°F

1. cream butter together with sugar until light

2.stir in eggs and vanilla

3. mix dry ingredients in a seperate bowl.

4. alternately add dry ingredients and sour cream to to the butter mixture.

5. fold in walnuts

Place heaping teaspoons of dough on to a lined baking sheet.

Bake until gold, approx. 8 min. in a convection oven, a little bit longer for standard ovens.

Makes 4 to 5 dozen cookies depending on how you heap your teaspoon.

My tips:

-add 1 tsp ground cinnamon and 1/2 tsp ground clove for a spicier taste

-add zest of 2 large lemons and 2 tbsp poppy seed for a brighter taste (and leave out the ground spices)

-jazz cookies up with a walnut or a lemon glaze for the sweeties

It is all about the crust!

While recently at the farmers picking out vegetables, the Arlet and Ida Red apples sitting in their flat crates on the counter were beckoning to be more than just a tasty convenient snack. No, this week they were politely saying, “ehem, pardon us but hasn´t it been an awful long time since you made an apple pie, we have been stored well but we won´t be around forever (March at the latest) wouldn´t it be a fine idea to bake us?” Pies being at the top of my desserts that please me list, combined with the fact that it has been a couple months since my last pie add to that that the last apple one was in October, it is clearly time for some warm apple goodness.

Mixing apple varieties gives a pie a more complex taste. I favor using Arlet and Ida Red when they are available. Arlet a.k.a Swiss-Gourmet are crisp and pleasantly sweet tart; they are described to be like a cross between Ida Red and Golden Delicious; further it is a crisp apple that holds it´s shape while baking. Ida Reds are tangy and juicy. They do fall apart when baking but that is okay paired with the crisp Arlet. NB: I have read that Arlet grown in the US are a different apple in taste and consistency than the ones grown here in Europe.

After selecting which apples you like best for your pie then the most important thing is the crust. It is all about the crust! Flaky, buttery and light are words of great meaning. The pie filling can be oh so good, however if the crust is tough, soggy or tastes like a vat of hydrogenated whatever the “pie that pleases me” experience is over. I have been making pie crust since I was a kid. I watched how my Ma made them with her mother´s crust recipe and I have found no other pie crust recipe that tops it. Naturally, ingredients alone don´t make the recipe; rather good ingredients combined with loving technique. Ergo, I always make my pie crust by hand; for me there is no comparison between a hand made crust and one whizzed up in the food processor. The processor simply combines the ingredients too well, creating a homogeneous dough that looks too perfect and bakes up cakey, in my opinion. Working the dough lightly with your hands until it is just combined is what I learned from my Ma . The crust recipe shared below is my Great Ma´s recipe with the only alteration being the swap of lard for butter. The expression `easy as pie´comes to my mind. Pie really is such an easy and soul smiling good dessert baked in a plate. After you bake your yummy plate of warm apple goodness admire it at the table center then brew some coffee, a cup of hot black tea or pour yourself a frosty glass of milk. Once you cut into it, serve it up plain, with a scoop of real vanilla ice cream or as my Pa used to like it with a piece of cheddar cheese. “Apple pie without cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze”, Pa used to say.

Oh, one last tip: when I was a kid my mom used to roll out the left over pie dough scraps into an “elephant ear” which she sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and baked up as a little treat to be enjoyed before the big treat had finished baking and cooling. My daughter and I continue this tradition.

Great Ma´s Pie Crust

Depending on how thick you roll out your crusts this recipe is enough for two pies.

3 cups flour/475 gr.

1.25 cups cold butter/ approx. 315 gr.

1 egg

1tsp vinegar/5ml

5tbsp cold water/75ml

Cut the butter into the flour until pea sized.

Whisk egg, vinegar and water in a small bowl, then add to the flour and butter and gently mix until just combined. Seperate and lightly form into balls for top and bottom crusts, wrap in wax paper (you can use it again later to roll the dough out on) and chill for 1-2 hours.