Zizi's Adventures - Real Food, Real Stories

White Chocolate and Fig Cookies

by

I started collecting the recipes for Christmas I would like to make. There are so many choices, it is difficult to choose. These cookies are so great, moist from the figs and sweet from the white chocolate – well worth to give it a try and bake for Christmas.

Ingredients

– 50 g butter, at room temperature
– 100 g soft dried figs, chopped
– 50 g white chocolate, chopped
– 1 cup flour (I mixed white spelt flour and whole grain spelt flour)
– 1 teaspoon baking powder
– 3 tablespoons cane sugar
– 1 organic egg
– 1 vanilla bean, split and seeded
– pinch of salt

Method

Preheat the oven to 170C (325F). In a bowl cream the butter with the sugar until fluffy and light. Add vanilla, egg and mix well. Stir in the chopped figs and chocolate. In another bowl mix the flour, baking powder and salt together, then fold into the wet ingredients. You will get a sticky dough. Take a teaspoon of the dough and place on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Flatten the ball slightly, then repeat with the remaining dough. The cookies will spread during baking so leave space amongst them. Bake for about 20-25 minutes at 170-180C (325-350F) until the cookies are pale golden brown.

Butternut Squash-Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

by

I love butternut squash, one of my favourite winter fruits. I like trying out new recipes with it.  This is one of them…

Ingredients

– half of a smaller butternut squash, without seeds, roasted, peeled and mashed
– 80 g butter
– 1/4 cup cane sugar
– 1/4 cup oatmeal
– 1 cup white spelt flour
– 1/4 cup whole grain spelt flour
– 1 organic egg
– 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
– 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
– 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
– 1/4 teaspoon salt
– 1 vanilla bean, split and seeded
– 1 handful of chocolate chips

Method

Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside. Beat the butter (with hand beater or an electric mixer) until creamy. Add sugar and stir/mix another 2 minutes. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, baking soda, egg and mix until everything combined. Add flours, followed by the oats and choc chips. Mix again until just combined. Drop dough by tablespoons onto the baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown around the edges and puffed in the center.

Cheese Biscuits with Poppy Seeds

by

I baked this cheese biscuits on Saturday afternoon just to have some snacks for our evening wine tasting. During the baking the whole flat smelt like cheese, I had to open the windows. 🙂 But when we tasted it… we couldn’t stop eating it. Just some left for the wine tasting…
The recipe is adapted from Anne’s blog, I only did a bit of chaning.

Ingredients

– 100 g unsalted cold butter, cut into cubes
– 100 g parmesan or pecorino, grated
– 100 g white spelt flour
– 100 g whole grain spelt flour
– 1 organic egg, yolk divided from egg white
– water
– pinch of salt and pepper
– poppy seeds

Method

In a bowl mix together flour (both of them) with butter. Rub together until they resemble breadcrumbs. Add the cheese, salt, pepper, egg yolk and water (0,5-1 dl). Work together everything into a dough. If it’s too moist, add more flour. If it still crumbles, add more water to it.

Divide the dough in two pieces and roll into two logs (about 12-15 cm long, diameter 3-4 cm). Brush both logs with the egg white and roll them in poppy seeds. Wrap the logs in cling film and place the logs in the freezer for about 15 minutes. The dough should be hard but not very frozen.

Meanwhile preheat the oven to 180C (350 F). After 15 minutes take out the logs from the freezer, unwrap them and cut into slices of 5-7 mm wide. Place the biscuits on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake them for about 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

So crunchy, so delicous but when you bake it the flat will smell like cheese! 🙂