After Meal Cookies

My hubby has a habit of nibbling on a few pieces of snacks right after a meal, no matter how full he is. But he only goes for cookies and nothing else. I tried to offer fruits to him a few times before, and he always declined with a lame excuse that he was full. Strangely enough, whenever I stock up cookies at home, be it home-baked ones or simply some plain Hup Seng brand soda crackers, his tummy would automatically make room for such crispy treats.

This is something that I can never understand about him, and since there will always be a thing or two that ones do not understand about their other half (like how he can never understand why I need so many pairs of shoes!), I have since given up on harping on this issue but simply satisfy his cravings by baking more cookies for him.

I've been baking a few types of cookies lately, but I am showing only three here. Not that the other cookies were not good, but the photos fall into the "cannot-make-it" category. You see, not only I have bad hair days like the others, but I also have "bad photos days"... LOL!

Janhagels

Janhagels is type of Dutch cookies that can be found in Carole Walter's Great Cookies. The thin slices of cookies were crunchy due to the almond flakes and a slight hint of almond and cinnamon further enhanced the flavour of the cookies.

Pistachio-Orange Cookies

This is another recipe that I've adapted from Great Cookies. The lime called for in the recipe was replaced with orange. I've mistakenly mixed the batter slightly longer than I should, and as a result, the batter was too sticky to be shaped into a log by hand. I've improvised by dropping small balls of dough on baking tray and then sprinkled with pistachios on it.

Cheese Crackers Recipe

The first time I baked these cheese crackers, I was pleasantly surprised at how strong the aroma was as compared to the other cookies that I've baked before. I'm not exaggerating, but I believe my neighbours from the opposite block can smell it! After the first attempt, I couldn't get enough of it and so I've baked it a few more times. This is rather unusual, as I hardly repeat what I've cooked before. As mentioned in earlier posts, I have lots of cookbooks, that means I have tonnes of recipes to try out and thus, I would repeat a recipe only if it is extremely good. So you can imagine how much I love these cookies... and now I'm sharing this great recipe with all of you.

Ingredients:
70g unsalted butter
1 egg yolk
120g self-raising flour, sifted
60g Parmesan cheese
1 egg, for brushing
30g Parmesan cheese, for garnishing
some coriander leaves, for garnishing

Method:
1) Mix the butter in a mixer until smooth and creamy.
2) Add in the cheese, and mix the batter with a wooden spoon.
3) Mix in egg yolk.
4) Add in the flour and mix just until the last bit of flour disappear into the batter. Take note, do not over-mix.
5) Place the batter in between two sheets of cling wrap or a plastic bag, flatten the dough with rolling pin. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
6) Remove dough from the fridge, flatten the dough further to 3mm thickness. Refrigerate for another 15 minutes.
7) In the mean time, pre-heat the oven to 180 deg C.
8) Remove the dough from the fridge again, spread the egg evenly over the dough. Cut the dough into 2cm X 2cm squares.
8) Spread the Parmesan cheese over the dough, cover the surface with cling wrap or plastic bag, lightly press the dough with rolling pin, so that the cheese can stick on to the dough.
9) Brush the surface of the slices lightly with egg, garnish with a piece of coriander leaf.
10) Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until it turns golden brown. Cool the cookies on a rack, serve.