Lemons, blood oranges, and apricots, oh my!
This week's #CookTheBook post is all about the FRUIT! I was a bit distracted by all the chocolate chip cookies and pan banging cookies in Sarah Kieffer's 100 Cookies cookbook, but I finally made a few fruity recipes from the book. And they did NOT disappoint.
I loved each of these and they all felt special as compared to other similar recipes. The blood orange cookies were inspired by a few would-be-waste fruits I rescued, plus I liked the healthier alternative to shortbread. The lemon bars were different from others I've made in that they're eggless and seem the oat crust was just perfect! Finally the apricot palmiers were a fun project and I can't wait to try them again!
#39: Olive Oil Sugar Cookies with Blood Orange Glaze
I made these cookies with a few blood oranges I received in a Hungry Harvest produce recovery box (read about it here). The olive oil cookie itself was a bit of a pain to roll out and cut circles out of - so crumbly and delicate... I ended up just pressing the dough down with my hands instead of rolling it out since it just kept sticking to my rolling pin despite the amount of flour I used. I was also scared the cookie would come out just tasting like olive oil, but it ended up being a really nice understated shortbread that wasn't too sweet (and can't taste the olive oil at all!). I zested the blood oranges and squeezed fresh juice from about 2 of the fruits to make this glaze. It was very well received - not too bitter as a glaze, and paired well with a simple shortbread cookie!
#52: Lemon Oat Bars
Talk about underrated. Any time the word oat is used to describe a dessert, I think we tend to think oatmeal. But these are anything but... in fact their the best of lemon bars and crumb cake. The crust and crumble are made out of an easy oat and brown sugar mixture, very reminiscent of coffee cake crumble - delicious. The Lemon filling is sour and creamy at the same time. It was so good, but I think I'd add even more lemon juice and zest next time for that extra tang, and also perhaps a few drops of yellow food coloring. These are also eggless - which was great to share with friends who have egg allergies!
#56: Palmiers with Apricot and Cardamom
In her note, Sarah claims these are "quick and easy" but I would argue these are harder than they look to get right! First, the frozen puff pastry I used came in 9x9" squares, so I was unsure if rolling them out further was necessary. I ended up rolling them out but the dough was so thin. Also, once rolled, Sarah specifies to slice the dough and then chill the prepared baking sheet in the oven. Next time, I plan to leave the dough in its folded log shape and freeze as a log before cutting. I think this would help with 1) not taking up as much freezer space, 2) cutting the cookies into thin slices since the jam wouldn't squeeze out every time I cut it and 3) they'd keep their shape better instead of collapsing before and during baking. I also baked for about 4-5 more minutes than specified since they didn't have the color in the photo after her specified bake time.
This sounds like a lot of issues, but honestly, they're all technical issues that can be easily fixed for next time! I loved the combo of apricot and cardamom jam, and loved that they were only 4 ingredients. These would be such a great addition to next year's Christmas Cookie Tin.
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