Happy 2010 ! My first baking of the year got nothing special to share but just a simple cookie recipe that came with some compliments from my family members and friends during the Xmas season. This is a very simple recipe which you could make the dough in advance and bake it whenever you want to refill your cookie jar. It could be shaped in any fancy patterns before frozen. I've no idea how to name this frozen cookie, please give it a good name if you can. Here are two type of flavours, plain and cocoa that go with some pecans and chocolate chips. People who had tasted love the texture and it serve well with a cup of coffee or tea. Freeze more doughs and make it as a little gift in a rush in NO TIME!!
Beat 110g butter with 50g icing sugar until lightly pale and fluffy. Add in the 150g shifted flour and 25g cocoa powder if you like to make cocoa flavour, otherwise replace the 25g with plain flour. Add some pecan, walnut or chocolate chips but not too little or too much. You want to taste the crunchiness and also easy to cut out in pieces once the dough harden from the freezer. I added 30g pecan and 30g chocolate chips into the mixture. Using a wooden spoon to mix until everything come together. Place half the cookie dough on a piece of cling film. For square shape, I used a 1 1/2 inches height baking tray to make an even square shape. Wrap the cookie dough with the cling film in a longish shape about 1 1/2 inches even size then pushing it to the side of the baking tray, press it and pushing another side again until you've got an even size of square loaf of cookie dough. Place in the freezer until harden. Cut out the cookie with your desirable thickness and bake in the oven at 170C for about 15 minutes. Keep in the cookie jar when it completely cool. Place a piece or two at the side of your coffee or tea, enjoy!
Last year, I made Panettone for X'mas but did not manage to try out any Stollen recipes. So, this year I got to try a Stollen recipe first before Panettone. It's something new to me and I think the texture is something like Panettone. Again, Stollen is also one of the bread that Italian will have during the X'mas but now everywhere having it for this lovely season.
I'm not sure why Stollen had its unique shape, anyway I just followed the recipe. The texture is soft on the day it's baked and taste quite good with some dried apricot, cranberries, raisin and the crunchy pecan had given it extra texture. Not to forget, my favorite ingredients "cinnamon" make this bread taste better. My hubby and I very much prefer Stollen and Panettone instead of Fruit Cake.
The bread wasn't that soft the next day. So, I tuck it back to the oven at 200C losely wrapped with aluminium foil to warm it back, then it's turn soft again and it's nice to serve warm I feel. My first experiment told me that I should make it again to give away as a gift very soon.
