Chinese New Year 2015 - Pineapple Jam Tarts

Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year is only days away. The first day of the Year of the Goat/Ram/Sheep starts on 19 February 2015. In our family, the celebrations for the new year is not complete without our favourite cookies - Pineapple Jam Tarts.

I cooked the pineapple jam a few weeks ago, and kept it the fridge. Today, we made the tarts - about 200+. I follow this recipe that has been passed on to me from my Mum.

Pineapple Jam Tarts - Chinese New Year

As mentioned in my previous post, Chinese New Year is not far away. My family loves the Pineapple Jam tarts that I make once a year. I made the pineapple jam on the weekend; next step is to make the pastry and tarts this coming weekend. 

Here's the link to my recipe. 

German Butter Cookies

Chinese New Year 2015 is not far away. The first day of the Year of the Goat is 19 February 2015. I have started to look for cookie recipes to make for our consumption as well as gifts for friends. I did a trial run of these melt in the mouth German Butter Cookies on the weekend just past. It was super easy and quick. A great recipe to get the young ones in your family involved. My youngest help me make the fork imprint on the cookies. A quick 15 mins in the oven to bake, and it's done. The cookies finish in a very light brown; almost pale look. 

You will find several recipes for these cookies on the internet; with slight variation - some add cocoa or matcha green tea powder. 

Now to make more of these cookies as the cookies from the trial are all gone! It's not overly sweet and just perfect with a cup of coffee or tea or Milo. 

Salted Caramel Cookies

Nestle has recently introduced a new flavour to their Bits range - Caramel Bits. It's similar to the milk, dark and white choc bits. I found this recipe online by thesuzchef. I tweaked the recipe slightly - replacing the plain flour with self raising flour; added 1/4 teaspoon salt when sifting the flour and reduced the vanilla extract to 1 teaspoon.

These cookies are moreish, it's difficult to stop at just one; goes well with a cup of English Breakfast tea.

Choc Hazelnut Stars

Continuing with the theme of 'handmade' Christmas gifts, I made these Choc Hazelnut Stars as gifts for friends. This recipe is from the 2011 Christmas issue of Super Food Ideas.

125gm butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 cup hazelnut meal
1 1/4 cups plain flour, sifted
1/4 cup self raising flour, sifted
100gm dark chocolate, melted
120gm packet dry-roasted hazelnuts
icing sugar mixture, for dusting

1. Cream the butter, sugar and egg in an electric mixer until well combined.
2. In a separate bowl, sift the cocoa powder and flours. Add in the hazelnut meal. Stir this mixture into the creamed butter, sugar and egg.
3. Remove the dough from the mixture and knead into a ball, then flattened into a disc shape. Wrap in plastic wrap and place into a refrigerator for 30 minutes or overnight.
4. Preheat the oven to 150C fan forced. Line baking trays with baking paper.
5. Roll the dough out between two sheets of baking paper until about 1cm thick. Dust the star-shaped cutters lightly with flour and cut out the shapes, re-rolling the dough scraps and repeat the process until all dough has been cut into stars.
6. Place the stars onto prepared trays. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until just firm to touch.
7. Stand on trays for 10 minutes. Transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely.
8. Spoon the chocolate into a snap-lock bag. Snip 1 corner of the bag with scissors (not too big).
9. Pipe the melted chocolate into the centre of each star. Place a hazelnut (de-skinned) on top.
10. Set aside for 15 minutes to set before dusting with icing sugar mixture and then serve.

Makes about 30-32 pieces.

Cookies with a Message

My sister bought me this fantastic cookie cutter from Williams-Sonoma last Christmas. Williams-Sonoma is similar to the Wheel and Barrow stores in Australia. I love that store and can spend hours browsing the household pots and pans, beautiful homeware and recipe books.

You can customise your message on the cookies using the letters and templates. The cookies we made this time are for Ashleigh and Caitlin's teachers and friends, so they decided "Happy Holidays", but there are also other messages e.g. "It's a Boy", "Thank You", "I Love You", "Welcome", "Baby Girl".

390 gm (2 1/2 cups) plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
185gm unsalted butter, at room temperature
250gm (1 cup) caster sugar
Food colouring (optional)
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. In the bowl of electric mixer, beat the butter on high speed for 2 minutes. Reduce the speed and slowly add the sugar and a few drops of food colouring (if adding colour) and beat for 2 minutes.
2. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat for 1 minute, stopping once to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Fold in half the flour and beat on low speed until most of the flour has been absorbed. Then, add the remaining flour and continue beating until all the flour has been mixed and the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. 2 to 5 minutes
4. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and divide into 2 equal flat discuss. Wrap each piece separately and place into the fridge for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.
5. Remove the dough from fridge and let stand for 5 minutes.
6. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 4.5 to 6mm.
7. Preheat the oven to 140C in a fan-forced oven (90C for my oven). Line the baking tray with baking paper.
8. Dip the cutter into flour just before using and cut out the desired shape. Hold each cutter over the baking tray and depress the plunger to remove the cutout shape. Gather scrape dough and roll out again until all cookies are cut.
9. Refrigerate the cookies until firm, about 20 to 30 minutes.
10. Bake the cookies until golden brown around the edges, about 12 to 15 minutes. Be careful not to let the cookies go to brown especially around the edges.
11. Remove tray from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Transfer the baked cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Decorate as desired. 
12. Store the decorated cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Makes about 21 star shaped cookies.
Recipe source: Williams-Sonoma Kitchen

Jam Drops

This is an easy cookie recipe from Donna Hay to make with children. They can help with rolling the dough and making an indent for the jam. These cookies are crunchy and great for lunchboxes.

 180gm (6oz) butter, softened
1 cup caster sugar
1 egg
2 cups plain flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
jam (to decorate)

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Line the cookie baking tray with baking paper.
2. Place the butter and sugar into bowl of electric mixer and beat until light and creamy.
3. Add the egg and beat well.
4. Stir through the flour and baking powder to make a dough (which is soft).
5. Take a teaspoon of the mixture and roll into balls. Place on lined tray and flatten slightly, allowing space in between for the dough to spread.
6. Press a finger into the middle of the dough to make an indent. Fill the hole with jam.
7. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden.
8. Add a little more jam to the holes while the biscuits are hot.
9. Cool on wire rack.

Makes about 60 pieces.

Rainbow Cookies

Last two days of the school holidays. I was at home today to help my girls prepare for Term 3. We spent the day at home spring-cleaning - sorting out their clothes, cleaning their homes, changing bed linen, packing away their toys.

Ashleigh also made these rainbow cookies (ssh....out of a packet).

Malaysian Monday #3 - Pineapple Jam Tarts

The traditional pineapple jam tarts is my family's favourite cookie during the Chinese New Year (CNY) festive season. There are different varieties of pineapple jam tarts. We prefer the traditional ones with a ball of jam sitting on a circle of pastry. Two years ago, I tried making the Nastar version, but everyone in the family found them too buttery.

I only make pineapple jam tarts once a year because it involves a lot of work starting with making the pineapple jam and then the pastry. The least amount of work required is in eating the tarts.

Pineapple Jam
2 medium-sized pineapples
320gm raw sugar (may need more sugar if the pineapples are not sweet)
1 cinnamon stick

1. Remove the outer skin and the eyes of the pineapple, cut into half and remove the hard core in the middle.
2. Then, cut into tiny bits (similar to chopped garlic). Note: you can grate the pineapple as well, but I find with this method you can still chew on the tiny pineapple bits. There is usually quite a bit of juice, so I will also drain or strain the excess juice before placing it into the pan.
3. Place the chopped pineapple, sugars and cinnamon stick into a pan (I used a non-stick wok) and cook for about 1-2 hour, stirring occassionally. The cooking time depends on how much juice there is.
4. Cook till the jam is dry and juices have evaporated. Remove the cinnamon stick.
5. Remove from the pan to cool.

Note: the jam can be made ahead and stored in the fridge or freezer. 

Pastry
600gm plain flour
1 tsp salt
65gm margarine, cut into cubes
250gm butter, cut into cubes
2 egg yolks, beaten
1 egg white, beaten (leave aside the other egg white unbeaten, just in case)

1. Place flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Rub the margarine and butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs.
2. Add in the egg yolk. Mix well. Slowly add in the beaten egg white and knead to form dough into a ball.
3. If the dough is still crumbly, then add a little of the extra beaten egg white to bind together and the dough has the right consistency. Option: instead of egg white, add milk or icy cold water.
4. Roll the dough to about 0.5cm thick. Using a tart mould or cutter, cut out the shapes.
5. Roll the jam into small balls to place into the centre of the cut-out pastry. 
6. Cut a small diamond to place on the centre of the jam. Follow the same process until dough is finished.
7. Bake the tarts in a pre-heated oven at 140 degree C for 15-20 minutes. (Note: for my oven it's 90C). Cool the tarts on rack before storing. 

Makes about 75 pieces.
Note: with the amount of jam made, I needed to make two recipes of the pastry.

Another submission for Malaysian Monday, pop over to Shaz's blog - Test with Skewer to find out more.

Malaysian Monday #2 - Chinese New Year Peanut Cookies (Fah Sang Peng)

I decided that it is time for me to teach my two girls the ritual of baking cookies for Chinese New Year cookies. We started out with something quite simple (well, simple to make except for the preparation of the peanuts).

I bought the peanuts with skin on and roasted them in the oven for 25-30 minutes at 140C. Then, I had the messy and onerous task of removing the skin. Once that's done, I used the food processor to grind the peanuts.

Ashleigh and Caitlin had fun rolling the dough into little balls and making the imprint on the top. Caitlin had the all important task of painting the egg wash on the top of the cookies.

The first patch that we made were slightly burnt as the oven temperature was set too high.

These photos are from the second batch. Packed and ready as gifts. 

300gm groundnuts, fried/roasted and grinded till fine (taste a few of the nuts before grinding to see that they taste nice and fragrant. Don’t under cook or over burnt)

200gm castor sugar (avoid using granulated sugar because it will cause the cookies to have very rough and hard texture)

250gm flour

About 200-250 ml of oil (use sparingly and use only enough to bind the mixture. I would pour out 200ml 1^st and go from there)

1 teaspoon table salt

Mix the dry ingredients like sugar, salt, nuts and flour in a big mixing bowl with fingertips until they are mixed well and crumbly. Add oil bit by bit and knead the mixture. Once you can roll up the mixture into a small ball without the surface crumbling, then stop adding more oil.

Knead the mixture for a while to ensure that the sugar melts. You can tell by looking at the dough. It shouldn’t have speckles of shiny sugar grains but a smooth texture.

Roll the dough into small balls and place them on a parchment paper and baking tray. Use a circular tube (like a straw or base of a Chinese paint brush) and press gently on the top of the balls to make round indents.

Glaze with egg before baking. To glaze, just beat one egg yolk and brush on the cookie.

Temperature: 120-140C. (my oven is quite hot so I set mine to 90-110C).

Time: About 20 minutes

Makes about 102 pieces

My Little Assistant

 I am sending this to Shaz of Test with Skewer as my 2nd entry for Malaysian Monday.

 

Baking for Chinese New Year - Update

I have made a start with my baking for CNY since my post last week. I tried making my 1st batch of the peanut cookies last night. It's slightly burnt as you can see from the photo below. I'm going to make another batch, hopeful for a better photo then.

I also made the pineapple jam today in preparation to make the pineapple jam tarts next weekend.

I will post the recipes shortly.  In the meantime, you can send me an email for the recipes.

Oatmeal and Raisin Cookies

I received August 2010's edition of Delicious magazine yesterday. Flicking through the magazine, I came across an article by Bill Granger about baking in winter. Bill starts his article by saying (and I quote): "There's no better way to spend a winter day than baking batches of cakes and biscuits with your family". What a great idea! It inspired me to bake these cookies on a Friday night.  They were delicious.

150gm unsalted butter, softened

1 firmly packed cup (220gm) brown sugar (I reduced some of the sugar)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking powder

1 egg

1 cup (150gm) plain flour

200gm rolled oats

1 cup (190gm) raisins

1. Preheat the oven to 180C (for my oven 120C) and line 2 large trays with baking paper.
2. Beat the butter and sugar in an electric mixer until thick and pale.
3. Add vanilla and egg, beat until well combined.
4. Sift flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt into the butter mixture and beat slowly until well combined, then stir in oats and raisins.
5. Roll 30 tablespoons of mixture and place on trays, then flattened with a floured fork.
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden.
7. Cool on trays for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 
8. Store in an air-tight container for 3-4 days.

Pineapple Jam Tarts - Nastar

Finally finished my Christmas baking today. I baked the fruit cake last weekend, a little bit dry but I will keep giving it a dose of brandy every day. It taste fine, just a tad dry.

My g/f, Joyce and her mum, Aunty Rosie, came over today and we baked some pineapple jam tarts. We wanted to try this recipe - Thanks Lilian Chan. It was our first attempt at making the nastar style of jam tarts. It was quite easy and taste great. Different to the ones my mom usually makes. The pastry has a melt-in-the-mouth texture.

Making Gingerbread Cookies

Here are the photos from our gingerbread making session yesterday. The girls enjoyed the rolling and cutting and finishing off with the icing as well.

I made royal icing to ice the cookies, this icing hardens well. To make royal icing, I beat one egg white and mix in the sifted icing sugar a little at a time and until well combined. Keep adding the sifted icing sugar until you can make soft peaks (to test, dab a clean knife or spoon in the icing mixture, if soft peaks appear, then it's ready). You can choose to tint the royal icing with colours or leave it white. Then, place the icing into piping bag/zip lock bag with the appropriate nozzle/pipe.

N.B. A friend told me that you can buy meringue powder as well, easier than making royal icing from scratch.

Check out Caitlin's face - so serious when she is rolling out the dough :-)





Even Ashleigh was totally focused when icing the cookie.















Finally, the cookies are wrapped ready for Ash to give to her schoolmates tomorrow.

Choc Chip Cookies

We made our 1st batch of Choc Chip Cookies for the Christmas season as gifts for Ash's teachers and friends. I love this recipe - it's easy to make and bake. I have used this recipe for over 20 years now since I found in the Australian Women's Weekly Big Book of Beautiful Biscuits.

This is a crunchy version of Choc Chip Cookies.

125gm (4oz) butter
½ cup caster sugar
½ cup brown sugar, lightly packed
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 ¾ cups self raising flour
½ teaspoon salt

125gm (4 oz) chocolate chips (I always add extra)

60gm (2 oz) chopped walnuts (optional, I usually leave it out because of nut-free policy at school)

1. Cream together butter, sugars and vanilla.
2. Add lightly beaten egg gradually, beating well after each addition.
3. Mixed the sifted flour and salt (sometimes if the dough is a bit dry, I add 2 tablespoons of milk).
   
4. Add chocolate chips and chopped walnuts, mix well.
5. Shape teaspoonfuls of mixture into small balls, place on baking trays lined with baking paper, allow room for spreading.
6. Bake in moderate oven 10 to 12 minutes.

Makes about 45 pieces.