Following on from my post about Favourite Christmas Bakes, I thought you might like to have the recipes for my Burnt Butter Biscuits and Spekulaas, as well as a couple of the other Favourite Christmas Recipes mentioned in the post.
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Favourite Christmas Recipes
Speculaas – Dutch Christmas Biscuits
Ingredients:
- 170 g (6oz) Butter
- 142g (5oz) Soft Brown Sugar
- 227 (8 oz) Self-raising Flour
- Pinch of salt
- 0.5 level teaspoon mixed spice
- 1 level teaspoon cinnamon
- finely grated rind of 1 lemon
- 113g (4oz) shredded almonds
- 28g (1oz) plain semi-sweet biscuits
Heat the oven to 180/350 degrees.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then sift the flour, salt and spices into the creamed mixture, add the lemon rind and almonds and mix. Put the biscuits in a bag and crush – I use a rolling pin and vent any frustrations – then add to the mixture. Knead with your fingers until combined. The mixture will be quite stiff.
Pop into the fridge to chill for about 20 minutes.
Roll out to about 3mm thick on a lightly floured surface and cut into Christmas shapes. Place on a buttered baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes.
Cool on a wire tray and leave to cool. Sprinkle with caster sugar or icing sugar. Makes around 24
Burnt Butter Biscuits
Ingredients:
- 113 g (4oz) Butter
- 85g (3oz) Caster Sugar
- 1 egg
- 227 (8 oz) Self-raising Flour
Heat the oven to 180/350 degrees.
Put the butter in a pan and melt. Once fully melted, keep the butter on a low heat until the butter starts to turn brown and there are specks in it, basically burning it. Set it aside to cool.
Once cooled add the sugar and beat in. Add in the egg and flour and mix. Put teaspoons of the mixture on a greased baking tray (not too close as they do spread while cooking) for around 10-15 minutes until they are golden brown. Makes around 24
Potica – Slovenia Dessert
by Džangir from Dr Jam Travels
Ingredients:
- ½ kg flour
- ¼ litre milk
- 30 g yeast
- 10 g salt
- lemon rind
- 20 ml rum
- 60 g sugar
- 4 eggs
- 100 g butter
- ½ kg walnuts
In a bowl, dissolve yeast, and add 3 tablespoons of flour, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and a cup of lukewarm milk. Leave for 10 minutes in a warm place.
In another bowl mix the remaining milk, egg yolks, sugar, salt, and lemon rind. Add melted butter and rum, and slowly pour into the flour. Add the risen yeast. Mix everything to a dough, and knead until smooth and cover it with a warm kitchen towel, and leave until it rises to double the size, one hour.
Once risen, roll out the dough on a table sprinkled with flour, into a square shape. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness.
Spread with melted butter, honey, raisins, walnuts, and cinnamon. Roll up like a jelly roll and pinch the ends. Place into the prepared baking tin.
Let it rise again for about one hour until it doubles in size. Preheat the oven to 180℃ and bake it for around 60 minutes until it is golden brown.
Bret’s Bourbon Balls (Lower Sugar Recipe)
by Bret Love & Mary from Blue Ridge Mountains Travel Guide
Ingredients:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup Stevia
- 2 tbs Hershey’s Dark Cocoa
- 1/4 cup bourbon
- 2 tbs light corn syrup
- 2.5 cups Sugar-Free vanilla wafers
- 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
- grated zest of 1 orange.
Start by sifting 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 cup Stevia, and cocoa together into a medium-sized bowl.
Whisk the bourbon, corn syrup and orange zest together, then stir into cocoa mixture until smooth.
Next, crush the vanilla wafers in a food processor and mix them with the nuts, then stir into the cocoa mixture.
Now you’re ready to put a little powdered sugar on your hands and roll the mix into one-inch balls, resisting the urge to lick your fingers after each one. Roll each ball in the remaining 1/2 cup powdered sugar until evenly coated, and store them in an airtight container at room temp. for up to a month. The bourbon flavour only seems to get more potent over time!
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Larch lives a semi-nomadic life. Her life changed 20 years ago when a silly accident left her with restricted use of her right arm and neck and was told she would never work again. She turned her life around, retrained herself and set up as a self-employed website designer. This allowed her to work wherever she was in the world. Her passion for travel led her to start up her travel blog The Silver Nomad, to inspire over 40s to explore new destinations and expand their horizons. In 2019 Larch qualified as a CAA Drone Pilot which she combines with her travels.