Recipe: Palm Sugar Butter Cookies – Flavour them as you want!

Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap. – Barbara Jordan 

Mmmm... Butter cookies.... no added flavourings. Still delicious.

Sorry for the lack of posts. I’ve been fairly busy at work and haven’t found the time. But I’m back now.

“The Season” is nearly upon us. Because of that fact it behooves me to grace my blog with a cookie recipe. Cookies are a mainstay of the post-buffet table. This is a great one to add to your Christmas repertoire, or any time of the year for that matter.

This is the sugar I used. Product of Thailand.

This is a “basic” sugar butter cookie – about as basic as you can get, actually. It relies on the palm sugar for flavour, but if you add flavouring the possibilities are endless. 

If you wish you can divide the dough and make different cookies from one recipe. I have several listed below, such as vanilla bean seeds, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom or grated citrus peel. I think peel would be wonderful, but so would the others. Use your imagination!

Palm sugar is all the rage now as a healthier sweetner alternative to agave. It also is finding its way into many commercial baked goods because it has a low melting point and a high burning point. Those are two desirable characteristics for commercial (or home) baking.

Palm sugar is often used in Thai cuisine so if you can’t find it in your local grocery look in a good Asian market. It will be there. Make sure you buy 100% palm sugar – not a blend. It will probably be in small round cakes, so prepare to get your grater out. 

What is Palm Sugar?

Palm sugar is made from the sap of select palm trees. Palm sugar tastes sort of like brown sugar, but sort of not. It has a gentle caramel/butterscotch flavour.

Palm sugar is nutrient rich and low-glycemic. This means it is absorbed into the blood stream at a slower rate than refined sugars. It is completely natural with no refining therefore it keeps all of the nutrients present from the palm. Even powdered stevia cannot boast this claim. Palm sugar contains many key vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients, including potassium, zinc, iron, and vitamins B1, B2, B3 and B6.

Harvesting of palm sugar is accomplished by sugar tappers climbing to the top of palm trees (often palmyra palms, but also date, sago and coconut palms) to collect the sap from the flowers. The collected liquid is then cooked down and allowed to harden, much like maple syrup and maple sugar in Canada. You could substitute maple sugar quite easily in this recipe.

Palm sugar is sometimes referred to as a "green" sweetener. It affords local people employment in areas of the world where clear cutting of tropical forests is becoming an environmental issue.

Palm sugar has such a nice flavour there’s really no need for additional flavouring in these cookies if you’re like me and enjoy a good, homey basic cookie. These are a really nice little cookie. I was impressed. Two of us ate all 36 cookies in one night. Yeah, yeah, I know... but it's not like it happens every night.

After baking let them cool for a few minutes on a rack so they firm up. They’re great cooled but I prefer my cookies a touch warm with a glass of milk!

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and freeze for 30 min, or
refrigerate overnight. Can also be frozen for extended periods.

Basic Palm Sugar Butter Cookies

Mix & form: 20  |  Chill: 30 min  |  Bake: 18 min  |  Yield: 36

1 cup butter (227 g / 8 oz)

3/4 cup palm sugar (or light brown sugar or even maple sugar)

1 large egg

2 cups white flour

* Options: seeds from 1 vanilla bean; 1 tbsp grated orange, lemon or lime peel, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg...

If you buy “pucks” of palm sugar you need to grate them. You will find the sugar is very “moist” for lack of a better word. Grate until you have 3/4 of a cup lightly packed. For me that was 3 “pucks.”

Beat the sugar and butter together with a mixer (use your KitchenAid!) until they are well combined. Then beat in the egg. The mixture will not be smooth.

Slowly add in the flour until just combined. The dough will still not all together.

Bring the dough together with your hands. Knead gently for a few seconds. The dough will be very soft.

Roll, flatten, prick with a fork. Done.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let cool in a freezer for about 30 minutes to help it set. The dough can be kept in the refrigerator overnight to chill or frozen for later use.

Line two cookie sheets with parchment. 

Flour your hands well. Roll pieces of the dough into 1” sized balls. Keep flouring your hands as you roll. Place each ball on the parchment about 3 inches apart. Flatten with a well floured water glass bottom. 

Note: if using only one sheet refrigerate the dough wile the first batch bakes. It keeps the dough easy to handle.

Prick the centre of each cookie twice in the centre with a fork or use something else to decorate the top. I sometimes use a meat tenderizing mallet. It makes a nice pattern. If you wish, sprinkle with decorative sugar.

Bake in the centre of a preheated oven at 350°F for about 20 minutes or until just browning at the edges. Remove to a rack and let cool.

* If adding a flavouring mix it in just before adding the flour. If using multiple flavourings, divide the dough and knead it in last. If you do so work quickly. The warmth of your hands will melt the butter.

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To do list: Make Animal Crackers

The above clip is Shirley Temple (of course) from 1935. The movie was “Curly Top.” A significantly different time, eh? People LOVED her. I always found her movies a bit pretentious, precocious, whatever. Not that I was around when they first came out... It appears that she is singing to all the happy residents of an orphanage. 

I don't think I would put them in MY soup. Too sweet.
Photo: fritish, Flickr ccl

Everyone remembers animal crackers, right? Those buttery (maybe) little biscuits shaped like circus animals that came in a little circus cage with a red rope handle? Usually either appendages or heads were broken off many of the poor animals inside.

The red rope handle was a long, long time ago – 1960s? I don’t think it made it to the 70s. It was probably cost prohibitive and therefore one of the first things to be cut – more than likely followed quickly by butter.

Animal crackers first arrived in North America from Britain in the mid- to late-1800s. Demand grew to the point that there was enough popularity to support manufacture in the USA. The National Biscuit Company became the main manufacturer. (Na-bis-co…)

Biscuit is the British term for what North Americans usually call a cookie. Where all this “cracker” naming came from is beyond me. We all know them as Animal Crackers but they're certainly not cracker-like in any way.

In 1902 they officially became known as “Barnum’s Animals” to associate the biscuit with Barnum & Bailey’s Circus. Many different companies market “animal crackers” but to North Americans there was, and always will be, only one brand: Nabisco.

Photo: Wiki CC

Animal crackers are essentially sweet, flat cookies that are shaped like circus animals. Since 1903 there have been 37 different animals. Currently there are 18. I can’t remember how many there were when I was growing up but I do remember all of the animals in the picture at right.

More than 40 million packages are currently manufactured at the Nabisco plant in New Jersey and are sold throughout the USA and exported internationally. Why is it that I can never find them? 

Well worry no longer if you can't either. You can purchase “circus cookie cutters,” in a box reminiscent of the 1960s-70s container, and make your own. Sadly there are only five cutters in the set, but it’s five of the good ones. But no monkey. There’s even a recipe on the back.

No monkey, but they have little handles to press in the indentations.

I purchased these cutters from Williams-Sonoma.com in April but haven’t had occasion to use them yet. That will change this weekend hopefully.

Funny thing, when you look on the W-S site the dough recipe is there but not the cutters. “No longer available” it says. They are available other places if you look online but it may take you a while to find them. I also remember them being a bit on the expensive side too.

When you do locate them just be sure you’re getting the shapes you remember as a child. They HAVE to have the dimples on the tops to show eyes, spots, etc. That’s why the W-S ones have the little press handle. Many companies make animal shaped crackers but not “these” shapes.

If you loved these cookies as a child you owe it to yourself to purchase the cutters to have in your collection.

The recipe is a piece of cake (or piece of cookie or biscuit) to find. I’m going to try the one on the Williams-Sonoma box first before I start to mess with it… although I’ve read online by people who have made it that it’s “perfect.”

Mmmmmm. Animal crackers. Maybe soup too. One never knows.

Click on the image to read the recipe that comes with the cutters!

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Opinion: Thoughts on Growing Older

And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. – Abraham Lincoln

Photo: ajft, Flickr ccl

Today I turn a significant corner. I am now on the upside of my second half century. How did this happen?

It was like only yesterday I was graduating from high school, or attending Dalhousie University, or in design class at NSCAD. I remember suppers at Peddlers Pub with friends from college, and smoke breaks in the stairwell at Next Step Graphics (my fist real design job).

It has been sixteen (16!!) years since I started work at my current job. During that time I have seen many fine colleagues both come and go. On reflection it has all taken a very long time to unfold. Why does it seem to have taken the blink of an eye?

I’ve been in significant relationships (and some not so significant), some of which were good, some OK and some downright bad for me. Luckily now I am married to a wonderful person who I care for deeply. Someone who I want to be with for the rest of my life. That's really what's important, right?

What have I learned on the way to 51? Here’s a few "observations":

First, don’t let past actions paralyze you with regret. 

Regret implies wishing things could be different than they are. But no one can change the past.

I do not mean you should never feel contrite for acts you may have done. But if you did not set out to hurt others you should treat them as life lessons as opposed to objects of engulfing regret. Each of life’s situations should be a teacher to you as a matter of course.

The past is a rear view mirror. No matter how hard you look in it you will not change what you see. If you cannot accept the past you will never be able to be truly open to what the future has to bring. It’s where you've BEEN, not where you are going. You have to let go of the past to live in the present.

Each decision we make leads us down a different path. Every day when we awake new roads are open to us. It is up to us to choose where to walk. Will it be where we were yesterday or somewhere different? Each path we take closes options to us, but new ones continually open up. We cannot have all the choices, but we can have new choices.

Choosing not to change is a decision too. It’s not a loss of choice to stay with the status quo. That too will take you further on your journey. 

Here’s another one. The longer I live, the more I know that I do not know everything, nor will I ever. 

It’s a trait of the young to think they know everything and act accordingly – usually rashly without any thought. (That takes me back to why we need point one…)

It has been said that age brings wisdom. I disagree. You can collect more knowledge as you age, but true wisdom to me is knowing that you do not know everything. Knowledge and wisdom are two completely different ideas with completely different definitions.

When I was young I thought I had all the answers. I was a smart ass. Probably a royal pain to a lot of people too. And I probably still am. But I'm working on it.

I often look back and realize that I may not have always acted in kind ways. I feel sad about how I may have made others feel in the past. I cannot change that, but I can try to learn from my mistakes and ensure they do not happen again. That is part of the wisdom that comes with age.

Third? Those you love are more important than any job you may have. 

One of my bosses from years past said “Work to live, not live to work.” At the time – and where I was – that was a radical statement. But it is a statement that we all should live by and must be given its due respect.

Who we are isn’t defined by how much money we make or the things we have, but by how people feel about us. There is a saying: “You never really die until no one remembers you.” Hopefully they will remember you with love. Those people who you hold in your heart should be your first priority. You can do many things for money, but it’s not the fundamental part of happiness.

Those who feel better by amassing “stuff” aren’t really living.The Koran says: "The impious shall find the gates of heaven shut, nor shall he enter till a camel pass through the eye of a needle." It is also nearly identical in Matthew 19:24 but the words used are “rich man.” Everyone has the same amount of money and "stuff" when they’re dead: nothing. Remember that. 

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t take pride in your work, whatever job you may have. But there is merit in having work that makes you feel rewarded every day. I am lucky. I very much enjoy what I have chosen to do for a profession. Many people do not.

If you are one who doesn’t it may be time to think about what makes you happy. Don’t think in the specific. Think conceptually. For me, whatever I do would have to be creative. I have an overriding urge to “make.” That's part of the reason for this blog. I could probably be just as happy working with wood or cooking all day. But that's me. 

Would working for the betterment of a cause or group make you happy? If animals are your interest there are many jobs that have helping them as reward short of going to university to be a Vet. Would working to aid seniors make you feel fulfilled? Or perhaps helping feed the hungry, or building shelter for the unhoused… Whatever you do there are many different jobs that go into the whole of the end result. You don't have to have specific education to be a part.

Depending on your religious philosophy, when we die we either  1) get rewarded or punished for how we act, or  2) keep coming back as better or worse for more chances to get life right, or  3) this is it and it’s over. 

All three lead to the same conclusion:
We should live our lives to make us and those we love happy while doing no harm to others. 

The consequences if you don't? If you're evil you'll go to Hell, come back as something disgusting, or in the atheist case personal gain doesn't do you any good anyway. So we should all focus on being happy and appreciating those we love.

I doubt that is accomplished by staying cooped up in an office all day counting other people’s money. Although for some I suppose they feel it is...

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In a nutshell so far I guess I’ve learned that I cannot change the past so I shouldn’t let it cripple me. I have also learned that I am nowhere near as clever as I think and will never be as clever as I hope. Third, which to me is most important, is that those you love always come first. They are the riches in your life and should be the things you guard most closely.

So there’s just three of the many things I have learned in the past 50 years. Now that I am 51 I’m sure just as many wait for me in the future, however long that may be. 

Happy birthday, indeed.

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Booze of the Week: Mission Fig and Orange Liqueur

You can identify them (false prophets) by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? – Matthew 7:16 (New Living Translation)

Photo: threefishsleeping, Flickr ccl

I guess you could call this a Christmas themed liqueur. It would certainly be nice served in front of a roaring fire. Figs are suddenly on the menu of quite a few people during the Christmas season. They should be used more commonly, year round.

Fresh Mission figs. Photo: foodchronicles, Flickr ccl

Fig trees in themselves are beautiful. They would warrant being grown for their looks alone. The figs are an amazing bonus. If you’ve never eaten a fresh fig you should buy one the next time you see it. Fresh figs can be a bit pricey but the taste? Indescribable.

Most of us are only familiar with dried figs. Oddly, I've read that the iron content is higher in dried figs than fresh. Both fresh and dried are also very high in dietary fibre.

Figs (ficus) are distantly related to mulberries, breadfruit and jackfruit. They appear to have originated in western Asia and made their way to the Mediterranean region quite early. Evidence of figs have been found in digs going back to 5,000 BCE.

Figs require sun all day to ripen fruit. They can be severely damaged at temperatures of just below freezing if they are in active growth. In colder climates, if forced to go dormant, they can possibly last to15°F. 

This is just the vodka, orange and figs.

I have heard if you tip them over and bury them under dirt for the winter you have a better chance of success. That might work for a small tree. I would suggest we who are not lucky enough to have the climate to grow figs make do with dried…

There is a fig tree growing at a garden centre in Dartmouth that has been indoors for at least 15 years. Of course they have the facility to deal with it. This past season I saw fig trees (very small) for sale at Crosby’s Garden Centre in Queens County. Or at least I think I did…

This liqueur uses dried Mission figs. They are the black variety. The most common fig in the grocery stores is Calimyrna from California which are brown and a little larger. Missions have a very good taste and certainly add a deep, dark colour to this liqueur. They are also a little cheaper.

I opted to add a little zing by infusing an orange with the figs. When choosing oranges for any liqueur pick them up and smell them. They need to be very fragrant. What you smell will be part of the finished liqueur, so make sure you get good strong ones.

Mission Fig and Orange Liqueur

Time: 2 weeks  | Yield: about 3.5 cups

300 g dried black mission figs

1 whole navel orange (very well scented - smell it before buying)

2 cups vodka

1-1/4 cup sugar

1-1/4 cup water

Squeeze the infused juice from the oranges, but NOT the figs.
They would break down and cloud the liqueur.

Cut the figs in half and place in a 1L Mason jar. Slice the orange, with the peel, into 8 equal pieces. Add them to the jar as well.

Pour the 2 cups of vodka over the fruit. The jar should be almost completely full. Cover tightly, shake well and let sit for 2 weeks. Agitate periodically during the 2 weeks infusing period.

After the two weeks strain the infused vodka through a sieve lind with fine cotton. Squeeze out as much liquid from the fruit as you can. Restrain at least one more time through clean cotton cloth. This will remove as much sediment as possible. 

Boil the sugar and water together for 5-7 minutes. Let cool slightly and stir into the fig infused vodka.

Decant the liqueur into bottles.

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Ingredient of the Day: Chipotle Pepper, and how to preserve in Adobo

I'm trying to lead a good Christian life, so there ain't too much spicy to tell about me. – Loretta Lynn 

Chipotles are dried, smoked jalapeno peppers. Photo: Lori_NY, Flickr ccl

Chipotle is really common nowadays. It has found its way into many different foods besides the expected Mexican or Tex-Mex. I’ve even used it in a boring old corn chowder. It gives a really wonderful smokey kick. Boring no more!

Photo: GaryRHess, Flickr ccl

Here’s some info about them, and a recipe on how to make your own in adobo sauce. I find when I purchase a can of chipotles I always have WAY more than I need What you do with it after that is entirely up to you… but I do have a storage idea… Keep reading.

The word chipotle comes from the central Mexican word chilpoktli which means "smoked chili pepper." The word is perfectly descriptive because they are nothing more than a smoked and dried jalapeno. Chipotles are used primarily in Mexican and Mexican-inspired cuisines, such as Mexican-American and Tex-Mex but recently have been included in many "fusion" recipes where their distinctive flavour would be appreciated.

Jalapeno varieties vary in size and heat. You can even have hotter and milder jalapenos within one variety as well. I have been told that the pointier the bottom the hotter the chili. I’m not sure if that’s an old wive’s tale or not. I have’t experimented to see if it holds up under examination.

As the interest in Mexican and “Tex-Mex” food expanded in the latter part of the last century so did the production of chipotle peppers. Besides being grown in Mexico, they currently are also grown in large areas of the United States and even in China.

Photo: mikeczyzewski, Flickr ccl

Chipotle peppers have heat. Lots of it. Make no mistake in that. Because of the drying method they also have a great deal of smokey flavour. You can purchase chipotles dried, ground (as in chipotle pepper powder) and canned in Adobo Sauce. 

Adobo sauce is a sort of a stock that partially reconstitutes the peppers and preserves them. Various spices are used in the sauce that complement the fiery taste of the chipotle. Most people’s experience with chipotles is purchasing them in Adobo in a 7 oz.can from the Herdez company (Grupo Herdez) from Mexico. Once opened you have to deal with them all.

So how do you do that? There’s a LOT of chilies in a 7 oz. can… Recipes usually use only one or two at the most. I have to admit purchasing a can is by far the cheapest route, but where’s the fun in that? On another note, many of the pre-made chipotles in adobo contain gluten. There is no gluten in homemade chipotles in adobo sauce.

Ground chipotle pepper is more readily available locally
now as well (Bulk Food Store believe it or not...)
Photo: onenjen, Flickr ccl

One thing about chipotle peppers is that you almost NEVER use them whole. At least I’ve only seen a recipe or two where they’re used that way. They’re just too hot to use whole.

The other thing about chipotle peppers is that they only last about 1 month (safely) once the can is opened and stored in the refrigerator. I do have a solution. Since recipes call for it to be diced (or finer) why not let your chipotles start off life that way?

Once puréed you can sacrifice an ice cube tray (it will never be good for anything else after doing this) and freeze tablespoonfuls. You can get trays at the Dollar Store for about $1. Go figure.

If you would like to make your own chipotles in adobo, here’s a recipe to try. Dried chipotles can be found in Halifax at Pete’s Frootique and probably at a couple of the “ethnic” groceries in the area. You can also purchase online fairly easily.

Another spot you may want to look is down at the "old" Brewery Market in Halifax. Costas Halavrezos (retired from CBC Information Morning) runs a spice business in a booth down there. Even if you're not looking for chipotles it would be pretty cool. It sounds like he's got some amazing stuff. It's called the "Spice Merchant."

Chipotles in Adobo

Makes in excess of 1 cup

Combine and set to sommer for 1 to 1-1/2 hours.
Photo: Food Stories, Flickr ccl

1 oz dried chipotles (somewhere between 8-12)*

3 cups boiling water

4 tbsp tomato paste

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 onion, finely diced

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ground oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup cider vinegar

Soak the chipotles in enough boiling water to cover for 30 minutes to 1 hour. This will reconstitute them somewhat. Reserve the soaking liquid. Then combine all the ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and allow to cook until the adobo sauce becomes very thick. This can take between 1 to 1-1/2 hours.

The end result will be in excess of 1 cup of chipotles in adobo sauce. Place in small canning jars (250 ml or smaller) and process for 10 minutes under boiling water, or divide and freeze into manageable quantities.

If you’re gifting, keep the peppers whole, if you’re freezing, dice the whole affair up and divide into 1-2 tbsp portions in ice cube trays. Once frozen, remove and place in a freezer bag.

* If you’re a bit of a chicken cut the chipotles in two and remove the seeds. The seeds and white internal membrane contain a lot of the heat in hot peppers, smoked or fresh. Removing reduces the overall fire considerably. I would suggest you don’t. Chipotle is supposed to be fiery.

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Recipe: Vanilla Bean Syrup

I'm such a girl, I'm such a girly girl. I'm sippin’ on my milkshake with this swirly swirl. – Nicki Minaj 

Vanilla beans. Do not be afraid of them. Photo: kendiala, Flickr ccl

Sometimes I get a craving for certain foods. Nothing too weird, but a strong craving none the less. One quite frequent craving I have is for a vanilla milkshake. A REAL vanilla milkshake – not what passes for a shake at any of the fast food joints we all frequent. They're highly unsatisfying. They make my craving worse, if that’s possible.

Mmmmmm. Photo: roboppy, Flickr ccl

Vanilla flavored "milk shakes" from the grocery store are even worse. Why can't anyone do it right? I suppose it's because their price point would be too high, or any of the other thousand reasons companies have for selling us watered down crap. 

Milkshake ingredients are simple enough: milk, vanilla ice cream and vanilla syrup – then “shake” it. I should know. When I was in my teens I spent two summers working in our local Fire Department canteen. We did a bustling business of french fries, burgers, fish and chips and milkshakes from May through to September. I know how to make a shake.

There are still places that make excellent shakes – usually smaller eateries that still have the old "all metal" milkshake machines from the 60s or 70s. I've recently been to a place where they fill your shake glass and sit the remainder on your table still in the metal cup. (Look for places that have swivel stools lined up at a counter…)

Ahhh, luxury…

The Hamilton Beach® Drinkmaster® was what we had in the old canteen. We actually had three of them lined up. HB still makes milkshake machines for the home, but they’re mostly plastic and just aren’t the same.

The Drinkmaster®. Photo: postbear, Flickr ccl

Burger establishments that take care in what they put on your plate are harder to find these days, being forced out of business by the fast food big players. Kids nowadays don't know what they're missing.

So you decide to make a shake at home. Have you ever tried to find milkshake syrup? Impossible to find in a grocery store – at least the real stuff. Don't be fooled into thinking that chocolate sauce and strawberry (or caramel) ice cream topping are syrups for milkshakes. They are not.

The sad thing is they don't even make a topping variation for vanilla. I guess you're supposed to sprinkle artificial vanilla on your ice cream. Well no longer.

This recipe is the real deal. Flavourful vanilla syrup that can be used for making REAL milk shakes or in a myriad of other ways. Sweeten your coffee, stir into plain yogurt or drizzle as a glaze on fresh baked goods. Substitute this syrup for your regular pancake syrup for a real morning treat! The possibilities are only limited by your imagination.

I’ve already posted a recipe for a very fiery mexican chocolate syrup here. Other syrup recipes will surely follow. Not sure when, but they will. How else will you make all your milkshakes?

Vanilla Bean Syrup

Makes 2 jars of about 1-1/4 cups syrup
2 cups white sugar
1 cup water
1 vanilla bean

Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan. Slice open a vanilla bean lengthwise and drop it into the saucepan with the sugar and water. Bring to a simmer, stirring to ensure all the sugar crystals have dissolved.

Once it has come to a simmer, let it cook for 5 minutes. After the 5 minutes, remove the syrup from the heat. 

Take the bean out of the syrup and cut it in two equal pieces. Place each half in a jar. Top with the hot syrup and seal. 

For 6 week life: Cool completely, then store in the refrigerator to use as needed. The syrup will keep for at least 6 weeks in the refrigerator. I used decorative bottles for gift giving so I couldn't do this next step.

For longer storage: To make the syrup shelf stable, use small mason jars and  hot water process for 10 minutes. This will let you store your syrup outside of the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.

After opening, refrigerate and the same 6 week rule applies.

The syrup will darken slightly over time. If you're looking for brown colouring you're
out of luck. That's artificial.

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