You Will Just Love Your Welsh Cookies

By Eugenia Dickerson


Welsh cookies are quite popular lately, thanks to presidential candidate Romney. This traditional Welsh recipe can be found in numerous variations, but the one thing it is so special about it is the fact it is baked on the pan, not in the oven. It really looks as a combination of a small pancake and a regular cookie. Taste great for breakfast, hot or cold.

The one thing it would be great having for making these desserts is a temperature controlled griddle. If you don't have it, you can use your frying pan instead, or a nonstick skillet. They should be baked on hundred and sixty degrees, until golden brown.

Traditional recipe contains flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, nutmeg, eggs, butter, lard and currants. Some recipes contain raisins and cinnamon, some don't, but it really depends only on your personal taste. In some regions people use more baking powder, and their cookies are more fluffy and bigger.

Traditionally, Welsh cookies have round shape. Of course, your children might prefer different shapes, and it's all up to you. The general principle is to roll out the dough one half to one inch thick, and to bake it on both sides until golden brown. Original cakes are round and five to six centimeters wide.

Some recipes contain all kinds of berries, or even grated apples. Fresh fruits add moist, and your cakes will last longer and be tastier this way. Dried fruits can also be added, for example apricots. You should chop them to small pieces and add them in your mixture, together with your favorite spices.

One traditional recipe contains four hundred grams of flour, appropriate amount of baking powder and a little bit of baking soda, one hundred grams of currants, one egg, a pinch of salt, one hundred and fifty grams of sugar, some nutmeg and a little bit of milk. Original recipe contains one hundred and twenty grams of lard and the same amount of butter, but you can use only butter instead.

You should prepare your dough just like you would prepare a pie crust, but a little bit moister. It means you should mix dry ingredients with the fat ones, until you get crumbs, and add egg and currants with as much milk as you need. You don't have to keep the dough in the freezer, but you can save it there for a day or two.

Frozen dough can be used just as it is fresh, once it gets near room temperature. You just have to roll it down to one inch or thinner, and cut it into rounds, or some other shapes. It is easiest to bake them on a temperature controlled griddle, but your pancake pan will be good enough. It is better to use thicker pan for this purpose, or a nonstick skillet.

These lovely Welsh cookies are widely popular thanks to their great taste. Try the original recipe, and then you can add your favorite spices to it, according to your own taste. It is not advisable to put chocolate in the mixture, but chocolate cream will taste great with both hot and cold desserts.




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