Hungarian Shortbread: Tuesdays with Dorie

TWD Hungarian Shortbread - ButterYum

Today I'm thrilled to be joining the Tuesdays with Dorie baking group for the first time.  This group is baking their way through the book Baking with Julia and today's featured recipe is Gale Gand's Hungarian Shortbread (page 327, Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan).

This shortbread is delicious, but it's very rich and very sweet.  It's different than other shortbread recipes I've tried - the dough contains egg yolks, it's chilled and grated before being pressed lightly into the baking pan, there's a ribbon of jam baked in the middle, and the shortbread is liberally sprinkled with powdered sugar when it's piping hot out of the oven.  Dorie fills her shortbread with homemade strawberry-rhubarb jam, but I had a jar of sugar-free raspberry preserves to use up.  Glad I chose sugar-free because the shortbread is very sweet.  

I reduced the recipe by half and baked it in an 8-inch square pan.  I should also mention that I goofed and set my oven temp 25F higher than I should have - despite my error, the shortbread tasted wonderful although I'm sure it's a bit darker in color than it should have been (easily camouflaged with a sprinkling of powdered sugar).   

The recipe can be found at the following host blogs: 1 Small Kitchen and The Not So Exciting Adventures of a Dabbler.  If you're interested in joining this baking group and/or would like to visit other blogs who baked along, visit Tuesdays with Dorie.

(affiliate links)

Pains D'Amande - Very Thin French Almond Cookies

When I read about these cookies on David Lebovitz's blog, they were described as "the best tea cookies in the world" and I knew I had to try them.  Let me tell you, they do not disappoint!  They're extremely thin, extremely crisp, and extremely addictive!  I have a standing order from 2 sisters, a brother, and my mother for more, more, more!!

The cookie dough is a cinch to make, but it has to chill in the fridge for 4-6 hours to firm up enough to slice into papery thin planks.  As skilled as I am with a sharp knife, I couldn't cut the dough as thin as I wanted, but a mandoline made pretty easy work of it.  If you're lucky enough to own an electric meat slicer, all the better. 

Gather all the ingredients and equipment.

Cook the sugar syrup.

Stir in almonds.

Add flour mixture.

Stir, stir, stir.

Press into loaf pan.

Cover with plastic wrap and chill.

Unmold and slice very, very thin.

Bake.

Enjoy!

Items used to make this recipe:

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• silicone loaf pan https://amzn.to/3T3EdGd

• sliced almonds https://amzn.to/3Ukv2lH

• turbinado sugar https://amzn.to/3NzmFkk

• serrated knife https://amzn.to/3SXxYnf

• mondoline slicer https://amzn.to/3DxVnpF

• electric slicer https://amzn.to/3zEJNrC

• half sheet pan https://amzn.to/3gWNDpy

• flat parchment sheets https://amzn.to/3UiH0MI

• silicone pan liner https://amzn.to/3SZP7gg

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Pains D'Amande (thin, French almond cookies)

Printable Recipe

makes 100-120 paper thin cookies 

Ingredients

• 113g unsalted butter (4 ounces)

• 75g water (1/3 cup)

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• a pinch or two of salt

• 280g turbinado sugar

• (1 1/3 cups) 85g sliced almonds, not slivered (1 cup or 3 ounces)

• 325g all-purpose flour

• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside.

2. In a medium heavy bottomed, preferably non-stick, saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, water, cinnamon, and salt until butter is completely melted without allowing the mixture to boil.

3. Add the sugar and stir until the sugar is not quite completely dissolved (not letting the sugar melt completely adds wonderful texture); again, don't let the mixture boil.

4. Using a silicone spatula, stir in the sliced almonds and remove from the heat.

5. Stir in flour/baking soda mixture and stir until combined.

6. Pack dough into a lightly greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch silicone loaf pan (or a glass or metal cake pan lined with plastic wrap).

7. Chill for at least 4-6 hours until very firm.

8. Place oven rack in lower third and preheat oven to 325F.

9. Prepare at least 2 half sheet pans with parchment paper or silpat liners.

10. Remove brick of cookie dough from loaf pan and slice cookies as thin as you can get them using a serrated knife, mandoline, or electric meat slicer (1/16-inch thick).

11. Place cookies on cookie sheet pan leaving about 1/4-inch between each cookie.

12. Bake, one sheet at a time, for 8 minutes, remove from oven and carefully turn cookies over, return to the oven and bake for another 4 minutes until they're crisp and honey colored.

13. Remove sheet pan from oven and immediately transfer cookies to a rack to cool completely.

14. Store cookies in an airtight container and store at room temperature for up to 10 days.

Notes

• I've made these cookies quite a few times now.  Here are some helpful suggestions I've learned along the way.

• These cookies puff a bit when baked.  If you’re not able to slice the dough paper thin, don’t allow the cookie to bake as long as the recipe states so they stay a little chewy rather than getting too crisp (thick, crisp planks are difficult to eat and can injure the roof of your mouth - trust me, I know!).

• The dough can be made in advance, wrapped well in several layers of plastic wrap, and stored in the freezer for later use.  Cookies can be sliced and baked directly out of the freezer.

• Don't throw away the crumbled bits of dough that accumulate as you slice the cookies - just bake them off and enjoy as a tasty nibble, or toss them with a few mini chocolate chips and sprinkle over ice cream (really, really, really good).

• When unmolding the dough, I find a flexible silicone loaf pan is very easy to peel away from the hard brick of chilled dough. If you only have a metal loaf pan, be sure to line it with plastic wrap before pressing the cookie dough into it.  And if you have trouble coaxing the chilled dough out of the metal pan, wrap a warm towel around the base for a few minutes. 

• This recipe is available on several sites with differing sugar amounts listed - some say 280g of sugar, some say 300g.  I made made both and couldn't tell a difference so I save a few calories by going with 280g.

• Turbinado Sugar (aka Sugar in the Raw) is sold in 2-pound bags at most grocery stores.   Turbinado can be substituted with Demerara sugar.  David prefers to bake these cookies on pre-cut flat sheets of parchment paper, but I got great results using a Silpat liner.  I baked batches on both surfaces and couldn't tell a difference between the two.

• Flo Braker's original recipe doesn't call for salt, but I always add a pinch to sweet things.  Also, I made a batch with 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract which was an excellent addition.

adapted from Flo Braker, via David Lebovitz