This is my contribution to the big cookie swap, at the same time both IMBB and SHF - translation of these mysterious combinations of letters here. I am posting this a little early, depending on that I am leaving for Brussels tomorroow, for a short holiday.
Anyway, these fine cookies are called cousins and I got the recipe some years ago from a newspaper. They caught my eye because I like cousins and my father loves loves loves dried apricots and I take every opportunity to feed him with them. I have made these cookies twice, and they are great. The recipe is created by Anna Bergenström, one of Sweden´s most well-known gastronomic profiles who has written several great cookbooks and inspires me every day.
Cousins
(The dough needs to rest over night, like the rest of us)
15-20 dried apricots, use the most moist and tender you can find!
200 g butter, room temperature
1/2 cup or 1 dl almond, peeled or not
2/3 cup or 1.5 dl brown sugar
1 3/4 cup or 4.5 dl plain flour
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
- Chop the apricots or cut them with a pair of scissors into small pieces. Chop the almonds. Put aside.
- Stir the soft butter with the sugar and vanilla sugar until really soft and creamy texture. Stir in the apricots and almonds.
- Mix the flour carefully with the baking powder and stir in the butter mix. Knead together, to a firm dough, it is easiest to do it on a table...
- Divide the dough into two or three pieces and make thick rolls, then flatten them to square shape. Wrap them in waxed paper or plastic foil and put in the fridge over night.
- Use a very sharp knife and cut the rolls in thin slices, put on greased or paper-lined baking sheets and bake in the oven in 200 C/400 F for 10-12 minutes. Watch them very carefully, because the apricots burn really easy! I included one burned cookie in the picture, as a warning! Let them cool on the baking sheets and store in airtight containers. They keep well for several weeks in the fridge.
12 comments:
This is great, Clivia! Although I am not a baker, I just have to try these, don´t you think!?
Of course you have to. I cannot think of any more appropiate cookies for you!
I will make it a project. We men tend to do just that. A project takes some planning...
My report will be on your desk within 3 weeks.
Sound's great. I discovered your blogg first today Kristina !!! the receipes looks good. I might try something..... Way to gooo !
I have a whole bunch of apricot eaters around here that would just die for these cookies! great recipe, I can hardly wait to make it!
Looks very good! I would make it just for the odd name "cousins" :)
Hi Clivia--
I love anything with almonds!
thanks for all nice comments. I heartily recommend these cookies! They are so good because they are not too sweet, instead lots of taste from the apricots and also the almonds. And the name is great! (I wonder why tehy are called cousins, maybe I can get hold of the creator and ask...)Just remember to use the best apricots you can find! The first time I made them I used some which were rock hard. This time I used lovely organic apricots, soft and moist.
Okay Clivia, I made this dough Wednesday evening. I thought our 3 year (almost) old grandson could help me with the cookies the next morning, but it was too hard for him to cut the dough in thin slices. His mother found a solution. She rolled small balls for him and he flatened them with his hand. We got quite-all-right-cookies this way but... the kid did not like them. He did not say so, but when I gave him a cookie, he only ate half of it.
When I came home from work on Friday, I had to ask: "Nowbody liked my cookies, so how come the jar is almost empty!?"
Clivia, you told me that they would stay well in the fridge for several weeks. They did not! They vanished...
Ooops, must be something wrong with your fridge, better wish for a new one from Santa. Or put a lock on it...
These are VERY good, the apricot is delicate but you can really taste it. This is a complete keeper -- thanks so much for sharing them! (BTW I didn't chill the dough, just rolled and slightly flattened the balls. They baked just fine.)
Made these for my 2006 cookie trays. They were excellent, and have stayed fresh for 2 weeks now (I made a quadruple batch, so I had lots, but sadly there are only two lonely cookies left).
As Kristina says, the apricot burns easily, so the cookies must be removed from the oven just when they start to turn color, but still look softish (the cookies harden up as they cool).
For American cooks, I used 2 sticks of butter (1 cup), and this was a perfect amount. I used slightly more apricots and almonds than called for in the recipe, but that's only because I didn't want leftover apricots, and then I added more almonds so the amounts of apricots and almonds were balanced. There weren't too many of either, so if you want to add more, it's not a problem.
My only complaint about the cookies has to do with the nature of refrigerator cookies in general. I've never been able to make them in uniform shapes, no matter the recipe. If you make them round, they inevitably flatten on one side as they chill in the refrigerator, and if you make them squarish, it's impossible to make the sides equal. But they taste great which is the most important thing.
I'm guessing the name "cousins" comes from the familial relationship between apricots and almonds. Whatever the source of the name, these are excellent, and well worth making.
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