Viennese Chocolate Sables

I never knew these "Viennese" cookies existed until I found the recipe for them on the Internet. I thought I give it a try but the result was rather disappointing. First, I am not good a piping and this was actually the first piped cookie for me. The real problem is not how they look but rather how flat they were when they came out of the oven, and crumbly when handled. They literally fell apart when I picked them up even after they had thoroughly cooled. This cookie is a good example to demonstrate the challenges of whole grain baking using recipes that call for white flour. I prefer recipes that list the ingredients by weight and not by cups. Generally Austrian recipes only list the ingredients by weight, in grams to be exact, except for teaspoons and tablespoons of ingredients. This makes it a lot easier for me, as I just replace the white flour with an equal amount of whole wheat flour. It usually works very well. I do have a problem with American measurements, not the ones in pounds and ounces, of course, but when a recipe calls for 1 3/4 cups of flour, for example. I guess when using white flour it probably is not an issue, but I grind my whole wheat flour fresh, which means it has not "settled" and compacted yet. Sometimes I end up using double the amount of freshly ground flour. I am mostly guessing what I think should be the right amount. Often I get clues from the recipe. If it says that the batter should be POURED into the cake pan I know that the batter has to be pouring consistency. Still kind of ambiguous though. Pouring consistency could mean very thin batter or rather thick, but still pouring consistency.

I like baking books written by professional bakers as they often give the weight of ingredients as well. I am told that this is how they do it - by weight - and I totally understand why.

Now I thought the smart thing to do is to figure out how much weight is listed under one cup of flour in those professional baking books. Well, turns out that those professional bakers do not seem to agree on a specific number. Some say it is 125 grams, others it is 135 grams and I even saw 150 grams for one cup of flour, usually all-purpose. It did help somewhat but I still have to guess ... somewhat...

Now back to the Viennese Chocolate Sables. I obviously did not use enough flour for these. And who knows what else I did wrong...

I do not think that I will make them again. I did not really like how they tasted. Instead I will get some ideas for my next Christmas baking from my sister in Austria who makes the most beautiful cookies I have been told. She uses white flour, food coloring, eggs and who knows what, of course, but at least her recipes will be in grams! Hallelujah!

Quarkstollenkonfekt (Quarkstollen Bites)

I made these today. They are similar to the Stollen Bites I made 2 weeks ago. The difference is the addition of quark, which is an Austrian fresh cheese similar to cottage cheese. Quark is hard to find here in the States. I make my own. Austrians like their quark. They use it a lot in baking and even make cheesecake out of it or quark strudel. The other difference between these quark stollen bites and the regular stollen bites is that these are risen with baking powder whereas the other ones have yeast in them. I used to make a big stollen every year, the size of a regular loaf of bread. It always turned out to be too crumbly. I was delighted when I found the recipe for these on the internet because they taste better. Each of the bites is rolled in butter or ghee and then covered with powdered sugar. Every bite is loaded with raisins, chopped almonds and candied orange and lemon peel. For spice I used cinnamon. This is the kind of "cookie" that tastes better with age, like the other cookie I baked today, Honeycake squares (Lebkuchen). I usually start my holiday baking them. Since I ran out of them and have some orders to fill I baked some more today.

My husband has the next 3 days off work and I will hand him the baby and bake as many cookies as I can till Sunday which is the last day I will be selling them at the temple. It will be your last chance to buy them. I won't bake them again until next Christmas. But maybe you do not mind waiting that long...

I guarentee you, they taste yummy!

Spitzbuben (Little Rascals)

I am still baking every day and hope someone will buy all the goodies. I made these yesterday. They have a funny name, don't they? I used a star cutter for variation. These sandwich cookies are filled with apricot or red currant jam. The dough is a rich cookie dough without nuts. Another cookie that is a labor of love. I do not mind it though. I could bake whole day and would never get tired of it...

Need a gift? Order a cookie tin filled with my cookies!

I will be selling my cookies in cookie tins and bags at the temple on Sundays till Christmas. These cookies make the perfect gift for your family, friends, co-workers, even your boss! I only bake these cookies at Christmas time and if you just want to try some, I will have them also available in smaller bags. I prefer to put them in cookie tins though, not because I make more money that way (which, by the way, is not at all the case), just because these cookies are so rich and delicate, they usually do not hold up well in a bag. If you do not handle your bag of cookies with care you might end up with cookie crumbs. Then you'll have to eat them yourself instead of giving them as a gift. Or maybe you will want to buy them in a bag so that you have an excuse for having to eat cookies even though you are on a diet. But who is on a diet at Christmas time anyways....

Actually, bags are okay if you are buying them for yourself or just want to see how they taste before you buy a whole tin. Just be sure to handle your bag of cookies with care...

Here is a list of ingredients for my cookies:

Varacita's Cookie Assortment

Ingredients: freshly ground organic whole wheat pastry flour or spelt flour, organic evaporated cane juice, butter, freshly ground or chopped almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts, dried fruits, pure extracts, spices, powdered sugar, dark and semi-sweet chocolate, candied unsulphured orange and lemon peel, apricot, strawberry and raspberry jam, whey protein powder, organic milk, cream cheese, pistachio nuts, cornstarch, baking powder, sea salt

Linzer Kekse (Linzer Cookies)

These cookies are one of my favorite. I made them with almonds but hazelnuts could also be used. It is a delicate cookie. I usually use either strawberry or apricot jam to sandwich them. Pictured are candy cane cut-outs and strawberry jam filling. These are really a labor of love because it is quite time consuming to make them. The dough is so buttery and sticky, it needs to be refrigerated for several hours in order to be able to roll it out and then one has to refrigerate the scraps again. Not to speak of rolling the dough out and making the cut-outs. But they sure look pretty and taste good too!

Christmas star cut-out and apricot jam filling.

It is hard to tell what this cut-out is supposed to be. Well, most of them are up side down. Can you guess?

A bell.

Kardamon Spritz Kekse (Cardamon Spritz Cookies)

This cookies are made using a cookie press. These one do not have any cream cheese in them. I did add some cardamon though. I like them plain and I think I will make a batch of plain ones. These are sandwiched with strawberry jam and glazed with chocolate.

Pfeffernuesse (Peppernuts)

Yes, these do have pepper in it! The first batch I made came out on the mild side. My husband challenged me to make them taste "spicier". So I quadrupled the amount of spices (ground ginger, cardamon, cloves and pepper). He liked the new version and maybe you will too. They also have cinnamon, ground almonds and candied lemon peel in them. No butter at all. This is a traditional Austrian Christmas cookie. They are usually on the hard side but I made the dough extra soft and they are not hard at all.

Nussecken (Nut Triangles)

Another cookie for hazelnut lovers! This triangles are made with a layer of tart dough which is brushed with apricot jam and topped with a filling of chopped and ground hazelnuts which were "cooked" in butter and sugar. Traditionally only the corners are glazed with chocolate. I find that this is unpractical because being a delicate cookie the corners always break off when I dip them in the chocolate. The chocolate glaze turned out to be a bit messy. If I had more time I'd make them look prettier. Maybe next year....

Hasselnusstaler (Hazelnut Cookie)

This is a cookie for hazelnut lovers! It is loaded with hazelnuts and has a whole hazelnut in the middle. Hazelnuts are very expensive. $10 a pound at Ward's, which makes this cookie an expensive one. I happen to like hazelnuts. They used to grow wild in the fields near the village I was growing up. As kids my friends and I liked to pick the hazelnuts but I do not remember eating the ones we picked. I guess we just played with them. My mom always got them at the store and they are expensive even in Austria.

Eisenbahnschienen (Railroad Tracks)

I used mixed berry jam for these. They do not have nuts in it but still taste good according to my kids.

Husarenkrapfen (Hussars)

I have no idea why these cookies have a military name but they sure taste good. Another cookie with nuts in it, this time it is walnuts. I think it is very similar to the American Thumbprint cookie.

Ischler Toertchen (Ischler Tartlets)

This is a very delicate cookie, rich with butter and ground almonds, and sandwiched with raspberry jam and topped with a chocolate glaze and chopped pistachio nuts. Needless to say that they are a lot of work...

Don't they look yummy?

Schokoladen-Orangen-Kipferl (Chocolate-Orange-Crescents)

These crescents also have some chocolate and orange oil added and have a chocolate glaze.

Vanillekipfer mit Schokolade (Vanilla Crescents with Chocolate)

Another crescent, similar to vanilla crescents, just has some chocolate added and is less buttery.

Vanillekipferl (Vanilla Crescents)

These rich crescents are made with ground almonds and lots of butter and dusted with powdered sugar. They are very delicate and easily break apart. Probably every baker in Austria bakes these for Christmas.

Lebkuchen (Honey Cake Squares)

Another traditional Austrian Christmas "cookie". This is an unusual version of Lebkuchen: An iced sheet cake cut into bite-sized squares made with two layers of Lebkuchen sandwiched with a fruity apricot/raisin/almond filling which keeps it moist. It keeps for months if stored cool. This is my husband's favorite.

Heavenly Stollen Bites

Stollen is a traditional sweet Christmas bread in Germany and Austria. These "Mini-Stollen" are even better than the big bread. These bite size pieces are loaded with raisins, candied orange and lemon peel, and almonds. The yeast dough does not rise very much because it is so heavy. All my taste testers, which are usually family members, liked them. It is probably my favorite.

Hausfreunde (Friends of the Family)

These cookies have a funny name but taste really good. They are loaded with raisins, hazelnuts, and dark chocolate. Yum, yum.

Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies

These cookies are made using a cookie press. The dough has cream cheese added to it and they are quite rich. It is actually two cookies sandwiched with jam (either strawberry or raspberry) and they have a chocolate glaze. Janardan loves these! Well, anything with chocolate will do for him.