Dutch Comfort Cookies – (Gevulde Koeken)
Some recipes don’t need a grand occasion. They just need a rainy afternoon, a warm oven, and someone who deserves a little looking after.
These are what my lovely neighbour calls Dutch Comfort Cookies — and honestly, she named them better than I ever could have. In the Netherlands you can buy them everywhere, but nothing, and I mean nothing, compares to pulling them fresh from your own oven, that buttery pastry, that sweet almond filling.
My only small secret is a mixture of plain and 00 flour in the pastry. It makes them just a little crisper, a little more delicate — and just different enough from the ones you buy to make you feel rather pleased with yourself.
I always bake a few and freeze the rest unbaked, ready for the next craving.
10
servings45
minutes12
minutes57
minutesIngredients
165 gram unsalted butter, room temperature
150 gram 00 flour
150 gram all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
lemon zest of 1/2 a lemon
150 gram caster sugar
1/2 an egg (use other half for glazing)
1 Tbsp water
- Almond paste
175 gram ground almonds
175 gram granulated sugar
1 egg
lemon juice of 1/2 a lemon
lemon zest of 1/2 a lemon
- Decorations
blanched almonds
Directions
- Preheat the oven 215 degrees.
Make the almond paste preferably a day in advance. Mix all ingredients together till it becomes a consistency. You might need to add a bit more juice but don’t make it wet. Wrap in clingfilm overnight. - Place all the ingredients — butter, flour, baking powder, salt, zest, water, half an egg and sugar — in a food processor and pulse until the dough just comes together. Divide into two pieces of approximately 330g each and refrigerate one piece while you work with the other.
- Roll out the dough to 0.5cm thickness and cut out circles. Gather the offcuts, re-roll and cut until you have 10-12 circles. Remove the almond paste from the fridge, weigh it and divide equally between the circles, spreading it over each one and leaving a 1cm border around the edge. Remove the remaining dough from the fridge, roll out and cut 10-12 circles for the tops.
- With wet fingers seal the edges of each cookie and press decorative indents all around the border with a small fork. Place a blanched almond in the centre of each one.
- Egg wash the cookies and bake in preheated oven 12 – 15 minutes. They should turn golden brown.
Notes
- Bake a few straight away and freeze the rest. To freeze, place the unbaked cookies on a chopping board lined with baking paper and put in the freezer for a couple of hours, then transfer to a freezer bag. When ready to bake, egg wash the cookies and bake straight from frozen in a preheated oven for 15 minutes.
