Butter Cookies with Caramel Filling - "Stroopkoeken"

Stroopkoeken have the same delicious gooey caramel-cinnamon filling as the well-known Stroopwafel. The Stroopwafel have a thin, chewy wafer exterior, for which you will need a special waffle iron. Stroopkoeken, on the other hand, can be baked in your oven, other than a cookies cutter (or a glass) there is no special equipment required to bake these.

The Stroopkoeken as well as the Stroopwafels are said to have originated in the late 18th century or early 19th century.

This recipe has been translated from an original Dutch recipe. Although I have converted the recipe to US measurements, you will probably get the best results using a kitchen scale and the metric measurements.


Recipe for Stroopkoeken

Ingredients for the Cookies:

240 grams (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
240 grams (1¼ cup) “witte basterdsuiker” (you can substitute super fine white sugar)
1 egg (L), beaten
450 grams (5 cups) “zeeuwse bloem” (you can substitute cake flour) sifted, and a little extra flour for the work surface
10 grams (2 ⅔ tsp) baking powder
one pinch of fine sea salt


Ingredients for the Caramel Filling:

200 grams (½ cup) “keukenstroop” (you can substitute treacle, golden syrup, maple syrup, light molasses or even honey)
125 grams (about ⅔ cup) “bruine basterdsuiker” (you can substitute light brown sugar)
100 grams (about 7 tbsp) unsalted butter
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Equipment needed

one 8 cm (3-inch) round cookie cutter or a glass

Preparation

1. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream the butter with the sugar until pale and fluffy.
2. Add egg and beat well.
3. In a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
4. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture, beating just until incorporated.
5. Shape the dough into two disks and wrap each in plastic wrap. Chill until firm, at least 1 hour.
6. Preheat your oven to 170 degrees Celsius (340 degrees Fahrenheit).
7. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat mats.
8. In a small saucepan, heat the syrup, butter and sugar and stir in the cinnamon. Cook on medium heat and stir occasionally until the syrup thickens. This will take about five minutes. Set aside and allow to cool to lukewarm, the syrup has to have a warm, spreadable consistency.
9. Roll out one dough disk on a lightly floured piece of parchment paper.
10. Using the cookie cutter or glass, cut cookie rounds from the dough and carefully place on the baking sheets. If the dough gets too soft, re-chill it. Repeat with the remaining disk.
11. Bake for about twelve minutes or until just golden.
12. Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks to cool for a few minutes. Then transfer the cookies to the racks to cool completely.
13. Spread a layer of syrup on the flat side of one cookie and sandwich together with a second cookie. Continue until you have used up all the cookies. If the caramel gets too sticky, just reheat it for a bit.


Serve the Stroopkoeken warm with coffee or tea and why not follow the absolutely wonderful Dutch tradition and place one cookie over your cup of coffee or tea for a minute or two so that the stroopkoek warms slightly and the caramel filling begins to soften.

NOTES:

“Basterdsuiker”:  a typical Dutch product, it is manufactured by adding invert sugar and other ingredients to fine white refined sugar, helping to keep your baked goods moist. It is available in three varieties, white, brown and dark brown.

“Zeeuwse bloem”:  a finely milled white Dutch cake flour, made from soft wheat, it is a flour rich in enzymes and low in gluten. What makes this flour different from regular cake flour, is the fact that it comes from an area with a sea climate, contains less starch, is more moist and has less thickening power.

“Keukenstroop”:  a molasses-colored syrup made from sugar syrup and glucose syrup. This syrup is often enjoyed with pancakes in the Netherlands instead of maple syrup.

Stroopkoeken can also be kept  in a cookie tin for a few days. If you plan on storing your cookies, do so in a cool place and between layers of parchment paper, so that they will not stick to each other.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A NOTE TO MY BLOG READERS: inspired by all the wonderful produce I bought at a country fair we visited a few days ago, starting tomorrow, Sunday, September 2, 2012, I will be posting one late summer/early fall cake/dessert recipe every day, for one week, some old-fashioned, some more modern, most of them with a European twist - I sincerely  hope that you will enjoy my week-long series. I would like to hear from you what your favorite seasonal baked goods are...

PART I  on Sunday will be Sweet Dough Leaves with  Plums & Plum Torte