Saturday, September 1, 2012

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




16 comments:

  1. Andrea, One of my husbands favorite cookies are stroopwaffles! These are the closest thing I have seen to duplicate that wonderful flavor! Thanks so much for the detailed recipe…with substitutions! I can’t wait to give these a try!! Have a wonderful weekend!
    Looking forward to you cake series…I’m sure it will be full of deliciousness!
    Great photos…the one that captures the drip of syrup is outstanding!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just wanted you to know that I left a comment on your French Friday post. As I tried to publish the comment…the whole post disappeared! I swear I just hit the publish button…LOL!

      Delete
  2. these cookies very much remind me of Alfajores a Latin American cookie filled with dulce de leche, one of my favorite cookies! I'm looking forward to seeing what you cook up this week. we too are enjoying a good late summer season in Colorado and eating well!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Marilyn, "Alfajores" are a bit different though from the "Stroopkoeken" but also very good, I agree. This will be one sweet week!

      Delete
  3. I just bought some Italian plums, so I cannot wait to see what you are baking for tomorrow. Have a nice weekend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Marlise, Italian plums are so wonderful in baking and together with some cinnamon, they are hard to beat!

      Delete
  4. Oh, boy, you got to me with those photos of dripping caramel. IRRESISTIBLE!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you very much, Liz - dripping caramel is indeed hard to beat and it was fun capturing it for this picture.

      Delete
  5. This was almost too much to absorb in one Post, Andrea, but the last photo absolutely captured me. It was fun to read Kathy and Marilyn's comments. I've dropped the ball on my pre-Christmas cookie tryouts and still have Clara's and my two attempts on the back burner. I will get to them eventually. Life is a little complicated right now as I try to put my life and our affairs in order. As a lawyer, I am sure you understand what I mean. Looking forward to your Posts this week.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mary, life always ssems to get in the way of so many things...but, yes, this was a bit of a job for me translating Dutch text and all..

      Delete
  6. Whoa, these look amazing. I'll have to substitute American ingredients, but caramel sandwiched between cookies sounds like quite a treat.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Betsy, these cookies are a treat and it takes a bit of an extra effort to bake them but they are worth it.

      Delete
  7. You take the most mouthwatering pictures! I adore caramel, so this treat is right up my alley.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kristin, I loved these cookies and had been wanting to bake them ever since I came acroos them in the Netherlands - love those sweet Dutch cookies.

      Delete
  8. The filling sounds wonderful! I just posted alfajores, which are cornstarch sandwich cookies, very similar to these. Love your dripping pics!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Paula, although these cookies are similar, they are still different and I believe that the South American "Dulce de Leche" has a different taste and consitency from the Dutch "Keukenstroop". Two different and wonderful varieties of butter cookies with filling.

      Delete