Lime-vanilla sugar cookies

The basic sugar cookie recipe was from a colleague who made hers first from a recipe on the back of some cookie mix or other. She brought some leftover cookies to work just before Christmas break last year, and they were SO delicious that I asked her for the recipe. I'm not really a cookie person - either eating or making - but her cookies really were incredibly moreish. 

The first time I made the plain sugar cookies was last Saturday - they turned out really well, and Pete loved them. He insisted that we should take some to a friend's barbeque party. She had two types of desserts for the guests but her daughter decided that she was going to make herself a dessert with my cookies, layering them with strawberries that been macerated with sugar, and clotted cream (like an ersatz strawberry shortcake) and declared it a superhit. 

In the meantime, my friend's husband was quietly putting away cookie after cookie, looking sheepish when he was rumbled, but not letting it stop him from taking a couple more. There must have been at least 40 cookies in the container, but by the end of the party they were all gone to the last crumb. That was definitely a pleasing result in my eyes, both because the cookies came out so well and because everyone liked them, from the 7-year-old granddaughter to the 70-year old neighbour!

All week since, Pete had been begging me to make some more. Yesterday I chose to make them but give it a citrusy twist, because I love citrus-flavoured things. Lime was my flavouring of choice. Again, the cookies turned out really well - which I guess convinced me that it wasn't a fluke the first time around (really, I'm not famous for baking cookies). 

I liked these lime-flavoured cookies quite a lot myself, and so did Pete. And so did Pete's son and his girlfriend who dropped by. Like me, Andy is not really a cookie person, but he said "these are the best cookies I've ever eaten" and went on to prove it by eating half a dozen in quick succession. As for his girlfriend, she scarfed down a few, and then took charge of the bag containing the 2-3 dozen that I packed for them to take away. I'm not sure Andy will be seeing very much of them, unless he is V E R Y nice to her... 

By the way, I got about 60 cookies from the amount of dough that this recipe makes - but mine were small, about the diameter of an Oreo. If you make bigger cookies, you will get fewer (yes, well, duh). I also toyed with the idea of icing them with a simple lemon icing (lemon juice + icing sugar mixed to a spreadable consistency) but laziness got the better of me. Besides, I didn't really think the icing was essential. 

One last tip - the dough is best worked with when chilled.  

Recipe for: Lime-vanilla sugar cookies

Ingredients:

150gm softened unsalted butter

150gm caster (superfine) sugar

300gm plain (AP) flour

1.5 tsp best-quality vanilla extract

1/2 tsp pure lime oil (optional)

Zest of one lime

1 medium egg, beaten

Method:

1. Cream butter and sugar using a wooden spoon in a large mixing until light and fluffy (I did this by hand, takes about 7-8 minutes).

2. Add the beaten egg, the lime zest, lime oil and vanilla extract and beat it in. 

3. Add the flour in 4-5 installments, mixing just until incorporated. When it comes together into a rough dough, dust your hands with some flour and form the dough into a ball. Place the ball on some clingfilm or a sheet of non-stick foil and flatten it evenly till about 1/2 inch thick. Cover completely and place in the refrigerator to chill for about an hour. 

4. Scatter some flour on your working space. Turn out the chilled dough onto the floured space and gently roll the dough out until it is evenly 3-4mm thick. You may need to dip the rolling pin into flour now and then to stop the dough sticking. You can divide the dough into two before rolling out, to make it easier. Keep the other half chilled in the meantime. 

5. Using a cookie cutter of choice, stamp out the cookies, dipping the cutter into flour each time. Re-roll the remaining dough and cut out until the dough is used up. 

6. Transfer the cookies onto a sheet lined with non-stick foil or baking paper, leaving about an inch in between them as they will spread a little. Place the cookie sheet in the fridge again to chill for 15 minutes. 

7. Preheat your oven to 180C/350F (mine is a fan-assisted oven) and bake the cookies for 10-11 minutes or until they are a pale golden brown. You can turn the sheet around after 5-6 minutes to let them brown evenly, if you like. 

8. Let them cool on the sheet for a couple of minutes, then transfer carefully to a cooling rack until completely cool. Store in an airtight jar. 

Overnight blueberry muffins

I first heard of Paul Hollywood, the chef, when I watched a recent TV show/competition to determine Britain’s best amateur baker. The contestants were amazing, their skills superb – they were absolutely NOT amateurs. I mean, if at all they were “amateurs” it was only in that they were not famous “professional” chefs, running restaurants or publishing cookbooks. Otherwise, in terms of skills, talent and imagination, I’m pretty certain they would have given any “professional chefs” a run for their money if they (the professionals) were in the competition rather than merely judging it!

Anyway, Paul Hollywood is an expert on baking, and I came across his recipe for blueberry muffins on the BBC Food website. According to him, they were the best muffins ever. I would probably have just glanced at the recipe and continued browsing, had it not been for a couple of things – the minimal number of ingredients and the simple instructions and, more intriguingly, his advice to refrigerate the batter, preferably overnight, before baking the muffins.

Refrigerate? OVERNIGHT? And here I’d been under the impression, courtesy the gazillion muffin recipes on the Net, that the biggest selling point of this particular type of baked goody was that it was practically instantaneous – basically, make the batter (don’t even stop to break up the lumps) and bake the muffins.

He said his recipe would make 12 muffins. I thought that the batter wouldn’t stretch to 6 muffins never mind 12, there was so little of it. But it did, just... although the 12 muffins were the size of small cupcakes. (I never like to specify the number of muffins, in any case. It’s such a subjective thing, depending very much on how small or how large you wish to make them.)

I made only one change to Mr Hollywood’s recipe – I added some vanilla extract because I love it, because I simply can’t help myself, and because I’m not entirely sure that I would ever love just nutmeg as a flavouring.

And so to the muffins... Oh. My. God. They were not so much muffins as fairy cakes, so light and lovely that I was quite happy there were others in the house to eat ‘em, or I would have demolished them all myself. They were THAT good. I dunno if it was the overnight resting, or the butter in the recipe (it’s been a while since I used butter in a muffin recipe) but the muffins were sensational!

I try to learn a new technique or ingredient from every recipe I try, familar or unfamiliar. The abiding lesson from this recipe was: Always stud the batter with blueberries after putting the batter into the cake cases (this goes for any berry or soft fruit), rather than mix them in with the batter and THEN fill the cases. That way you can control where the berries go so they don’t burst messily against the side of the cases while cooking; they stay in the centre, where they were placed, making for a neat result. This really is a brilliant tip, one to always remember. I don’t know why I couldn’t have come up with the idea myself, it's so simple. But sadly I didn't, and a vote of thanks is definitely due Mr Hollywood!

Recipe for: Overnight blueberry muffins


Ingredients:

1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup caster sugar
2 free-range eggs
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
pinch nutmeg
1 tsp good quality vanilla extract

Method:

1. Cream the butter and sugar together till fluffy.


2. Then add the eggs one by one.

3. Mix for three minutes. Then add the flour, baking powder and nutmeg,
stir to combine into a thick batter. Do not beat.


4. Refrigerate the batter for at least an hour, preferably overnight. Just before baking, stir in the vanilla.

5. Place paper cases in a muffin pan. Place a spoonful of muffin mixture into each muffin case, filling each to just over half way.


6. Stud each muffin with 5-8 blueberries, pushing them very lightly into the batter.


7. Bake in an oven set at 200C/400F for 20 minutes, or until golden on top.

Serve warm.


RECIPE: OVERNIGHT BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

Ingredients:

1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup caster sugar
2 free-range eggs
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
pinch nutmeg
1 tsp good quality vanilla extract

Method:

1. Cream the butter and sugar together till fluffy.
2. Then add the eggs one by one.
3. Mix for three minutes. Then add the flour, baking powder and nutmeg, stir to combine. Do not beat.
4. Refrigerate for at least an hour, preferably overnight.
5. Place paper cases in a muffin pan. Place a spoonful of muffin mixture into each muffin case, filling each to just over half way.
6. Stud each muffin with about five blueberries.
7. Bake in an oven set at 200C/400F for 20 minutes, or until golden on top. Serve warm.