Anna Sultana’s Soft Molasses Cookies, Iced Soft Molasses Cookies and Newfoundland Molasses Raisin Bread / Tossing Christmas Cookies by Margaret Ullrich

Went grocery shopping yesterday.
They don’t have any sugar, neither white nor brown.
I saw another shopper crying.


Honey and molasses are sweet, traditional and still on the shelves.
A cook’s gotta do what a cook’s gotta do, especially during the holidays.
Okay… a few days ago I posted honey recipes.
Today we’ll take a look at molasses recipes.

Here are a few molasses recipes I’ve posted over the years.
Some are even traditional for Christmas.
The Newfoundland Molasses Raisin Bread is served for morning toast with butter during the Holidays.
Tell the family to think of the new recipes as a cultural experience…
or whatever excuse you think they’ll swallow.


Anna Sultana's Panettone and Gingerbread
https://imturning60help.blogspot.com/2021/12/anna-sultanas-panettone-and-gingerbread.html

Gingerbread and Seven Minute Frosting / Buttermilk Substitute for Baking - Margaret Ullrich
https://imturning60help.blogspot.com/2011/12/gingerbread-seven-minute-frosting.html

Anna Sultana’s German-Style Chocolate Cake, Kuchen and Gingerbread for Father's Day
https://imturning60help.blogspot.com/2023/06/anna-sultanas-german-style-chocolate.html

Anna Sultana's Qaghaq ta' l-Ghasel (Honey or treacle rings, Maltese Style)
https://imturning60help.blogspot.com/2010/12/anna-sultanas-qaghaq-ta-l-ghasel.html

Anna Sultana's Qaghaq tal-ghasel #2 - Treacle Rings, Maltese Style
https://imturning60help.blogspot.com/2013/08/anna-sultanas-qagaq-tal-gasel-2-maltese.html

Anna Sultana’s Pfeffernüsse (German Christmas Cookies)
https://imturning60help.blogspot.com/2015/12/anna-sultanas-pfeffernusse-german.html

Anna Sultana’s Gingersnap Cookies
https://imturning60help.blogspot.com/2015/12/anna-sultanas-gingersnap-cookies.html

Gingerbread Cookies (Christmas Cookies) and Royal Frosting - Margaret Ullrich
https://imturning60help.blogspot.com/2011/12/gingerbread-cookies-margaret-ullrich.html


Hints:

About the Soft Molasses Cookies…
Combine 1/2 Cup raisins with 1/2 Cup of the flour mixture before you add them to the molasses mixture.
These cookies will stay fresh, covered at room temperature, for one week.

About the Newfoundland Molasses Raisin Bread…
You may need to add a little more flour so that your dough will not be sticky.

Molasses bread generally takes a bit longer to rise than white bread does.
Make sure the dough rises at least a couple of inches above the bread pan’s rim before baking.


                        Soft Molasses Cookies

Have on hand 3 ungreased baking sheets.

Sift together into a medium bowl
2 Cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
Set aside.

Place in a large mixer bowl
3/4 Cup shortening or oil
1 Cup sugar (brown will be fine)
Beat on high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Add
1/4 Cup dark molasses
Beat until combined.
Add
1 large egg
Scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed, beat until well combined.
Gradually add the dry ingredients, about 1/2 cup at a time, to the creamed mixture.

Place in a rimmed pan
1/2 Cup sugar (add more if needed while making the cookies)

Preheat the oven to 350º F

Form dough into balls about 1 1/2 inches, and roll them in the sugar in the pan.
Place on a baking sheet, about 3 inches apart.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until browned and edges appear set.
Let cool for five minutes on baking sheet before transferring to cooling racks.
Repeat with remaining dough.


                        Iced Soft Molasses Cookies

Yield 36 cookies
Line 4 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Sift into a large bowl
3 1/2 Cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 Tablespoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
Set aside.

Place in a 2 cup measuring cup or medium bowl
3/4 Cup molasses
3/4 Cup buttermilk, room temperature
Stir well with a fork to thoroughly mix.

Place in a large mixer bowl
3/4 Cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 Cup packed brown sugar
Cream together until fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Add
1 large egg, room temperature
Add the molasses / buttermilk mixture.
Scraping the bowl often, stir mixture on low. It will look curdled.
Gradually add the dry ingredients and stir just until blended.
Turn off the mixer and stir a few times with a spatula, scraping the sides and bottom.

Preheat oven to 350° F

Drop measuring tablespoon size balls of batter onto the cookie sheet, two inches apart.
Bake for 12 minutes or until the cookies are done.
To test poke a cookie with a finger. If the indent bounces back then they’re done.
Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
Repeat with remaining dough.
When the cookies have cooled, make the icing.

Icing

Place in a medium bowl
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 Cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 Cup cream or milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Stir together until well combined and smooth.
Either dip the tops of the cookies into the icing bowl or spoon the icing over the cookies, allowing the excess icing to run off.
Sprinkle with cinnamon if desired.
Allow the icing to set before serving.


                        Newfoundland Molasses Raisin Bread

Makes 2  1 1/2 pound loaves

Grease well 2 9x5x3 inch loaf pans

Place in a small bowl
1/2 Cup lukewarm water
1 Tablespoon sugar
Stir together and add
2 teaspoons dry yeast
Let stand without stirring for 10 minutes.

Stir together in a large mixing bowl
2 Cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
When the yeast is ready, stir it and add to the flour.
Stir in
1/3 Cup melted butter
1/2 Cup molasses
3/4 Cup lukewarm milk
1 large egg, beaten
Mix slowly for 5 minutes, or until the mixture is smooth with no lumps.
Gradually add
2 Cups flour
You might need to add more flour for a soft dough that leaves the sides of the bowl.
Add
2 Cups raisins
Knead until the raisins are evenly distributed in the dough.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface to knead for 10 minutes.
Place the dough in a large bowl, then cover the bowl with a damp tea towel.
Leave it to rest and rise for two hours.

Punch the dough down and knead it for a few minutes, then let it rest for 10 minutes.
Divide the dough into 6 equal portions and form each portion into a ball.
Place 3 balls of dough in each prepared loaf pan.
Cover with a tea towel and allow to rise until it is about 2 inches above the rim, about 2-3 hours.

Preheat oven to 350° F

Bake for 45 minutes. The top and bottom crust should have good colour.
Turn the loaves out onto a wire rack to cool.
Brush the tops with melted butter to soften the top crust, if desired.


                                                       ~~~
I also wrote the following essay about Christmas traditions for our CKUW radio show ‘2000 & Counting’. Over the years our listeners asked for some seasonal stories to be repeated.
They seemed to like being reminded that we were all in the same holiday boat, a communal ship which made us feel like we were all sinking fast.

Ah… Christmas shopping, holiday baking and holiday customs…
Why do we do it?

I don't know about you, but as far as I'm concerned, there are two questions no one should ever ask a woman.

The first is How old are you?
The second is Have you done your holiday baking yet?

Why is it that, when the thermometer falls, we're supposed to bake? 
Does the Queen whip up a fruitcake before writing her speech?
I don't think so.  

Holiday baking has been with us an awfully long time.
Did you know that ginger was popular in Greece over 5,000 years ago? The Egyptians were eating gingerbread when the great pyramid of Cheops was just a brick and a prayer. I wonder what their gingerbread men looked like.

A few years after Egypt's building boom, an English King and his hunting party got lost in a blizzard on Christmas Eve. Well, they were clever lads full of English pluck, so they threw everything they had - meat, flour, sugar, apples, ale and brandy - into a bag and cooked it. Wallah!!  Plum pudding. The Iron Chef would've been proud.  

On Christmas Day in 1666, Samuel Pepys wrote in his diary that he had risen earlier than his wife Who was desirous to sleep having sat up till four this morning seeing her maids make mince pies. 
I really admire Mrs. P. She just sat and watched her maids do the work, yet her husband felt guilty about her workload. How did she get him to suffer like that?   

Some Christmas carols seem a little too focused on food.  For example:
     Now bring us some figgy pudding and a cup of good cheer!
     We won't go until we get some, so bring it out here.
Those were somebody's friends?  Somebody should've called the cops.


Holiday baking has followed us into modern times. The 1970s was the decade of old time family television shows like The Waltons and memoir books.
Have you ever browsed through a memoir book? It could make you weep. They reminded us of times like this...
Evenings when a cold blustery wind howled outside were perfect for sorting through recipes. They were cozy times. The children were sitting at the oak table helping Mama chop fruit and raisins. Papa was cracking and shelling nuts and crushing fresh spices in the grinder.

Isn't that sweet? Sentences like that convinced me that if we did things just like people did before television was invented, the world would be a kinder, gentler place.

We'll never know. Paul told me, in no uncertain terms, that he was too busy to grind nuts for a cake he didn't even want.
Alright. Scratch Paul grinding his nuts. I bought ground nuts.

Step two... the batter had to be mixed. Back to that memoir...
When all the fruits were in, Grandmother called, 'Come, stir the batter!'
We all took turns giving it a stir - clockwise for good luck - and made a wish.

I made a batter, threw in the fruits and called out Come, stir the batter!

Carl pointed to the electric mixer sitting on the counter and said that he was staying on the eighth level of his computer game, The Temple of Ra. He also told me, in no uncertain terms, that he was too busy to stir batter for a cake he didn't even want.

I stirred the batter, clockwise.
Don't ask what I wished.


It's been downhill ever since. Do you know about the charming Swedish custom of hiding a whole almond in a serving bowl of rice pudding? The lucky person who finds the almond has to get married or do the dishes. Either my husband or my son - the fink never confessed - managed to swallow the almond every time.

I tried the German version: whoever finds the almond receives a marzipan pig. By then Paul and Carl had their own tradition: swallowing the almond. I felt so guilty looking at that poor rejected pig.
I started my own tradition and ate him... along with the cake.

There's a Christmas carol that goes: Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat...

Well, the goose isn't the only one.

Anna Sultana's Panettone and Gingerbread / Oh, Christmas Tree! by Margaret Ullrich

Panettone

It’s been said that man does not live by bread alone.
Well, sure, a bit of butter - or a dollop of whipped cream for the gingerbread - is always appreciated.

Speaking of bread, it seems every country has a Christmas bread.

There's a legend about Italy’s Christmas bread, Panettone.  
It was created in Milan by a young nobleman named Antonio, who was in love with a baker's daughter.  
He went to work for the baker, whose business was failing. 
Antonio added butter, sugar, candied fruit and eggs to the bread dough.  
People loved the new creation: Pane di Toni or Tony's bread.

Years ago I posted Aunt Betty's recipe for Panettone.
It’s a little bit different from Ma’s recipe.
Why not make both?


Hints:

About the Panettone…
When kneading do not add too much flour.

The dough can be baked in three 1-pound coffee cans, then baked at 400º F for 45 minutes.


About the Gingerbread…
Not all molasses are the same. Those labelled Cooking or Blackstrap are harsh in flavour compared to Fancy molasses.

The batter can also be poured into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan, then baked at 325º F for 50 to 60 minutes.

If you’d like to remove the cake from the pan(s) after baking to serve on a platter, line the pan(s) with parchment paper.

If you don’t have dark brown sugar you can use use more light brown sugar in the Caramel Sauce.

The sauce will solidify when chilled, but will liquify again once reheated in the microwave or a small saucepan.




                                                               Panettone

Grease a deep round pan (a 2 1/2 quart pot would be fine)

Heat  to scalding
1/2 Cup milk
Let it stand until it is lukewarm.

Place in a small mixer bowl
1/2 Cup butter or margarine, softened
1/4 Cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Beat until creamy.

Pour into a warmed mixing bowl
1/4 Cup warm water
Add
1 Tablespoon yeast
Stir until the yeast is dissolved.
Let sit 10 minutes.
Add the warm milk and the sugar / butter mixture and stir well.

Add
2 large eggs, beaten
2 Cups flour
Beat until smooth.

Blend in
1/4 Cup seedless raisins
1/2 Cup mixed candied fruits
1/4 Cup toasted almonds, chopped
1 Tablespoon lemon extract
Add enough flour to make a soft dough, about 2 cups.

Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface.
Knead until dough is smooth and elastic.

Put in an oiled bowl, turning the dough to coat it with oil.
Cover with a damp towel and let stand in a warm place away from drafts about 1 1/2 hours, until doubled in bulk.

Punch down the dough and turn out on a board.
Cover with bowl and let rest 10 minutes.
Shape dough in a round loaf and place it in the greased pan.
Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Cut an "X" in the top.

Preheat oven to 375º F

Combine
1 egg yolk
1 Tablespoon cold water
Brush egg mixture over the loaf.
Bake 1 hour or until brown.


                                                               Gingerbread

Grease 2 8 inch square pans

Sift together into a medium bowl
2 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
Set aside.

Heat to boiling
1 Cup water
Set aside.

Place in a large mixer bowl
1/2 Cup butter or margarine or 3 ounces oil
1 Cup brown sugar, packed (either light or dark or a mixture of both)
Cream together, about 2 minutes.

Add
1 Cup Fancy molasses
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
Scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl, blend until well combined.

Place in a medium bowl
the boiling water
Stir in
1 teaspoon baking soda
Add to the molasses mixture.
Stir well to combine.
Add
the dry flour mixture
Stir until well blended.
Add
2 large eggs, well beaten
Mix well.

Preheat oven to 325º F

Pour batter into the prepared pans.
Bake 35 to 45 minutes, until a tester inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Serve warm or cold with lightly sweetened whipped cream.

It also goes nicely with

Caramel Sauce

Place in a medium saucepan
1/2 Cup butter
1/2 Cup light brown sugar, packed
3 Tablespoon dark brown sugar, packed
2/3 Cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon salt

Cooking over medium heat, stir until the butter melts and the mixture comes to a boil.
Boil for 4 minutes, or until the sauce coats the back of a spoon.
Use immediately or remove to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate until needed.

                                                            ~~~

For another broadcast of our CKUW radio program ‘2000 & Counting’ we planned to reminisce about when we had gone out into the woods to chop down a Christmas tree.
Yes, this was, and is, a popular Winnipeg Christmas tradition.
And, yes, in Manitoba it can get cold enough to make trees brittle!


God, it was cold.

I didn't know it could get that cold.
I didn't know I'd ever be stupid enough to be outdoors in that kind of cold.
I didn't know I'd been stupid enough to marry someone stupid enough to work with people stupid enough to be out in that kind of cold.

It was December in Winnipeg.

Paul and I had grown up in New York City. There people went to an empty parking lot where the trees had magically appeared, like the pre-wrapped ground beef at the local supermarket. No questions asked. No one wanted to get too personal with an ornament that would be out with the trash in a matter of weeks.

At the New York parking lot we'd browse, find a tree we liked and switch the price tag with the cheaper tree which no one liked. Then we'd carry the tree to the clerk, who gave us the fish eye as he noticed the fullness of such a "good find", sighed and took our money. The whole deal was done in ten minutes. Another Christmas had begun.

Apparently, that isn't good enough for Winnipeggers.
Oh, no, they have to get down and dirty with their holiday bushes.


I'll never forget how happy Paul was when he came home and told me we'd been invited to join his co-workers, a group of Winnipeggers, for a real, old-fashioned Christmas experience. If I'd had a clue I'd have realized that giving birth in a barn, unaided, would've been an easier old-fashioned Christmas experience.
We were going to chop down a real Christmas tree, just like our ancestors.

Well, my parents are from Malta, a sunny Mediterranean island. It just wasn't in my genes to know how to dress for a freezing, miserable, forced march through a blizzard-hit forest. The windchill - which I still didn't understand - was in the exposed skin can freeze in 2 minutes range.

That didn't sound good, so I said, Thanks, but no thanks.

Somehow Paul convinced me that his entire future career prospects, our unborn children's college fund, our grandchildren's lives and our golden years' security and comfort would all go up in smoke if I didn't join in the mighty tree hunt.

His Jewish co-workers were going. Everybody, even that ditzy receptionist who always dressed like a showgirl wannabe with skirts up to there, was going.

So, we were going.

God, it was cold.

I thought I had dressed warmly.
That fink, the ditzy receptionist, showed up looking like the Michelin Man. She was ready to march to the North Pole for the perfect tree, if necessary. So were the three other women co-workers. The other wives - who all knew better - had begged off. One was even pregnant. Or so she said.

I was alone with four career women who were full of the 1970s I am woman, hear me roar career fever. While they talked shop I felt as welcome as a lump of coal in a kid’s Christmas stocking.

The Jewish co-workers - who I had hoped would keep the tree hunt frenzy within limits - had turned into lumberjacks. They were also ready to march to the North Pole for the perfect tree, if necessary.

After walking five minutes I couldn't feel my toes. We hadn't even gotten out of the parking lot. I was doomed.

I didn't know it could get that cold.
We marched. Finally, someone approved of a tree. The men chopped. The tree crashed. The branches that hit the ground broke off the tree.

I said, The bare side could be placed against a wall.

The heat from their glares should have restored my circulation. It didn't. We marched. Someone approved of another tree. The men chopped. The tree crashed. It broke.


God, it was cold.

We were doomed to spend all day wandering like Flying Dutchmen on a quest to find the perfect unbreakable tree. The lot was littered with other broken felled trees. Some trees had landed across their comrades in a criss-cross pattern that looked like a cradle.
A cradle, something soft, something to receive and hold...

Hold it… something to catch a damn tree!

Dripping snot and tears had frozen my mouth shut. If I'd had the equipment I would've written my idea in the snow. I slapped my face trying to restore circulation to my lower jaw. Finally my lips parted. I clutched Paul's arm.

Cradle... tree... cradle, I mumbled and criss-crossed my arms.

The women thought I was pregnant and wanted a homemade cradle. Thank God, months of marriage, misery and love had united Paul's mind to mine. Months of marriage had also taught us that Paul was no carpenter. He knew the homemade cradle idea was bunk. Paul caught on to my pantomime and told the others of my plan.

Someone approved of another tree. It could land on four broken trees. The men chopped. The tree landed on its fallen comrades. It survived.
We marched. Someone approved of another tree. It, too, survived.

Christmas was saved.

God, it was cold.

I didn't know it could get that cold.
I couldn't believe it.

Some fool was planning the next year's tree chopping expedition.

Anna Sultana’s Gingersnap Cookies

The holidays are in full swing.

Folks dropping by for a cup of coffee or tea.

And what’s better with a cup of either coffee or tea than a few cookies?

Gingersnap cookies are a rich dark brown.

They would look pretty on a platter with 

Ma’s Easy Sugar Cookies.  

Or with Ma's Christmas Cookies.

Hints: 

I put the 1/2 Cup of sugar for the coating in an 8 inch square pan so I could make about 10 balls, put them in the pan, and coat them together before transferring them to the cookie sheet.

It seemed more efficient and less messy this way.

If you want puffy gingersnaps, use 3/4 Cup shortening instead of 3/4 Cup oil. 

If you’re using shortening, first cream the shortening, then gradually beat in the sugar.

These cookies do freeze well.

                        Gingersnap Cookies 

Makes about 36 cookies 

have on hand 3 cookie sheets

Place in an 8 inch square pan

1/2 Cup sugar

Sift together into a medium bowl

2 Cups flour

1 Tablespoon ginger

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

Return to sifter and resift into the bowl.

Place in a large mixer bowl 

3/4 Cup oil

1 Cup sugar

Beat well.

Blend in 

1 large egg

1/4 cup molasses

Add 1/4 of the flour mixture and beat in well.

Repeat three times, blending the flour mixture in well each time.

Place the oven rack in the centre of the oven.        

Preheat oven to 350º F

Take a spoonful of the dough and roll the dough (in your hands) into a ball about 1 1/4 inch in diameter.  

Place the ball in the pan of sugar.

Repeat about nine more times.

Roll the balls around until they are coated with sugar.

Place the coated balls, about 2 inches apart, on a cookie sheet.

They will flatten and spread as they bake.

Repeat with the remaining dough until it is all used.

Bake cookies for 12 to 15 minutes.

Remove the cookies from the pans and place them on wire racks.

Let them cool completely.

Store them in an airtight container.

Anna Sultana’s Pfeffernüsse (German Christmas Cookies)

I just posted a link to an old Christmas post 

‘Christmas on the Cheap’.

It’s the sort of stuff I wrote when I was a host on the radio.

Yes, that was in the last century.

But, here we are, in the twenty-first century, still having to buy Christmas gifts.

Progress, eh?

In that essay I wrote:

While you're shopping, get yourself some treats.  

I have a friend who picks up a bag of pfeffernusse cookies every year.  When she feels like all she's doing is giving, giving, giving, she pops a pfeffernusse and gives herself an old time Christmas.  It doesn't take much.  

Of course I just got an e mail asking for the pfeffernuss recipe.

No problem.

Pfeffernüsse were popular in College Point, and Ma got the recipe from a friend.

The recipe she received called for rolling the cookies in powdered sugar until completely covered.

Ma preferred making them with icing, and this is the recipe she used.

First a bit of history….

Pfeffernüsse have been a part of the holiday season since the 1850s.

They are linked to the December 5th feast of Sinterklaas in The Netherlands, when children received gifts from good old St. Nicholas. 

So we are talking a traditional Christmas recipe here.

Pfeffernüsse cookies are like a stew.

Better if they’ve had a chance to age a bit.

Just so you know when you make them next year.

But they smell so good, everyone enjoys eating them fresh from the oven.

Still, it’s nice to know the leftovers will be even better.

Back to the  ‘Christmas on the Cheap’…

Now's the time to serve the family a plate or two of pasta fagioli.

God bless us, everyone. 

Hints: 

After forming the ropes, wrap them in wax paper or cling wrap and refrigerate them for a half an hour or longer, even overnight.  

Chilling the dough makes it easier to handle, but you can skip this if you're in a rush.

Roll enough dough balls to fill one baking sheet, then bake them while you make more.

Even though you’re baking one sheet at a time, grease 3 sheets so you will have a cool sheet available each time.

It's best to place the dough on cool cookie sheets so they will keep their shapes better.

About the royal icing and raw egg whites…

If you’re absolutely sure about your grade A eggs, you can use 4 egg whites.

But please be careful.

Salmonella is no joke. 

You can find cartons of pasteurized egg whites in the dairy section.

If you don’t want to make the icing, roll the cookies in powdered sugar while they are still warm.  

If the cookies are cold the powdered sugar won’t stick as well to them.

Pfeffernüsse are soft when first baked, but quickly become harder.  

As they age, they soften.

When Pfeffernüsse are hard, they are great dunked in hot tea or milk.  

Pfeffernüsse will store up to 8 weeks in airtight containers at room temperature. 

                        Pfeffernüsse 

Makes about 100 cookies          

Grease 3 cookie sheets 

Place in a large mixer bowl 

1 Cup butter

1 Cup sugar

Beat until fluffy.

Add and mix well after each addition

2 large eggs 

1/2 Cup white corn syrup

1/2 Cup molasses

2 Tablespoons ground anise seed (more or less)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Combine in a measuring cup

1/3 Cup warm water

1 teaspoon baking soda

Add to the mixture and blend well.

Gradually stir in

6 1/2 Cups flour

The dough will be stiff.

Don't be shy about using your hands to get the dough mixed.

Take a portion of the dough and form a rope about one inch in diameter.  

Repeat until you’ve formed all of the dough into ropes.

At this point you can wrap and chill the dough (see hints).

When you are ready to bake, place the oven rack in the centre of the oven.        

Preheat oven to 375º F

Cut one inch pieces of dough from the ropes and roll them into small balls.  

Place the balls on a prepared cookie sheet, leaving about an inch between them.

Bake one sheet at a time, if you have the time.

Bake cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, until they are brown on top.

Remove cookies from the pans and cool them on wire racks.

                        Royal Icing

After the cookies are completely cooled, place the wire racks on the cookie sheets.

Place in a clean large bowl 

3 ounces pasteurized egg whites

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat at high speed until foamy. 

Mixing at low speed, gradually add 

4 Cups sifted confectioners’ sugar        

The mixture will be shiny. 

Turn the speed up to high and beat until the mixture forms stiff peaks (about 5 to 7 minutes). 

Dip each cookie into the icing to coat all over and place them on the wire racks to allow the excess icing to drip off. 

Make sure the icing is hard on the top and bottom before removing them.

Anna Sultana's Qaghaq tal-ghasel #2 - Treacle Rings, Maltese Style

I once heard that if you asked ten Jewish philosophers about a point in the Bible, you would get ten different interpretations.

Maltese cooks are like Jewish theologians.

There isn't one definite recipe for anything.

And they - the recipes - are all good.

Even Ma had a few variations on her old favourites.

I recently posted a variation Ma had on bread pudding or Pudina.

Back in 2010 I posted her recipe for Qagħaq tal-għasel. 

But there was another recipe Ma also used.

As with the Pudina, try both recipes.

Honey, jam, treacle…

Suit yourself.

                        Qagħaq tal-għasel 

Grease a baking pan

Preheat oven to 400º 

Bake 20 minutes

Combine in a large bowl

400 grams flour

100 grams semolina

Rub in

200 grams margarine

Mix in 

100 grams sugar

1 egg yolk

Knead, adding enough 

milk to form a smooth dough.

Combine in a large saucepan

400 grams treacle (molasses)

400 grams sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa

grated rind of an orange

grated rind of a lemon

4 cloves

3 teaspoons anisette

1 teaspoon allspice

142 ml water

Simmer until it thickens.

Add, stirring constantly

2 teaspoons semolina

Simmer until the mixture thickens,

Remove from heat and cool.

Roll out dough into 6 long strips (8 cm x 30 cm long).

Place a portion of the filling down the centre of each.

Roll pastry over the filling and join each end of the roll to form a ring.

Put rings on baking sheets.

At intervals of 6 cm cut small slits.

Bake 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Anna Sultana's Qaghaq ta' l-Ghasel (Honey or treacle rings, Maltese Style)

Okay...  the Venetians were a bit of a job for a cookie.

Somehow doing all that work for a cake doesn't seem so bad.

I think the recipe for Qagħaq ta' l-Għasel came from the same source. 

The actual definition for Qagħaq ta' l-Għasel is honey rings. 

Instead of raspberry jam, treacle is wrapped in dough and sliced.

The British call molasses "treacle".

Oh, the treacle is mixed with cocoa.

If you want to use a favorite jam, I won't tell.

Ma made this regularly for Christmas.
Tradition and all.  

It wasn't one of our favorites.

The g measurement is by weight - grams.
I've translated to an Imperial equivalent.

                        Qagħaq ta' l-Għasel

Grease a baking pan

Preheat oven to 400º 

Bake 20 minutes

Combine in a large bowl

400 g (13 oz)  flour

  75 g  (2 1/2 oz)  semolina

Rub in

150 g  (5 oz)  margarine

Mix in 

100 g  (3 oz)  sugar

Knead, adding enough water (or milk) 

to form a smooth dough.

----

Combine in a large saucepan

400 g (13 oz)  treacle (molasses)

400 g (13 oz)  sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa

2 or 3 tablespoons anisette

rind of an orange

rind of a lemon

a pinch of ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon allspice

250 ml (1 cup) water

Gently bring to a boil.

----

Add, stirring constantly

1 tablespoon semolina

Simmer until the mixture thickens,

Remove from heat and cool.

----

Roll out dough into 6 long strips (8 cm x 30 cm long).

Place a portion of the filling down the center of each.

Roll pastry over the filling and join each end of 

the roll to form a ring.

At intervals of 6 cm cut small slits.

Put rings on baking sheets.

Bake 20 minutes, or until golden brown.


Ma had a second recipe.
Try both!!