Rosemary Cheese Crisps

These are delightful savoury crackers, great for snacking. There's two types of cheeses used, Cheddar and Parmesan, and chopped fresh rosemary, one of my favourite herb! I have two pots of rosemary plants growing in my little potted garden, and I can smell their lovely scent each time I water the plants, or simply touch them with my fingers, love doing that! 

I've used salted butter and have omitted the salt, taking into consideration that the cheeses are already salty. The dough has to be refrigerated for at least two hours to firm up before rolling and cutting into shapes. Sprinkle some finely grated Parmesan cheese over each cracker before baking. I don't have to tell you how the kitchen smells while these are baking, so cheesy nice!

Crispy, salty and cheesy with the fragrance of rosemary. They are perfect for snacking, and especially nice with a cup of warm tea.

I have baked them a few minutes longer for crispier bite!

Rosemary Cheese Crisps
(adapted from "The Good Cookie", Tish Boyle)
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup grated white Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese, divided
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon salt (omit salt, used salted butter)
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
9 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces (use salted butter)
1/4 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large egg yolk

special equipment :
1-3/4 inch scalloped round cookie cutter

1. Place the flour, Cheddar cheese, 2 tablespoons of the Parmesan cheese, the rosemary, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until combined. Scatter the butter pieces over the flour mixture and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the sour cream, olive oil, and egg yolk and pulse just until blended. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and shape it into a disk. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours until firm (or up to 2 days).
2. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375F.
3. Place the chilled dough on a lightly floured work surface and, using a rolling pin, roll it out to a thickness of 1/8 inch, sprinkling it with flour as necessary to prevent sticking. Using a 1-3/4-inch scalloped round cookie cutter, cut out as many rounds as possible from the dough and arrange them 1/2 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Reroll the scraps and cut out more crackers until all the dough is used. Sprinkle a small amount of the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese on top of each cracker.
4. Bake the crackers, one sheet at a time, for 13 to 16 minutes, until light golden brown. Transfer the crackers to a wire rack and cool completely.

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I'm linking this post to :
Cook & Celebrate Christmas 2014 hosted by Bake For Happy Kids, Eat Your Heart Out and Domestic Goddess Wannabe.

and

I'm sharing this post with :

Cook-Your-Books #19 @ kitchen flavours

and 4th Dec is National Cookie Day! Thanks to Louise for this info! I'm linking this post to "Cookbook Wednesday @ Months of Edible Celebrations" which I'm sharing this book "The Good Cookie" by Tish Boyle for this week.


    

Vanilla Honey Tuiles : Bake Along 54

The theme for our Bake-Along #54, is Tuiles. I have always wanted to bake Tuiles and never got round to give these cookies a try, so I have selected Tuiles as our theme baking for this week at Bake-Along together with my baking buddies Lena and Zoe. 

There are a few recipes of tuiles from some of my cookbooks, and most of them requires the batter to be refrigerated for a couple of hours before baking. Since I was rushing for time, (yes, I've made this at the last minute!!), I have chosen this recipe, Vanilla Honey Tuiles from Tish Boyle's cookbook, The Good Cookie, as the batter do not need refrigeration and can be used and bake straightaway right about mixing. 

From Tish Boyle : "Tuiles (pronounced "tweel"), is a delicate, crisp cookie popular in Europe, often used to garnish desserts."  These cookies, originally from France, tuile means tiles in French, and it is named after the shape of French roof tiles it is supposed to resemble.

These looks like plain French tiles? Unlike some of the tuiles which I've seen with some holes in the cookies that makes a nice pattern, maybe those pattern do resembles the French tiles, I have no idea!  A good example is the recipe from Dorie Greenspan, which looks very nice.

The batter is made, really easy and simple, refer to the recipe below. Tish Boyle has suggested using a template by cutting out the cover of a coffee can or cottage cheese container, spread the batter within the template to get a constant size of the cookies. I have however, just used about 1 teaspoon of the batter, plop it on the lined baking tray, and use the back of the teaspoon, slowly spread out the batter in a circle to about 3" diameter. It works out just fine.

Bake the tuiles one tray at a time, about 10 minutes, until golden brown. Immediately remove the tray, use a metal offset spatula to remove the tuiles from the baking tray and placed it on a rolling pin, pressing it down gently to shape the cookies into a curve. You have to do it really, really quick as it sets and hardens and crisp very fast. It cools very fast too, store in airtight containers.

Should the tuiles start to set before they are placed on the rolling pin, simply place the tray back in the oven for a minute to soften the tuiles again. 

These cookies are delightful! Very crispy and yummy, though it is a little too sweet for me.

It takes sometime to complete baking the cookies, as I was baking six tuiles to a tray. And I actually enjoyed making these cookies.

Maybe if I have some time, I'll try some other tuiles cookies, maybe Dorie's, the ones which bakes out to a lacey pattern, which I find very interesting!

Vanilla Honey Tuiles
(adapted from "The Good Cookie", Tish Boyle)
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, plus extra for dusting
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened (60gm)
1 tablespooon plus 1 teaspoon honey
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg white

Special equipment
Large plastic top (such as one from a coffee can or cottage cheese container)

Make a round template :
Cut a 3-inch circle out of the center of a large plastic top, such as one from a coffee can or cottage cheese container; leaving the rim intact. (An X-acto knife is handy for this task).

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 300F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Sift the confectioners' sugar, flour, and salt into a medium bowl. Gently stir until blended. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter and honey at medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients in two additions, alternating with the egg white, and beat until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat the batter until very smooth and lighter in colour; about 1 minute.
4. Shape and bake the tuiles : Place the template flat side down on one of the baking sheets. Drop about 1 teaspoon of the batter into the center of the template and, using a small metal offset spatula, spread the batter evenly across the template. When the interior of the circle is covered, remove the template. (Scrape any excess batter from the template back into the bowl of batter). (I have however, just used about 1 teaspoon of the batter, plop it on the lined baking tray, and use the back of the teaspoon, slowly spread out the batter in a circle to about 3" diameter). Repeat to form as many tuiles as possible. Bake the tuiles, one sheet at a time, for 9 to 11 minutes, just until they are golden brown and set.
5. Have a rolling pin ready. Using an offset metal spatula or pancake turner, immediately and carefully remove the tuiles one at a time from the sheet and press each one over the rolling pin to give it a curved shape (they will cool very quickly). Transfer the tuiles to a plate. Repeat with the remaining batter.
6. Dust the tuiles with sifted confectioners' sugar before serving.

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To join our blog hop, bake any Tuiles recipe and link your post to our Bake-Along linky.

Please visit my baking buddies, Lena from Frozen Wings and Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids, and all our friends who has baked along with us in the linky below :

For our next Bake-Along, we will be baking Italian Almond Tart from The Williams-Sonoma Baking Book, page 265, or you may get the recipe here. Link your post to the our blog-hop linky which will start on 25th November right up to 4th December. Everyone is welcome! 

A friendly reminder when linking to our blog hop :

1. Please mention Bake-Along event in your own post linking direct to any of the hosts' post (Joyce, Lena or Zoe)

2. Please link only new and current post, related to the current bake or theme provided by us. Unrelated post will be deleted.

3. Feel free to display our Bake-Along badge in your post.

I'm sharing this post with :

Cook-Your-Books #5 hosted by Kitchen Flavours

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