Best South African Traditional Soetkoekies Sweet Cookies Recipes

SOETKOEKIES - SWEET WINE AND SPICE SOUTH AFRICAN COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray two baking sheets with cooking spray. Sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt together and set aside.
• In a deep bowl, cream the butter and the dark-brown sugar together, mashing and beating them against the sides of the bowl until they are thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, then add the flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. Beat in the wine and chopped almonds.
• With your hands, vigorously knead the dough in the bowl until it can be gathered into a somewhat firm, compact ball. If the dough then seems too soft, knead in up to 1/4 cup more flour, adding it a tablespoon or so at a time.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a rough circle about 1/4 inch thick. With a cookie cutter or the rim of a glass, cut it into 2-inch rounds. Arrange the rounds about 1 inch apart on the buttered baking sheets. Then gather the scraps of dough into a ball, roll it out into another circle, and cut out rounds as before.
• Press a blanched almond half lightly into the center of each Soetkoekie and brush the entire top surface of the cookie with the beaten egg white-and-water mixture.
• Bake the cookies in the middle of the oven for 15 minutes, or until they are crisp and firm to the tough. With a wide metal spatula, transfer the cookies to a rack to cool. The cookies will keep for up to two weeks in a tightly covered jar.

SOETKOEKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C
• Cream butter, sugar and the together.
• Sift together cake flour, spices and salt.
• Stir through the orange rind
• Mix sifted ingredients with butter mixture until a fairly soft dough is formed.
• Cover and allow to rest for at least a half an hour.
• Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly grease baking trays or use a non-stick spray.
• Roll the dough out
• Roll out dough thinly between two sheets of glad wrap or baking paper until it is about 3 mm thick.
• Cut out circles, 4 to 5cm in diameter, using a cookie cutter. I used a star cookie cutter
• Place dough shapes slightly apart on baking sheets.
• Bake biscuits for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven, allow to cool slightly and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
• Ice if desired and store in an airtight container.
• Sift one cup of icing sugar into a bowl.
• Slowly add 1 tbsp of milk, and a drop or two of food colouring if desired, and mix through.
• If the icing is too thick, add more milk, 1 tsp at a time, until the desired consistency is achieved.

TRADITIONAL SOETKOEKIES RECIPE

Steps:

• Cream the butter with an electric mixer then the add icing sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
• Add in the condensed milk and vanilla and mix until well combined. Add egg and beat till smooth.
• Sift the flour, corn flour and baking powder into mixture and stir until a soft dough is formed.
• Wrap the dough in cling wrap and leave in the fridge for at least 2 hours OR until the dough is chilled.
• Preheat the oven to 170°C.
• Roll out the dough to 5 mm thickness and cut the biscuits to the desired shape and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.
• Once cooled, dust with castor sugar and enjoy!

CHOCOLATE PEPPER COOKIES (SOUTH AFRICAN)

Steps:

• Melt half the chocolate.
• Beat butter until light and airy.
• Add sugar and beat until completely incorporated into butter.
• Beat in eggs one by one.
• Combine flour and baking soda and sift into butter mixture little by little until incorporated.
• Mix chocolate into the butter mixture.
• Stir in remaining chopped chocolate and pepper.
• Cover and refrigerate until dough is cool and firm.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Cover baking sheet with parchment paper ( or grease generously).
• Place tablespoonful of batter about 1 inch apart on sheet.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until crisp on outside but still chewy inside.