Dried fruit shortbread cookies
- Karen
- Dec 19, 2021
- 2 min read
Foodie excerpt - Chapter 14. Among the many is the one you seek.
Kai was waiting for them on the ramp of the ship as though enjoying the fresh morning air. She stood up as they approached, giving them a small wave as a greeting and leading the way inside.
“A small gift from our employer,” Elis told Kai on their way to the kitchen, handing her a small container. “She thought we might need an ‘extra energy boost’ as she put it. Apparently the thought of potentially dying isn’t enough motivation for some.”
Kai opened the container to find a neat stack of baked goods. The three of them grabbed a piece and they settled down around the table for a short re-run of the operation as planned. Elis had to admit that the seemingly bland cookie was quite delicious, light and crumbly with a sweet and slightly sour filing of dates and cranberries that made for a splendid combination. He was rather amazed that he was able to eat one at all given his current state of angst.
After the run-through, Brin took out the detonite charges from his bag, in all likelihood to complete a final check. It appeared that Vee had contributed some additional firepower: a few items Elis didn’t recognise and a handful of grenades. Brin picked one up and handed it to Elis.
“A plasma grenade,” Brin clarified. “Might come in handy.”
“Fantastic,” Elis replied, reluctantly accepting. “If I get bored I’ll just blow a hole in this ship, lest it feel left out.” The comment won him a stern look from Kai.
Dried fruit shortbread cookies
Makes 10
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Ingredients
Dough
80 g fine semolina
100 g flour
20 g sugar
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
50 g margarine
40 ml oat drink
Filling
40 g dates
20 g cranberries
15 g almond powder
Instructions
In a large bowl, mix together the semolina, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the margarine and roughly combine. Slowly incorporate the oat drink and mix with your hands until you obtain a homogenous non-sticky ball of dough; you may need slightly less or more oat drink depending on the semolina and flour you use. Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel and let sit for 30 minutes.
For the filling, start by removing the pits from the dates and discarding the pits. Cut the dates and cranberries into small pieces and put them in a bowl. Add the almond powder to the bowl and combine with your hands until you obtain a paste. Divide the paste into 10 even pieces and roll each into a small ball.
Heat the oven to 180 C and line a baking sheet. To prepare the cookies, start by dividing the dough into 10 small balls. Put one of the small portions of filling in each ball of dough and reshape them so that the filling is fully covered by the dough.
Place the cookies on the lined baking sheet and cook in the oven for 15 minutes or until slightly golden.
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