Pumpkin Cookies

Happy Halloween!

I hope you are all having a fun and not too scary Halloween! Thinking back of those times when my kids were still little and impatiently waiting for this day to come. Such cute memories of my daughter mostly dressing up as a little princess, my son trying out different characters from cowboy to Star Wars Darth Vader 🙂

I’ve made these delicious, melt-in-your-mouth pumpkin cookies, all dressed up for Halloween, these are the perfect fall or holiday cookie, with a lovely pumpkin and spice flavor. Can be enjoyed with or without icing. I used maple butter as an icing.

 

 

Pumpkin Cookies

• 1/2 cup butter, soft
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups maple syrup
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups white spelt flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

-Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

-Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt, set aside.

-Cream together the butter, egg and maple syrup. Add pumpkin puree and vanilla, beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls, flatten slightly.

-Bake for 15-20 minutes in the preheated oven or until lightly browned. Let cool completely. Drizzle with maple butter or icing.

Tip: -Use 3 teaspoons of pumpkin spice. – Substitute spelt flour with whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour.

 

Enjoy!

Ursula

 

You can find me on Instagram: littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Lemon Blueberry Cookies

Happy weekend everyone! Today was the first day of March Break for my kids. Nothing interesting happening so far, just relaxing a bit at home. It is still snowing and cold, just a little jealous of those heading somewhere south;)

Having some kind of snack around while the kids are at at home this week is always a good idea. I was craving something with lemon flavor and why not add some blueberries. These cookies are so delicious, soft, lemony…

Sweetened with honey and I used white spelt flour.

 

Lemon Blueberry Cookies 

Yields: 34 large cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 cups unsalted butter, soft
• 4 eggs
• 2 organic lemons, zest and juice
• 2 x 3/4 cups honey
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 6 cups white spelt flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• pinch of sea salt
• 2 cups blueberries, frozen or fresh

-In a large bowl mix together the butter, eggs, lemon juice and zest, honey and vanilla extract.

-Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, mix well. Gently fold in the frozen or fresh blueberries. Let dough chill in refrigerator for 1 hour or longer.

-Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.

-Using a tablespoon, place rounded balls of dough, leaving some space in between cookies, on prepared cookie sheets.

-Bake for 10-15 minutes or until slightly golden brown.

Tip: This recipe makes a lot of cookies, you can easily divide it by two. Also feel free to make smaller sized cookies. I brushed the baked cookies with a mix of lemon juice and honey.

 

 

Happy March Break!

Enjoy!

Ursula

 

 

 

Linzertorte aux amandes

Happy Friday!

I hope everyone had a great start into the new year! It is still freezing cold here and snowing almost everyday. Staying warm and cozy inside with a warm cuppa and a slice of something freshly baked like this almond Linzertorte. I call this the sweet delicate cousin of the original Linzertorte;) Made out of mostly: almonds! The original Linzertorte has a jam filling. If you like almonds, you will love this one!!

It is a very soft almond dough, which makes it a little tricky to roll out or form any decorations, you’ll definitely need some patience, but otherwise it’s a simple recipe.

 

 

Linzertorte aux amandes

Ingredients:

• 150 g butter, soft
• 150 g sugar, or honey
• pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• pinch of cloves
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 150 g blanched ground almonds
• 150 g unbleached all-purpose flour

-In a medium bowl mix together butter, sugar and salt. Mix in the egg. Add the cloves, cinnamon, almonds and flour. Mix until a soft dough forms. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Filling:

• 75 g butter, soft
• 75 g sugar or honey
• 1 lemon, zest and juice
• 150 g blanched ground almonds
• 1 egg white

-In a small bowl mix together the butter and sugar. Add the lemon zest and juice. Mix in the almonds and egg white.

 

-Preheat oven to 350 F/180C. Grease a 22 cm Springform or pie dish.

-Take 1/3 of the dough and roll it directly on your Springform bottom, or use your hands to fit into the pie form. Taking some more dough for the sides if needed. Spoon your filling evenly into the form. With the rest of the dough you can roll it out on a floured baking sheet and then refrigerate to make it more workable. Cut out some shapes or shape it by hand.

-Bake for about 40 minutes. Cover with aluminium foil if it gets to dark. Let cool completely.

-Dust with some icing sugar if desired.

-Recipe is adapted from my 1982 Betty Bossi book, Kuchen, Cakes & Torten

Enjoy!

Have a lovely weekend!

Ursula 

 

 

Follow me on Instagram: littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

 

Spinach and Cheese Dip Bites

A very happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas time and hope your having a great start into the new year 2018! I’ve been a bit absent lately mainly because I had my mom and stepfather visiting over the holidays. The short time we usually get to spend together is always very precious and I probably only get to see them again in summer. We had a wonderful Christmas, they also had some taste of what a real Canadian winter is all about;) lol. On the day they arrived in Toronto they ended up having to spend the night there, because all connecting flights to London, Ontario, were cancelled because of snow squalls. We got so much snow that day, at least 40 cm!

For New Years Eve I’ve made these yummy spinach cheese bites, with homemade puff pastry. I usually don’t eat so much cheese, just once in a while, because I love it:) Homemade puff pastry is delicious but takes some time to make, so feel free to use store bought. These bites are great as an appetizer or served with a tossed salad as a meal. Maybe next time I’ll make a pie size version:)

 

Spinach and Cheese Dip Bites

Yields: 24

Filling:

• 2 cups chopped frozen spinach, thawed
• 1 tsp garlic finely chopped
• 2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup garlic cream cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 can Pillsbury crescent dough or other puff pastry

-Combine spinach, garlic and Parmesan cheese. Blend in cream cheese and 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

-On a lightly floured surface roll out puff pastry into a rectangle. Cut into 24 squares. Place each square into a lightly greased muffin tin. Gently push down.

-Place one rounded teaspoon of your spinach mixture into each square. Top with the remaining mozzarella cheese.

-Bake in a preheated 375F oven for about 15 minutes or golden brown. Let rest a few minutes before removing.

 

Here is my quick Puff pastry recipe, from Betty Bossi

• 250 g unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 175 g butter, cold, cut into approx. 4 cm squares
• 150 ml cold water

-Mix together flour and salt, add the butter and water until everything holds together. Butter pieces have to stay big.

Step 1: On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough into a rectangle, 1 cm thick. Fold in both sides towards the middle, then fold one side onto the other. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

-Roll out dough again into a rectangle and repeat step 1. Refrigerate and repeat 4x all together. After the 4th time refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Tip: Puff pastry needs to stay cold. Don’t knead left over pieces together, lay on top of each other, then roll out. Can be frozen for up to 1 month.

-This is really a much quicker way to make puff pastry and I find it turns out very tasty.

 

I wish you all a very happy and healthy New Year!

Enjoy!

Ursula

 

Follow me on Instagram: littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gingerbread Oatmeal Cookie Sandwiches

Happy Friday! This week went by so quick! It is also soon December and I am really looking forward to my mom and my step-father visiting for Christmas! I’m really curious to see what the weather will be during that time, hopefully not to much snow;) For now it’s been raining a lot and we even had some snow.

With the holiday season just around the corner I am starting to think of baking cookies, there are so many yummy cookies and I would like to try them all, unfortunately it is usually just to much for the 4 of us, lol.

I ring in the weekend with my Gingerbread Latte and made some Gingerbread Oatmeal Cookie Sandwiches. I just spiced up my go-to oatmeal cookie recipe, added some molasses and gingerbread spice, so delicious! Buttercream filling is optional, they are very tasty without, but there is just something about cookie sandwiches! Love the smell of all these spices!!

 

Gingerbread Oatmeal Cookie Sandwiches

Yields: 16 large, 8 cookie sandwiches

Ingredients:

• 1 cup coconut sugar
• or 2/3 cup brown sugar, 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp molasses
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted, or butter soft
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp gingerbread spice mix (cinnamon, ginger, star anise, anise, clove, coriander)
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3 cups oats

-Preheat oven to 375F/180C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

-In a medium bowl mix together coconut oil, eggs, molasses and coconut sugar. Add the salt and spices. Stir in flour, baking soda and oats until well combined

-Drop by tbsp as big as you desire, leaving some space between cookies. Sprinkle with some coconut sugar, optional.

-Bake 9-11 minutes, until slightly browned at the bottom, do not overbake.

-Let cool completely

-Optional: Using your favorite buttercream, sandwich two cookies together. (add a little cinnamon to the buttercream)

 

 

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Enjoy!

Ursula

 

Follow me on Instagram: littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pumpkin Spice Babka

This is just a simple sweet yeastbread filled with pumpkin and spices and glazed generously with spiced maple syrup. I just love the smell and taste of this. I usually make babkas (Nussstriezel) filled with ground hazelnuts or almonds, I was surprised how good it was with a pumpkin filling.

Nothing complicated for the filling, just pumpkin puree sweetened with coconut sugar, spiced it up with cinnamon and pumpkin spice mix. For the dough I used my sweet yeastbread recipe that you can find here: Almond Croissants just changed the flour ingredients to 200 g unbleached all-purpose flour and 100 g spelt flour and spiced it up a bit by adding 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1 tsp cinnamon:)

 

 

Pumpkin Spice Babka

Dough:

• Almond Croissants
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon

 

Pumpkin Spice filling:

• 200 g pumpkin puree, (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 3 tbsp coconut sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice mix

Spiced Maple Syrup Glaze

• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice mix

-Prepare dough in advance, it needs at least 1 hour to rise. In the meanwhile prepare your pumpkin filling by mixing together pumpkin puree, coconut sugar and spices.

-Whisk together maple syrup, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice mix, set aside.

-Line a loaf pan or a baking sheet with parchment paper

-When doubled in size, roll out dough into a rectangular shape. Then spread pumpkin filling evenly all over. Start rolling dough up from the longest side, like you would for a cinnamon bun and gently pinch ends together. Cut log lengthwise in half so filling is exposed, pinch one end. Twist both pieces, pinch the other end to secure.

-Place in prepared loaf pan or baking sheet. Cover and let rise for another 30 minutes.

-Bake in preheated 350F/180C oven for 40 minutes.

-About 25 minute into baking brush some of the syrup onto babka. Bake until golden brown. Remove from stove and brush with remaining syrup. Let cool before cutting.

 

–Make sure your spice mixes are not old, it looses its flavor over time.–

 

Wishing everyone a happy weekend and to all my Canadian friends a happy Thanksgiving!

Enjoy!

Ursula

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A little throwback to our vacation in Switzerland and Italy, Summer 2016

As I was looking through my photos of last years vacation, I though it would be fun to show some of the things we ate while in Switzerland and Italy. Yes I do make pictures of our food, if it looks nice I’ll snap a pic;) And I am not the only one…

We went to Switzerland last summer to visit my family. It was a very special and important time for all of us. My father had to undergo a very dangerous heart operation in June, where they only gave him a 50/50 chance of survival. Feeling so blessed and still emotional that he survived, I can’t explain how it felt to see my dad end of July.

Usually we only eat out a few times, it is pretty expensive in Switzerland and we are able to cook and eat at “home”, that’s why I have only a few pictures to show.

This was one of my kids plate. They (we) love Cordon-Bleu.

My “Fitness” Plate , as they call it, this was salad with deep fried fish, okay the deep fried part is probably not so fitness related;), but I love how they make salads.

Now this is a iconic meal you need to eat if you are ever going to Switzerland: “Rahmschnitzel”. So delicious!

My kids and I love the “Kalbsbratwurst” (veal sausage), another traditional dish usually served with “Roesti” (Hashbrowns).

 

We also went on a little trip to Venice, Italy. We went by train, 6 hours. Venice is a very interesting and beautiful City.

Bridge of Sighs

Very cute side passages

It was my kids first time in Italy so they really had their minds on trying an Italian pizza:) and gelato (ice cream), for what I was to late to take a picture from, lol.

This was for one person-they had no sizes to choose from! Way to much, but delizioso!

 

I had to have Gnocchi al pesto-this is one of my favorite dishes-so good!

Cappucchino

(Pizza)Bread Faces- so cool!

 

Back in Switzerland:

Beatus Caves.

Following pictures are from the french speaking part of Switzerland. We stayed with my two brothers and families in a Chalet. That was lots of fun!

 

 

I hope you enjoyed my little throwback!

Ursula

 

 

Forest Berries Meringue Pie/Waldbeeren Meringue Kuchen

Happy weekend everyone!!

While growing up in Switzerland, we used to spend a lot of time in the forest. With family or with school. They have nicely looked after hiking trails. There is just something calming and peaceful about it. We would also often look for and find a lot of blueberries and strawberries! Now these are sweet memories:)

I’ve had a lot of raspberries and we are still picking some strawberries in our garden. We used to have blackberries but after getting hurt (scratched) a lot, we had enough and we dug the plant out…but I tell you that is a stubborn plant, it keeps on growing back…My brother in Switzerland has a thorn-less blackberry plant!!! That is the most amazing thing. Haven’t seen this here so far.

For this berry pie I used a mix of what I like to call forest berries (Waldbeeren): blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries. Deliciously melt in your mouth meringue filling! Totally worth trying out! Feel free to use your favorite pie crust recipe.

 

 

 

 

Forest Berries Meringue Pie

Pie crust:

• 200 g unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 100 g butter, cold, cut into very small pieces
• 2-3 tbsp honey
• 1/2 lemon, zest
• 1 egg

-Mix together flour and salt, add butter and with a pastry blender or your hands mix until crumbly.

-Add lemon zest, honey and egg. Knead only until it holds together. Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

-Preheat oven to 375F/190C

-Grease a 9-inch pie form. Roll out dough to fit form. Prick dough with a fork. For blind baking I cover bottom with parchment paper, then as a weight I pour some legumes like dry chickpeas over paper. Bake for about 10 minutes then remove paper with legumes and lower oven temperature to 350F/180C and finish bake until golden brown.

Meringue:

• 3 egg whites
• 1 pinch of salt
• 150 g sugar (I used honey)
• 500 g berries of your choice (I used blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries)

-Beat egg whites with salt until peaks form, add half of the sugar, beat until shiny then add rest of sugar until stiff.

-Mix half of the meringue with the berries. Fill into baked pie crust. Then top with remaining meringue.

-Bake in 375F/190C oven for a few minutes until golden brown.

 

 

Hiking in the Swiss Alps 2016

 

 

 

Enjoy!

Wishing you all a happy weekend!

Ursula

 

 

 

 

You can find me on Instagram: @littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

Canada Day Baked Maple Custard Doughnuts

Happy 150th Birthday Canada, July 1st 2017!!

I was thinking of what kind of desserts are very typical to Canada. Each province and territory has its own specialty. From Nanaimo Bars, Saskatoon Berry Pie, Butter Tarts, Apple Pie, Tarte au Sucre, Wild Blueberry Pie, Beaver Tail (like Elephant ears), and many more. Anything with Maple Syrup comes into my mind of course!! A very popular Canadian Coffee Chain has these Maple Boston Doughnuts and these the are my favorites. I have not had a doughnut in years…really. But I’ve made baked jelly donuts or as we call them in Switzerland, “Berliner”. Of course a doughnut should be fried, but these taste really soft and yummy, are easy to make and are a little on the lighter side that way;)

My son was helping me forming the doughnuts. He is slowly getting better, but he is starting to get a bit bored, so this was something for him to do. You can form the donuts as big as you like, from doughnut hole shape to regular doughnut size. The dough, custard and glaze are sweetened/made with maple syrup to really get into the maple goodness, or Canadian spirit:)

 

 

 

 

Baked Maple Custard Doughnuts

 

Coconut Custard

Find the recipe here: Coconut Custard mini tarts with mixed berries

-You can use any non-dairy or regular milk for this recipe

-Sweetened with 1/3 cup of maple syrup

-Do not forget to make the custard ahead. It needs time to cool and set.

Dough

• 200 g unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tbsp dry instant yeast
• 50 g butter
• 125 ml milk

-40 g butter melted

-Mix together flour, salt and yeast, add maple syrup.

-In a small saucepan mix together milk and butter and over low heat let the butter melt. Add to dry ingredients and mix well, then start kneading dough until forms a soft ball. Place back in bowl and cover with plastic wrap, let rise until doubled in size, about an hour.

-Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

-Form dough into desired doughnut shapes,  place onto sheet, cover and let rise again for about 30-45 min.

-Brush doughnuts with melted butter. Bake in preheated 350/180C oven for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Maple glaze

• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 2 tbsp butter

-In a small saucepan mix maple syrup and butter together, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and let cook until thickens while stirring constantly.

-Dip or brush warm donuts with the maple glaze (as much as you like)

 

-I filled the warm doughnuts first, then glazed. Works well with a small round pastry tip.

-These taste best when freshly made!

 

 

Enjoy!

Happy Canada Day!

Ursula

 

 

 

Follow me on Instagram: @littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bee Sting Cake/Bienenstich

Hi there, I am finally back! I’ve had a wonderful trip to Switzerland-visiting my family, I really really enjoyed it:)

I thought you might like to see some photos I took:

 

Lake Thun

Eiger, Moench, Jungfraujoch

Beatenbucht, Lake Thun

Schloss/Castle Schoenau

Spitzbub Cookie

Nussgipfel

Bienenstich/Bee Sting Cake

Seeing all the yummy stuff over there, I thought of making Bienenstich, Bee Sting Cake. A famous German Cake.

 

Bienenstich

Yeast Dough

• 250 g all-purpose unbleached flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp sugar or honey
• 50 g soft butter
• 1 tbsp quick instant yeast
• 200 ml milk, warm
• 1 egg

For the topping:

• 50 g butter
• 2-3 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp milk
• 100 g almond shavings

Vanilla Pastry Cream:

• 3 tbsp corn starch
• 400 ml milk
• 3 tbsp sugar or honey
• 2 eggs
• 1 vanilla pod

For the dough: In a bowl mix together flour, salt, sugar, add butter and mix well. Add Yeast, milk and egg. Knead dough well until smooth dough forms. Cover bowl with a plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size.

For the Almond topping: In a small saucepan over medium heat, mix together butter, honey, milk and almonds until warm, remove from heat.

For the pastry cream: In a medium saucepan mix together, and bring the milk, corn starch, sugar, egg and vanilla pod to a boil, while whisking. Remove from heat, pour into a bowl, cover with a plastic wrap touching the cream to prevent a “skin” forming on top. Let cool down a bit then put in the fridge until set.

-Preheat oven to 350F/180C. You can use a round cake pan or a square pan.  Line with parchment paper.

-Roll out dough to fit the pan, let rise again. Cover with almond topping and bake for about 30 minutes. Let cool completely.

-Cut cake in half. Spread pastry cream on bottom then cover with top. Cut in desired slices. Store in Refrigerator.

 

 

Enjoy!

Ursula

 

 

Follow me on Instagram: #littleswisslittlecanadian