Sunday 15 February 2015

Harlequin Cookies | Apricot and Tutti Frutti cookies


A hectic day ended on a sweet note. 


My weekend baking was a pleasure. It was relaxing, exciting and very rewarding. We baked two batches of cookies. Apricot cookies and Tutti frutti cookies Left over apricots from Apricot Walnut Tea Cake couldn’t have found a better use. The cookies were very crisp and loaded with chewy apricot and tutti frutti bits. My initial apprehension of there being no baking powder in the recipe disappeared once we bit into them. We loved the cookies.




The original Italian version, called Arlecchini- or little harlequins, also sometimes called Tutti Frutti use bright red and green candied cherries. 


I divided the dough into half. Added tutti-frutti to one part and added chopped dried apricots to another. 


This dough can be made and kept in the freezer. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking.


Harlequin CookiesApricot and Tutti Frutti Cookies

Adapted from www.kitchenfrau.com

Ingredients
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 to 2 tablespoon water or rum (to get the right consistency of dough)
½ cup soft dried apricots chopped coarsely, or tutti frutti

Method
Beat butter and sugar till fluffy.
Add vanilla essence. Add flour. Mix until it is moistened and crumbly.
Add 1 tablespoon of water/rum and mix with hands. Add another teaspoon of water/rum if the dough is hard or dry and cracks while kneading. The dough should be soft but not sticky.
Add chopped apricots or tutti frutti to the dough.
Roll the dough into two logs about 14 cms long each. Wrap it in a cling film. Shape the logs into a smooth cylinder. Place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Remove from the refrigerator and slice into 1/3  inch slices. Arrange the cookies in a baking sheet. If the edges of cookies break, press them gently into place.
Bake in a preheated oven at 165 degrees C for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden underneath. Cool in the tray for 5 minutes, then remove to rack to cool. Store in an airtight container.


1 comment:

  1. These look like little crunchy nuggets of sunny happiness Namita. I am not sure what tutti frutti is but had a look online and it seems to be little bits of dried or candied fruit? You could use all sorts of dried fruits for this. I have some lovely dried cherries that I dehydrated recently that wouldn't be as pretty but would taste amazing. Thank you for sharing this quick, easy and most lovely looking recipe with us Namita :)

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