Valentine's Day Maple Walnut Spritz Cookie Hearts

Continuing my walnut purge with this month's theme, here's another nutty option. These would have used even more walnuts if I'd sprinkled them on top as the original recipe directed, but that wasn't very festive.  I made only half the recipe, which produced 45 small cookies, but here's the whole recipe:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract*
1¹/₂ cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup finely ground walnuts
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Coarse sugar
2/3 cup walnut pieces

Preheat oven to 350°. In a bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, maple syrup and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, ground walnuts, baking powder and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture (dough will be soft). Using a cookie press fitted with desired disc, press dough 1 inch apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes (see discussion below) or until bottoms are light brown. Cool on pans 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool. Decorate as desired before or after baking.

*For extra maple flavor, use half vanilla and half maple extract

These turned out very well, even though I overbaked the first batch. Perhaps my cookies were smaller than anticipated. (I used the "1" notch on the press -- the "2" produced a blob.)  I checked them at 10 minutes and they were already overbrowned. (My oven had also gotten a little too hot.) The next batch I baked for only 8 minutes and looked much better, although they could likely go for only 7, particularly if you didn't want any color. 

I probably didn't use the correct amount of nuts because I measured the pieces out first and then ground them. Another baker advised packing the ground nuts into the measuring cup, as it was important to the consistency of the batter -- this confirms the measurement was for ground nuts. The lesser quantity didn't seem to hurt them any, although more nuts would have given a mealier texture and nuttier flavor.

My plan had been to drizzle them with dark chocolate, but the melted chocolate chips I used had the consistency of pudding, even after adding butter, oil, and milk. I tried two different brands; Ghirardelli was only marginally more fluid than Trader Joes'. I was able to scrape some threads on a few of the cookies, although when it came to the ones with powdered sugar, the chocolate was having none of it. I don't know why this was a problem -- I've done it before without an issue. (Perhaps my heart wasn't in it!)  Just as well -- the chocolate overwhelmed the delicate flavor of the cookies.

Conclusion:  Delicious! Crisp and very buttery, like shortbread. Even the overbaked ones tasted good. The batter was easy to work with and stamped out nicely. They might be even tastier with browned butter!

Recipe:  Maple-Walnut Spritz Cookies via Taste of Home.

February ABC challenge: Walnut Honey Cake

This month the challenge is nuts. I have about 4 pounds of walnuts that I forgot I bought last year, and they're starting to turn, so I was looking for a recipe that used a lot of them.  I've had this recipe for a walnut cake in my files for a long time -- I couldn't find a link to the original recipe so I don't know the background for it, but I think this might be a traditional Greek cake called karidopita.  (Although that uses bread crumbs instead of flour, and no polenta.  Alternatively, this could be from Eastern Europe.)

Because of the polenta and the pour-over hot syrup, I was hoping it would be similar to this semolina almond cake, which I liked very much.  It was light and not too sweet -- unexpected, considering all the syrup.  On the other hand, many syrup-soaked desserts are extremely sweet, wet, and sticky, literally dripping with syrup.

Other than an adjustment for the lack of salt in the recipe, I followed it exactly.  Here's what I used:

1¹/₂ cups walnut pieces, plus 2 tablespoons for decorating
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup light muscovado sugar
1/4 cup set honey
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/2 cup polenta
1/3 cup milk
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Thoroughly grease and flour a 9-inch round cake tin. (Don't leave even a small bare spot.) Place the walnut pieces on a baking tray and roast for 8 minutes until slightly darker and aromatic. Cool and then roughly chop.  Set aside 2 tablespoons for decorating. Put the softened butter, sugar and honey in a bowl, and beat until light and fluffy.  Gradually add the eggs, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract.  Sift both types of flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon over the mixture, adding any bran left in the sieve.  Fold in and when half-mixed add the nuts, polenta and milk. Fold in. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and level the surface. Bake for 50 minutes or until well risen, firm and lightly browned. IMPORTANT:  after 30 minutes of baking, check to see if the top of the cake is turning dark. If it is, cover the cake with kitchen foil and continue baking. When the cake is baked it should be firm. Allow to cool in the pan a few minutes, then turn out onto a plate.

For the syrup:
1/2 cup golden caster sugar
4 tablespoons set honey
1/2 cup water

Put all the ingredients in a pan and heat gently, stirring until the sugar is fully dissolved. Simmer for 5 minutes.  Spoon the hot syrup evenly over the top of the warm cake and allow to soak in.  Decorate with the reserved walnuts before the syrup sets.  To make them shine, drizzle a little of the syrup over them.

 

The semolina in the almond cake is fine and absorbed the syrup nicely. Polenta is a coarser grind, though, and retains quite a bite, giving this cake a very sandy texture.  The cake was rather firm and dry, and combined with all the walnuts made it crumble when trying to eat it, which was annoying.  The recipe contained no salt at all other than a pinch, which I knew wasn't sufficient for my taste.  To compensate, I used salted butter, which usually works well, and didn't actually add any more, but I think it could still use that extra pinch.

Conclusion:  I'm not overly fond of spice cakes, finding them a little dull, and this one was no different. It had a nice hearty flavor, especially with the walnuts and whole wheat, but I thought it needed something.  A little orange zest or something else that offered some contrast.  Some ice cream or whipped cream is a big improvement as well.

Recipe:  Walnut Syrup Cake via Yummy Coffee and Food