Mexican Cinnamon cookies - Biscuits Mexicains à la cannelle

I started to bake these Mexican cookies when I bought the Williams-Sonoma «Cookies» book seven years ago. Since then I have adopted these delicious cookies for Christmas for two reasons; easy to make and perfect as a Christmas gift. This recipe makes 4 dozens.

Ingredients:
1 Cup of room temperature unsalted butter
1 1/4 Cup of Icing sugar
1 tea spoon of Vanilla extract
1/4 t. spoon of salt
1 3/4 Cup of wheat flour (regular white flour)
1 Cup of almond powder
1 t. spoon of cinnamon
Preheat the over to 350 F  / 176.6 C

Start by beating the butter until it becomes soft and pale. Add 1/2 cup of sugar and continue beating until creamy and light. Add the Vanilla and salt, beat a little more.

Now sift together the flour and the cinnamon. Add the flour and cinnamon mixture to the butter mixture and beet on low speed until just blended. Stir the almond powder and blend then cover and refrigerate for fifteen minutes.

Once the dough is chilled shape it into 1- inch balls (ping pong balls) and place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, until the cookies are a little bit golden on the bottom. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and let cook for five minutes. Finally, roll each cookie in the remaining icing sugar and let the cookies cool completely on the wire rack.

Don't forget to share and give these cookies as a Christmas gift wrapped in cellophane paper with a nice ribbon.

Enjoy!

EN FRANÇAIS SVP!

Voici la recette de ces délicieux biscuits à la cannelle et aux amandes:

Ingrédients:

1 tasse de beurre à température pièce
1 1/4 tasse de sucre glace
1 c.  à thé de vanille
1/4 à thé de sel
1 3/4 tasse de farine de blé (farine blanche regulière)
1 tasse d'amandes en poudre
1 à thé de cannelle
Préchauffez le four à 350 F  / 176.6 C

1- Battre le beurre jusqu'à obtenir un mélange pâle et crémeux, ajoutez le sucre et continuez à battre jusqu'à obtenir un mélange onctueux et léger. Incorporez la vanille et le sel, battre un peu plus.
2- Tamisez la farine de blé et la cannelle, ensuite ajoutez ce mélange au beurre, bien battre à vitesse minimale. Incorporez les amandes en poudre et mélangez. Couvrez et réfrigérez pour quinze minutes.
3- Une fois la pâte froide, modelez la pâte en petites balles de ping pong (1 pouce) et déposez sur  une plaque à four (qui n'a pas besoin d'être beurrée). Enfournez pour 10 à 12 minutes, jusqu'à ce que le dessous des biscuits soient dorés. Transférez la plaque sur la grille et laissez refroidir pour 5 minutes.
4- Finalement, roulez chaque biscuit dans le restant de sucre glace que vous avez prélablement mis dans une assiette afin de faciliter cette étape, puis laissez les biscuits refroidir complètement sur la grille.

N'oubliez pas de partager ces biscuits pour Noël enveloppés dans du papier cellophane et un beau ruban!

Bon appétit!

Flourless Chocolate Orange Little Cakes - Petits gâteaux choco-orange sans gluten

This is a Nigella Lawson's recipe from her book "Feast" which I love, especially the chocolate cake section. I have made this recipe my own by changing a few things: I have converted this cake recipe into little cakes or muffins and I have added some orange liqueur which I think enhances the flavour. 

Everytime someone tells me they cannot enjoy a regular wheat flour cake because they are gluten intolerant I think of sharing this wonderful gluten free recipe, so here it is. 

Ingredients:

2 little oranges or one big orange

6 eggs 

1 t. spoon of baking powder 

1/2 t. spoon of baking soda 

200 g almond powder 

150 g granulated sugar 

50 g  good quality cocoa powder 

1 T. spoon Cointreau or any orange liqueur

To decorate:

1/2 Cup candied orange peel

1//2  Cup sliced almonds 

Cook the oranges in cold water and let boil for a few minutes then reduce the heat to medium and let simmer for an hour or an hour an a half, once cooked let cool 6 to 24 hrs.

Once the oranges are cooled cut in quarters and remove the pits. 

Now add the oranges into the food processor and process until you obtain an squashy mixture, then add the rest of the ingredients and mix well until you get a perfect combined mixture.

Finally, pour the mixture into the muffin tins, drop a few almonds on top of each muffin and cook for 12 -20 minutes,  oven at 350 F - 177 C.

Alternative decoration: 

Let the little cakes (muffins) cool and decorate with the candied orange.

If you decide to prepare the cake instead of these little cakes then cook for 45 min. to an hour and don't forget to butter and line your tin.

Enjoy!