Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Czech Christmas Cookies - Pracny


PRACNY

For most Czech Christmas cookies you need to let the dough rest for at least 12 hrs. Then they need to sit in the closed box for at least a week or two. That's the sad part. But then they are SO good when you eat them all the way till January.

These are Pauly's favorite, he said Marta used to make them.



You will need shallow tin forms about 2 - 4 inches big. I don't grease and I re-use them unwashed, just get the crumbles out after each batch and I wash them when I'm finished.

Ingredients:

1.6 cups all purpose flour
1.6 cups sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
2 sticks minus a pat butter at room temperature
0.44 lb walnuts crushed in the food processor to the side of bigger cous-cous but be careful not to make it too oily
4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
powdered sugar to coat the cookies

To make the dough:

Mix the flour, sugar, cocoa powder and spices, add walnuts and whisk together. Then cut in the butter in small pieces. Work with your hands to make nice non-sticking dough. It is a messy job and takes a while. When you are done, wrap the dough in a food plastic foil to keep all the air out and store on the bottom of your fridge for up to 1 week.

To bake the cookies:

Preheat the oven to 320F positioned on the middle rack. Prepare empty baking sheet and bring the dough that was kep in the fridge for at least 12 hrs. depends on how many tin form you have (I have about 20), cut off 1/3 of dough, put the rest back to the fridge. Fill the forms with the dough so that the bottom of the form is filled all the way to the sides but there is some space left on top, they should not be flat filled because they rise up as they bake. Put the forms on the baking sheet as you fill them and when the sheet is full, put it in the oven. The cookies will puff up a bit and bubble. They should bake for about 10-12 minuts. When you take them out they will still be soft, they will dry up in the tin. Cool them completely in the tins. Then smack the tins gently against the table surface (cookie down) to get them out and put them in a plate or container with the powdered sugar to coat them. The sugar will help to moisture them with time, which is what you want.

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