We took a little break from schooling too. Oldest and I discovered Downton Abbey. Have you seen Downton Abbey yet? Or at least heard about its popularity? If you haven't heard about it yet, where have you been? We spent our down time catching up in the series, so that we could start the third season when it aired. Admittedly, it was hard to not go on to the next episode after we finished one. We managed to watch two episodes a day. We had to be responsible too. We finished the second season, literally two hours before the third season started! We were so happy with the way we spaced it out, so we weren't chomping at the bit for the next episode. I have a friend who caught the "fever" along with us and waits for PBS to post the episode online to watch it. I'm serious! She doesn't have a TV, so she waits in anticipation for them to post it! It is that good of a series!
Now that oldest and I are engrossed in the series, I've started wanting British yummies! Especially since another friend, that I had turned on to the series, told me that her newspaper had Downton Abbey recipes. Boy, I was a tad bit jealous! I had to make something soon! I've made scones before and love them. I've also made shortbread before and love that. But, recently, I started remembering the Welsh cookies we made back when we did our unit study on the UK. Yep, had to have some of them, because they were that good. [I printed out the recipe that we used and have tried to get the link set up from here, but for some reason, the link gets rerouted to an error screen. I've tried for about three days now and it isn't fixed yet, so I am just going to post the recipe here and if it gets fixed, I'll add the link to the original.] They are called a cookie, but I'd consider them to be more like a tea cake or biscuit.
Welsh Cookies (adapted from allrecipes.com)
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1pinch salt
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup dried currants
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup granulated sugar for decoration.
Directions:
1. Mix flour, baking powder, salt and the 1/2 cup sugar in medium bowl until well blended. Cut in butter or margarine and shortening with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Toss in currants. (If you don't have currants, raisins work just fine. Currants are just smaller, so easier to manage when cutting the cookies.)
2. Beat egg and milk with a fork in a 1-cup measure; add to flour mixture; mix gently with fork, just until blended. Dough should be consistency of pastry dough.
3. Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness with floured rolling pin on lightly floured pastry cloth or board. Cut with 3 inch floured cookie cutter.
4. Heat greased griddle or large heavy skillet over moderate heat until a few drops of water jump when dropped on surface. Cook cakes, a few at a time, 3 minutes, or until golden brown on second side. (Here is where you need to pay attention to them. The time depends on your griddle. Some keep heat better than others and you need to know your griddle to avoid burning the cookies. Watch the cookies closely. Cutting all of them out before cooking will also help to not burn them.) Remove to wire rack. Sprinkle with sugar. Let cool completely, then wrap in plastic bags to store. Can also be frozen. (Honestly, they haven't lasted long enough to be frozen here)
I used a new griddle that my in-laws gave me for Christmas, so I was still getting used to how it heats and keeps heat. These cookies are really good and they aren't too sweet. Perfect for consumption with tea or coffee or hot chocolate or maybe even warm milk and an episode of Downton Abbey.
I have some more Downton Abbey inspirations I'm toying with, some I've done before and some I found on Pinterest or the internet. I'll post them as I try them.
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