Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Estonian desserts: Kaeraküpsised, my favourite oat cookies in the world

I've got a problem with most oat cookie recipes I come across. They are way too complicated and contain way too many ingredients, whereas I want my oat cookies to be simple, bordering on the plain. Also, I don't want my oat cookies to be dentally challenging, i.e. too crunchy or hard, as most of the commercially available oat cookies are. Finally, I like my oat cookies to be sweet rather than savoury, so as much as I love the sensible and healthy Scottish oatcakes, these are best suited to transfer a tiny chunk of cheese into my mouth, and not as nibbled when I feel peckish and want something sweet to satisfy my sweet tooth.

Here's my favourite oat cookie recipe that I've adapted over the years from the Finno-Ugric cookbook (Soome-ugri kokaraamat, 1995) that I've mentioned before. These cookies only contain the bare minimum of ingredients (no flour or baking powder in sight). They're crisp on the edges but with melt-in-your-mouth centres. And they are incredibly tasty as well. I love yellow raisins in my oat cookies as opposed to dark ones, but I think Buderim's candied ginger nibbles would work well, too. Or dark chocolate chips, if you're feeling naughty..

Pille's melt-in-your-mouth oat cookies
(Suussulavad kaeraküpsised)
Yields about 40-45 cookies



500 grams old-fashioned porridge oats
4 large eggs
150 grams sugar
170 grams butter, melted & cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract
100 grams small seedless yellow raisins

Whisk eggs with sugar until pale and frothy, season with vanilla extract, then stir in melted butter, oats and raisins. Stir until combined. The mixture should be on the soft side.
Take scant tablespoonfuls of the mixture and transfer them onto a lined baking sheet. (You don't want to make your cookies too large, as egg is the only thing holding them together, and they'd collapse if they're too large).
Bake in a pre-heated 180 C oven for about 10-11 minutes, until cookies are baked and golden brown on edges.
Transfer gently to a metal rack to cool. Keep in a airtight container for a few days.

Other cookie recipes @ Nami-nami:
Crumbly pistachio cookies (March 2006)
Estonian Christmas cookies (December 2005)
Hazelnut butter cookies (November 2005)
Lemon & pistachio shortbread cookies (March 2007)
Mayonnaise cookies (August 2005)
Peanut butter cookies (November 2005)

BLAST FROM THE PAST
Two years ago today I wrote about the expensive and beautiful flowering tea. Last year I posted some pictures about three fabulous breakfasts I had on the Greek island of Santorini and asked you to nominate your favourite :)

15 comments:

Clivia said...

Mmmm, they look lovely! I always bake more in the summer, lots of coffee in the sun then...
By the way I am coming to Estonia again this summer - drop me a line and maybe we can arrange to meet up somewhere! (I cannot find an e-mail address for you.)

K and S said...

they look and sound lovely! I love oatmeal cookies with cranberries in them :)

Kerstin Klein said...

i´ll have to try them.

Anonymous said...

I love oat meal cookies. Your recipe sounds divine and the photo looks enticing. I want some now! ;-)

Paz

anna/village vegan said...

Oh, I LOVE oat cookies. I've been meaning to make them for a long time, and I think this post is going to push me in the right direction!

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

I love oatmeal-raisin cookies, and these look easy and delicious. I'm bookmarking!

Alanna Kellogg said...

Ahh yes, so simple. All of a sudden 'everyday' oatmeal cookies seem too fussy!

Amrita said...

Delicious!

Katie Zeller said...

They're absolutely perfect... except I would probably have to satisfy my chocolate craving as well and substitute some dark chocolate chunks for the raisens... no one could tell!

Anonymous said...

Tegin selle retsepti jägi ja väga head tulid, just parajad krõbedad! Kuna brittidemaal "vanaaegseid" kaerahelbeid ei müüda, siis kasutasin tavalisi scottish porridge oats ja polnd ka häda midagi.

Anonymous said...

Your oat cookies sound great Pille! I love the way they look :) And that "teaser" below has got me drooling!!!

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Pelli you make these sound devine, the photo looks great and when I read the recipe, I must try them as soon as I make the ones I'm testing for Cook's Illustrated.

Kitchen Utinsel said...

Now that is an easy cookie recipe. I like easy. Sometimes when we bake we tend to get a little carried away with ingredients. I have to admit, if I were to bake those cookies they would have chocolate chips.

Pille said...

Clivia - thanks! I'll try to be around on the 28th to meet you!

K & S - dried cranberries would be really nice indeed - thanks for the tip!!

Ksklein - I think so, too ;)

Paz - you're soooo far away, so I cannot send any:( But you can always try the recipe:)

Village Vegan - sounds like a good plan!

Lydia - thanks, and I hope you'll try and like them!

Alanna - exactly! Try these :)

Amrita - thank you!

Katie - that'd be an acceptable substitute, I think.

Ülle- tore, et välja tulid. Eks siin sobivadki mõlemad tüüpi kaerahelbed. Ma ise kasutan enamasti röstitud suuri kaerahelbeid.

Joey - thank you! And re: the teaser - soon. Probably today :)

Tanna - good look with testing the other recipe, and mine!

Easy Cookie Recipe - I like easy, too! Oats themselves are so rustic, so oat cookies should be simple, too ;)

Sarah said...

They came out great! will definitely make them again (but will soak the raisins first since I used very dry ones).