burekaboy gets a gun

no, not a real gun! i guess you could call it a toy. only this one shoots out cookies & biscuits in all different shapes, not bullets.

so what to do with this new kitchen tool and what was the impetus? well for one, lots of recipes that required this dough extruding machine. i guess if i ever get bored i can use it for caulking also.

two fantastic cookie recipes are:

italian butter cookies with cornmeal

&

moroccan "machine" cookies

the second one using a recipe from fellow blogger chanit @ my mom's recipes & more.

do try both these recipes and you shall see. thanks chanit! the moroccan machine cookies are called so because in morocco, they used to [and many moroccan "jewish mothers" i know still do] use a meat grinder [also called hachoir or makina] with an special cookie attachment to extrude the cookies. i have an attachment from morocco which is different. using a cookie gun is the "modern" new world way. the old way is certainly easier in that you do not have to keep stopping and reloading the cookie gun — you just keep feeding in the balls of dough and turning the handle. usually two or more ladies would make these cookies as they are made in quantity. while one cranks, the others cut and place on sheets. i changed chanit's recipe a bit by the addition of vanilla sugar and the very moroccan inclusion of aniseed. in terms of shapes, the cookie — as i am familiar with them — are long and thin "pencils". they are also usually made with margarine so they remain pareve [neutral] and can be eaten with dairy or meat. chanit's way suggests butter and it uses a wider attachment which i tried and really liked. extruding the cookies is a bit tricky however as there is coconut in the dough. perhaps i may need more practice [hmmm .... good reason to make more! hope i have extra space in my stomach freezer].

moroccan "biscuits à la machine"

ingredients:

200 g butter or 2 quarters of margarine
1 c sugar
2 pk vanilla sugar
2 eggs

400 g flour
2 tsp baking powder

1/2 c shredded coconut
1/4 c sesame seeds
1/4 tsp aniseed
1/2 tsp orange oil extract [or lemon oil]
OR 1 tbsp orange flower water

method:

cream butter and sugar. add dry ingredients and mix well. add coconut, sesame seeds, aniseed and flavourings. mix again to make a soft dough. load into gun and extrude into the shapes you like.


bake at 375 F for 10 - 12 minutes. let cool. DELICIOUS!

italian cornmeal butter cookies {crumiri}

this recipe is almost exactly the same as the one from the martha stewart site. if you read & understand italian, look here or here [english].

a specialty of the piedmont region of italy and traditionally shaped into a horseshoe or canelli [stick], this recipe makes a lot of cookies, several dozen depending on the shape/s that you choose.

ingredients:

1 3/4 cups AP flour
1 c fine yellow cornmeal
1/4 tsp salt
1 c unsalted butter or margarine [2 sticks], softened
[or use semisalted butter and omit the salt]
2/3 c sugar
1 large egg & 1 egg yolk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract & 1 pkg vanilla sugar
[and/or 1/2 tsp lemon extract plus 1 tablespoon lemon zest]

method:

cream the butter, sugar, vanilla sugar, and salt. add the eggs, vanilla and lemon zest and beat well until incorporated. in another bowl mix the flour and cornmeal together and add to the butter mixture in two or three additions.

preheat oven to 350 F.

load this into your cookie gun after having choosen which shape or shapes you want.

cute little snake, huh?

extrude the dough and cook on a parchment lined sheet for 15 minutes or until lightly golden. let cool several minutes before moving.


the easiest to make is one long strip and cut it into lengths that you like. carefully move them into place. it is easiest to extrude the cookies directly on the cookie sheet and move the cookie gun as you go to avoid breaking the stream of dough. other shapes are s ones and horseshoes and spirals.