After making another loaf of sourdough bread and apple pie during this COVID-19 quarantine time, our oldest asked, if I could make more Dutch baked goods. What? You don’t like my sourdough bread? I dove deep into my memory of eating yummy Dutch baked goods, like apple cookies, “vlaai“, “bokkepootjes” and “boterkoek”. I might find more, but my thought stopped at “boterkoek”. We’ll make that one first.
Shortbread versus Boterkoek
I was wondering why our oldest was getting so interested in everything Dutch suddenly. Instead of taking Spanish classes in their first year of high school, they want to learn Dutch and German. Songs downloaded on their phone are mainly Dutch songs, the texts they’re writing me, are also in Dutch. And now Dutch food…..”When I go to college, can you write some Dutch recipes down, so I can make them? They have to be easy!”
I guess, this will be one for that recipe book. “Boterkoek”. It is not really a (butter) cookie, but more like a dense cake. It does taste like shortbread. Traditionally the Dutch use “basterdsuiker”, a kind of sugar which is more moist than regular sugar. And of course I couldn’t find it in the US, I used regular sugar.
Some recipes ask for vanilla sugar. In a normal grocery store, I usually cannot find something like that and will use vanilla extract with sugar, but I found vanilla sugar packages in a World Market or the Dutch Expat Store.
The Boterkoek Recipe
Boterkoek
A traditional Dutch recipe which reminds people of shortbread. It is moist, buttery and yummy.
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- pinch salt
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp vanilla or 1 package vanilla sugar, if you have it
- 1 egg
Instructions
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Mix the butter, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl.
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Add the flour until the dough feels firm and comes nicely together.
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Let the dough rest in plastic foil in the fridge for 1 hour.
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Grease a 9-inch pie pan and set aside.
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Preheat the oven to 400F.
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Push the dough into the pie pan. You can make the dough even, using the back of a spoon or a butter knife. Make fun criss-cross lines with a fork.
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Let the boterkoek rest for another 30 minutes
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Beat the egg in a cup and brush over the boterkoek.
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Put in the oven for about 20 minutes. Ovens can be different from each other, so check after 17 minutes. The boterkoek should be golden brown.
I had to be quick making pictures, because the boterkoek was gone in no time. I was allowed to eat the crumbs….I guess I have to make another one soon!
Hello everyone,
Welcome to my Crafty Dutch Girl blog! Grab a cup of “koffie” and browse through fun blog posts about our Dutch family expat life in the USA, Dutch history, Dutch recipes, Dutch things to do in the USA and all kinds of crafts and activities. Don’t forget to connect with me for new ideas! “Groetjes en tot ziens”.