Masas

Galletas de masa quebrada

En una de mis visitas habituales al blog de La Receta de la Felicidad, encontré esta receta de galletas exprés. En mi caso no fueron tan exprés ya que decidí hacer yo misma la masa quebrada en vez de comprarla. En cualquier caso, la idea del trenzado de galletas sorprende por lo sencilla que es y lo bonita que queda, así que no tenéis excusa para no probarla.

¿Qué necesitamos?

- 1 lámina de masa quebrada*

1 cucharada de mantequilla
Azúcar y canela

*Si en vez de comprarla preferis hacer vosotros mismos la masa quebrada también necesitaréis:

200 g de harina
100 g de mantequilla fría
1 huevo
Una pizca de sal
Una pizca de azúcar

¿Cómo lo hacemos?

Masa quebrada:

Ponemos todos los ingredientes en un cuenco. La mantequilla tiene que estar muy fría y cortada en trocitos.
Empezamos a amasar con las manos hasta tener una masa homogénea, hacemos una bola con ella y la envolvemos en papel film transparente. Dejamos reposar una hora en la nevera.
Pasado el tiempo de espera estiramos la masa con el rodillo hasta dejarla bastante finita (5 mm aproximadamente). Podemos hacerlo ayudándonos de un par de papeles de horno o incluso film transparente.

Galletas:

Precalentamos el horno a 200ºC.
Con la masa estirada, cortamos tiras de 1 cm con un cuchillo bien afilado.
Procedemos a trenzar la masa. Para ello, pondremos la mitad de las tiras juntas en posición vertical. Luego iremos colocando una a una las otras tiras en horizontal haciéndolas pasar por las tiras verticales alternando arriba y abajo (como una imagen vale más que mil palabras, echadle un vistazo a la foto).
Con un cortapastas redondo (o de la forma deseada) vamos cortando las galletas de nuestra masa recién trenzada.
Las pincelamos con mantequilla derretida y añadimos azúcar y canela (sin temor a excedernos ya que la masa quebrada no es dulce).
Colocamos las galletas sobre una bandeja cubierta con papel de hornear y las horneamos durante 10 minutos.

Consejos:

Podéis echarle cualquier especia o saborizante que consideréis. En mi caso utilicé un azúcar glas aromatizada con canela y manzana.
Para que no pierdan demasiado su forma la masa quebrada tiene que estar muy fría y habrá que manosearla lo menos posible (en este caso, es más sencillo hacerlo con masa quebrada comprada).
Si las hacéis del tamaño más grande que una tacita de café podréis servirlas de la forma tan original que hace @SandeeA

[English version] SHORTBREAD PASTRY BISCUITS *Ingredients:- 1 sheet of shortbread pastry

1 tbsp of butter
Sugar and cinnamon For the shortbread pastry you will need:- 200 g of white flour- 100 g of butter- 1 egg- A pinch of salt- A pinch of sugar *For the pastry
Place all the ingredients into a large bowl. Butter has to be very cold and cut into small pieces.
Mix properly until getting a uniform dough, make a bowl and cover with cling film. Leave in the fridge for 1 hour.
*Roll out the dough (5 mm thick). You can use a couple of baking papers or cling film to make the task easier. *

For the biscuits:

* Preheat oven at 200ºC*
Cut 1 cm-wide stripes with a sharpen knife. Create the pattern by putting half of the stripes into vertical positions. Then use the other stripes (one by one) to cross the first ones in horizontal position as shown in the picture.
Cut out rounds.
Brush tops with melt butter and sprinkle sugar and cinnamon.
Place into oven tray covered by baking paper sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes.

Tips:- You can add any other spices or flavours. I used apple-cinnamon flavoured sugar.

To avoid the pastry loses its shape, keep it always very cold!
You can cut out rounds a bit bigger than small cups and use the same serving suggestion than @SandeeA

Shortcrust Pastry Cookies

On one of my regular visits to the La Receta de la Felicidad blog, I came across this recipe for express cookies. In my case they weren’t quite so express since I decided to make the shortcrust pastry myself instead of buying it. In any case, the idea of the woven cookies is striking for how simple it is and how pretty they look, so you have no excuse not to try them.

What do we need?

```
  1 sheet of shortcrust pastry*
```
```
  1 tablespoon of butter
```
```
  Sugar and cinnamon
```

*If instead of buying it you’d rather make the shortcrust pastry yourselves, you’ll also need:

```
  200 g (1.5 cups) of flour
```
```
  100 g (7 tbsp) of cold butter
```
```
  1 egg
```
```
  A pinch of salt
```
```
  A pinch of sugar
```

How do we make it?

Shortcrust pastry:

Put all the ingredients in a bowl. The butter has to be very cold and cut into small pieces.
Start kneading with your hands until you have a smooth dough, shape it into a ball and wrap it in plastic wrap. Let it rest in the fridge for an hour.
Once the waiting time is up, roll out the dough with a rolling pin until it’s quite thin (about 5 mm / 1/4 inch). You can do this with the help of a couple of sheets of baking paper or even plastic wrap.

Cookies:

Preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F).
With the dough rolled out, cut strips of 1 cm (about 1/2 inch) with a sharp knife.
Now we weave the dough. To do this, place half of the strips together in a vertical position. Then place the other strips one by one horizontally, passing them through the vertical strips alternating over and under (since a picture is worth a thousand words, take a look at the photo).
With a round cookie cutter (or any shape you like), cut out the cookies from the freshly woven dough.
Brush them with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon (don’t be shy with the amount, since shortcrust pastry isn’t sweet).
Place the cookies on a tray lined with baking paper and bake them for 10 minutes.

Tips:

You can add any spice or flavoring you like. In my case I used a powdered sugar flavored with cinnamon and apple.
So they don’t lose their shape too much, the shortcrust pastry has to be very cold and you should handle it as little as possible (in this case, it’s easier with store-bought shortcrust pastry).
If you make them a bit bigger than a coffee cup, you can serve them in the original way that @SandeeA does.

Medias lunas rellenas

¿Sabíais que croissant en francés significa media luna? Literalmente, significa ‘creciente’ que es la fase de la luna a la que comúnmente denominamos media luna. Pues bien, con esa misma forma pero con una masa totalmente distinta y un relleno salado, os presentamos este fácil plato. La receta la rescatamos de una revista navideña de Thermomix y nos pareció una buena idea para ofrecer una merienda en casa o para llevárselos de viaje y comerlos durante un alto en el camino. Para aquellos reacios a los artilugios complicados y a los robots de cocina, tranquilos, que nosotros lo hicimos con nuestras propias manitas y quedaron estupendos.

¿Qué necesitamos?

400-500 g harina de repostería
250 g queso quark
250 g mantequilla fría
1/2 cucharadita de sal - 1 sobre de levadura
1 huevo batido (para pintar)

Para el relleno:

100 g jamón de york
200 g queso emmental
2 tomates
Orégano seco

¿Cómo lo hacemos?

Cortamos la mantequilla en trocitos y mezclamos con el resto de ingredientes. Primero empezamos a remover con un tenedor y luego terminamos de amasarlo con las manos.
Hacemos una bola con la masa, la envolvemos en film transparente y la dejamos reposar en la nevera durante 30 minutos.
Precalentamos el horno a 180ºC.
Dividimos la masa en dos partes y estiramos cada una de ellas con ayuda del rodillo hasta formar un círculo de masa fina (3 mm aproximadamente).
Cortamos con un cuchillo con el cortapizzas 8 porciones triangulares (como si fuera una pizza).
Ponemos en cada porción un poco de jamón de york y queso y las enrollamos empezando por la parte ancha y acabando por el pico para darle forma de croissant.
Cortamos la mozzarella y el tomate en rodajas y luego éstas a la mitad. Lo utilizamos para rellenar las porciones resultantes del segundo círculo de masa añadiéndoles un poco de orégano. Los enrollamos de la misma manera.
Colocamos todos los croissants en una bandeja de horno forrada con papel de hornear y la pintamos con huevo batido.
Horneamos durante 20 minutos aproximadamente.

Consejos:

Podéis variar el relleno a vuestro gusto. De hecho, la receta original era sólo con jamón y queso y nosotros introdujimos la variedad de tomate-mozzarella y nos gustó incluso más.
La masa no es especialmente salada así que ¿por qué no probar con un relleno dulce?

[English version] FILLED CROISSANTS **Ingredients:-400-500 g flour

250 g quark cheese
250 g butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 package baking powder
1 egg
Dice the butter and mix with the rest of ingredients. First stir well by using a fork and then use your hands.
Make a ball with the dough, wrap it in cling film and place in the fridge for 30 min.
Preheat oven at 180ºC
Divide the dough into two pieces and roll out to two thin circles (3 mm).
Cut each circle into 8 portions (like pizza slices).
Put some york ham and cheese over each slice and roll it from the biggest side to the narrowest to create the croissant shape.
Slice mozzarella and tomato and then cut into halves. Use them and oregano to fill the second circle of dough. Roll it in the same way.
Place the croissants on a baking tray covered by baking paper. Glaze croissants with egg.
Bake for 20 min approximately.

Tips:- You can vary the filling. The original recipe was done with ham and cheese and we decided to create the mozarella-tomato flavour and we liked it even more! - The dough itself is not really salty. So why not a sweet filling?

Stuffed Crescent Rolls

Did you know that croissant in French means crescent moon? Literally, it means ‘waxing,’ which is the phase of the moon we commonly call a crescent. Well, with that same shape but a completely different dough and a savory filling, we present this easy dish. We rescued the recipe from a Thermomix Christmas magazine and thought it would be a great idea to offer as an afternoon snack at home or to pack along on a trip and enjoy during a roadside stop. For those of you who are wary of complicated gadgets and kitchen robots, don’t worry — we made these with our own little hands and they turned out wonderfully.

What do we need?

```
  400-500 g (3.25-4 cups) pastry flour
```
```
  250 g (1 cup) quark cheese
```
```
  250 g (1 cup / 2 sticks) cold butter
```
```
  1/2 teaspoon salt
```
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  1 packet baking powder
```
```
  1 beaten egg (for glazing)
```

For the filling:

```
  100 g (3.5 oz) cooked ham
```
```
  200 g (7 oz) Emmental cheese
```
```
  2 tomatoes
```
```
  Dried oregano
```

How do we make it?

Cut the butter into small pieces and mix with the rest of the ingredients. Start by stirring with a fork and then finish kneading with your hands.
Form the dough into a ball, wrap it in cling film and let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F).
Divide the dough in two and roll out each piece with a rolling pin into a thin circle (about 3 mm / 1/8 inch).
Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut 8 triangular portions (just like a pizza).
Place a bit of cooked ham and cheese on each portion and roll them up starting from the wide end and finishing at the tip to give them that croissant shape.
Slice the mozzarella and tomato into rounds and then cut those in half. Use them to fill the portions from the second circle of dough, adding a bit of oregano. Roll them up the same way.
Place all the croissants on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and brush them with beaten egg.
Bake for about 20 minutes.

Tips:

You can vary the filling however you like. In fact, the original recipe was just ham and cheese, and we introduced the tomato-mozzarella variety and liked it even more.
The dough isn’t particularly salty, so why not try a sweet filling?

[English version] FILLED CROISSANTS **Ingredients:-400-500 g flour

250 g quark cheese
250 g butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 package baking powder
1 egg
Dice the butter and mix with the rest of ingredients. First stir well by using a fork and then use your hands.
Make a ball with the dough, wrap it in cling film and place in the fridge for 30 min.
Preheat oven at 180ºC
Divide the dough into two pieces and roll out to two thin circles (3 mm).
Cut each circle into 8 portions (like pizza slices).
Put some york ham and cheese over each slice and roll it from the biggest side to the narrowest to create the croissant shape.
Slice mozzarella and tomato and then cut into halves. Use them and oregano to fill the second circle of dough. Roll it in the same way.
Place the croissants on a baking tray covered by baking paper. Glaze croissants with egg.
Bake for 20 min approximately.
Tips:- You can vary the filling. The original recipe was done with ham and cheese and we decided to create the mozarella-tomato flavour and we liked it even more! - The dough itself is not really salty. So why not a sweet filling?