Cheese and Cream Pies ~ Τιροπιτάκια και Μπουγατσίνια με Κρέμα

Nothing is better than a nice warm breakfast that does not just include your typical bread and cheese or a type of spread. Ideally I prefer to have fruit first thing in the morning but sometimes I like to treat myself with something more. (If my family reads the last sentence they will define something more as salted or smoked sardines or fish and other unusual types of food or combinations such as toasted bread with feta cheese and strawberry jam) Apart from those times that I do indeed have cravings for not your typical breakfast food I like pies with cheese or cream fillings, a typical Thessaloniki morning treat. I had made some filo pastry the other day and I couldn't decide if I wanted to make a big pie or small ones. I decided to go for small ones as I could have different fillings. The good thing about all types of pastry is that it goes with any type of ingredient so you can mix and match according to your appetite. I won't give the recipe for the filo pastry this time but will give the recipes for the two fillings.

Cheese pies ingredients:
250g filo pastry
200g a mixture of any type of cheese
1 egg
1 tbsp parsley
salt, pepper

Cream pies ingredients:
250g filo pastry
2 1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup fine semolina
1/2 cup sugar
2 small eggs
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
(if we like it Chios mastic spice)

butter and egg yolk

For the cheese pies we beat the egg with a fork and in a bowl just mix all the ingredients together.
For the cream pies we boil the milk with the mastic, salt and sugar. We remove from the stove and add the semolina and keep stirring. We lower the temperature to medium and return the pan on the stove. We keep stirring until we get a thick cream. We beat the eggs with a fork and add them along with the butter in the cream. Lastly we add the vanilla essence.

We cut the filo pastry in strips approximately three fingers wide. We lay one strip and brush it with melted butter. We place another strip on top and brush it with butter. At the edge of the strip we spoon 2 tsp of the filling. Fold the filo on top of the filling to create a triangle. Keep folding until the end of the strip.

Beat the egg yolk and add 1 tbs of water. Brush the pies with the mixture. This will give them a nice gloss. You can sprinkle sesame on top of the cheese pies too.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180 C for approximately 15-20 or until golden.
Sprinkle some icing sugar and cinnamon on the cream pies once out of the oven.

Read More

Viennese Whirl Cookies

I haven't posted a recipe for a while even though I have been baking! Some months ago I had a friend over and we were both in the mood of baking something very quick! Not many ingredients in the cupboards so we decided to go for Viennese whirl cookies. Very simple dough and very light biscuits that go perfectly well with strawberry jam and clotted creme! For those that love buttery cookies this is one of the best recipes!

Ingredients:
250g soft butter
50g icing sugar
250g all purpose flour
50g cornflour
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Beat in the mixer the butter with the sugar. Once smooth and soft slowly add the rest of the ingredients. Blend until smooth. Spoon the mixture on a baking tray and bake for about 15 minutes at 190 C. They need to maintain their white color as we want them to remain soft.
Serve with clotted cream and any type of jam!

Read More

Soft Peanut Butter Cookies!

One of my favourite spreads is peanut butter. I prefer it to Nutella as it is more natural and more filling. Having said that even thought I like its taste I do not like it on toast just by itself. I love it when it is used in cookies, cakes or other types of desserts. Usually I go for peanut butter cupcakes, muffins or cakes but this time I was a bit lazy so decided to try something simpler. Peanut butter cookies. Now again when it comes to cookies I am picky too and I prefer soft ones. Going through recipes I realised that soft cookies are usually made with a mixture of white and brown sugar. I assume that brown sugar gives them that chewy taste and it does make sense due its consistency. This recipe is extremely simple and you end up with cookies in just 30 minutes! 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1 3/4 cup flour

Preheat the oven at 175 degrees Celsius.
In a mixer we beat the butter and peanut butter until they are soft, fluffy and well combined. We then add the sugar and we continue beating for about 5 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla essence, baking soda, baking powder and salt and continue beating for about 3 minutes. Lastly we slowly add the flour and continue beating until we have a workable dough.
We work the dough with our hands into small balls. We flatten them and place them on the baking tray. Keep in mind that once in the oven the cookies will expand so make sure there is distance between each other.

We bake for about 6-8 minutes or until they are slightly golden.

Read More