Dutch Frangipane-Filled Cookies ("Gevulde Koeken")

Our Avid Baker's Challenge ("ABC") group is in full swing. For our March challenge, the chosen theme is "COOKIES". Any kind of cookies! Due to the global pandemic, I haven't been able to travel to The Netherlands to visit my family. Although we talk often, I miss hanging out with them. I also miss the baked goods.

If I can't go to The Netherlands, I'll bring The Netherlands to me. And so became my baking journey to make "Gevulde Koeken" for the very first time. These buttery and melt-in-mouth cookies (I'd call them pastries, really!) are filled with a soft and creamy almond paste filling. I love eating them the day they're baked. That's when the buttery outer "cookie" shell is still crisply. When you bite into it, it crumbles into your mouth!

Freshly baked Gevulde Koeken, golden brown and delicious!

ABC - Classic Dutch Apple Pie

I baked this October ABC recipe a couple months ago. The Classic Dutch Apple Pie recipe from the Weekend Bakery was amazing! Just the way I remember this childhood favorite dessert :)

There's a big difference between your traditional American apple pie and a Dutch one. Instead of a flaky crust, the crust is more like a sweet cookie crust. The filling has a minimal amount of sugar, allowing the apples to really shine.

If you'd like to join the ABC bakers in their monthly baking adventures, please go to the ABC blog for more information.

ABC - Homemade Rondo's

Happy belated New Year! I hope you had a good holiday season with lots of oven trips :)

We're starting 2016 with a new recipe source: WeekendBakery.com. I couldn't be more excited about that. I've baked recipes from this blog before with great results and I'm certain you will too.

The first ABC recipe of the year is: Homemade Rondo's. This is a traditional Dutch pastry consisting of a buttery crust with a sweet almond filling that gets its slight tang from the citrus zest. I love how Rondo's are decorated with a whole almond on top. I grew up on these cookies. I usually got them from the grocery store. Sometimes I'd splurge and buy them from a fancy bakery, eating them slightly warm. Yum! I have to admit that these homemade Rondo's are another step above that.

Homemade Dutch almond pastries called Rondo's

If you'd like to join the ABC bakers in their monthly baking adventures, please go to the ABC blog for more information.