Belgian Tuile Cookies Recipes

TUILE RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F(177°C). Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat. Set aside.

BELGIAN IRON COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream butter and brown sugar. Add eggs, vanilla, salt, and liquor (if desired). Blend in.
• Now it gets to be fun. You have to work in all five pounds of flour little by little by hand. It will work in but it takes a while. You'll wind up with a BIG mixing bowl of dough.
• Refrigerate dough overnight.
• Have plenty of people to help with the cooking. Lightly grease and heat the empty cookie iron over a gas burner. Start with a tablespoon and a half of dough rolled into a little "cigar" shape and vary amount to fit the size of your cookie iron. It takes from one to one and a half minutes to cook each cookie - it's a trial and error process at first till you get a handle on the temperature of the gas burner and the heat retaining capabilities of your iron. A properly cooked cookie will be golden and after cooled, crisp.
• This a family holiday tradition for us and we spend a whole day cooking cookies with lots of testing to make sure they're as good as last year's. The cast iron cookie irons work best, but I have seen people make them with the aluminum pizelle "irons". Ask for a krumkokie (croom cockie) iron at a gourmet cooking shop. We put them in tins and store till next Christmas, eating last year's cookies.

BELGIAN TUILE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Using a whisk, or a stand mixer with the paddle on low speed, cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla until a paste is formed.
• Gradually add the egg whites as you keep stirring.
• Add the flour in small batches until you have a smooth batter; be careful not to mix too much.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes. You may leave it in the fridge for up to a week, just take it out 30 minutes before using.
• Line a baking sheet with a liner or spray with a non-stick spray or butter. Place in the fridge for 15 minutes to help the batter spread more easily.
• Using either a stencil or a piping bag, put the batter onto the cookie sheet in your desired shape. Make sure the batter is thin on the sheet. If you want contrasting colors, set aside a small portion of the batter and color it with cocoa or a food coloring and pipe it on for decoration.
• Bake for 5-10 minutes, or until the edges turn golden brown.
• Immediately release from the cookie sheet and mold into your desired shape. The cookies must be molded while still warm.

BELGIAN TUILE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F Grease cookie sheets; set aside.
• Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in egg white, vanilla and salt. Gradually add flour. Beat until well blended. Drop rounded teaspoonfuls of batter 4 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets. (Bake only 4 cookies per sheet.) Flatten slightly with spatula.
• Bake 6 to 8 minutes or until cookies are deep golden brown. Let cookies stand on cookie sheet 1 minute. Working quickly, while cookies are still hot, drape cookies over rolling pin or bottle so both sides hang down and form saddle shape; cool completely.
• Melt chocolate in small heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly.
• Tilt saucepan to pool chocolate at one end; dip edge of each cookie, turning slowly so entire edge is tinged with chocolate.
• Transfer cookies to waxed paper; let stand at room temperature 1 hour or until set. Store tightly covered at room temperature. Do not freeze.

TUILES

Steps:

• In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed until creamy, about 30 seconds. Add the confectioners' sugar and flour and mix until combined. Add the egg whites one at a time, beating after each addition just until well blended, about 1 minute in all. Refrigerate the batter for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Have a rolling pin at hand. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray or line it with parchment paper.
• Spoon 2 teaspoons of the batter onto the baking sheet and with a small, offset metal spatula, spread it evenly into a 3-inch circle. Repeat to form more tuiles, baking only 6 to 8 at a time. Refrigerate the remaining batter while you bake the tuiles.
• Bake the tuiles for 4 to 6 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges. Remove from the oven and immediately shape the tuiles, lifting up each one with a metal spatula and draping it over the rolling pin so it curves, just until set. Repeat with the remaining batter. Store the tuiles in a cool dry place in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

FRENCH COOKIES (BELGI GALETTES)

Steps:

• In a large bowl, stir together the brown sugar and butter until smooth and creamy; then add eggs and vanilla, and beat well. Gradually stir in flour. Set bowl over a hot water bath, and stir to blend ingredients. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat the galette iron.
• Shape dough into 1 inch balls, and place in the galette iron. Close the iron, and cook the cookies. This should take about 30 seconds in an electric galette iron, or 2 to 4 minutes in a handheld iron over a medium flame. Carefully remove cookies and cool on wire racks.

CHOCOLATE LACE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a saucepan, combine brown sugar, butter and milk. Cook and stir over medium heat 3-4 minutes or until slightly thickened. Stir in pecans, flour and vanilla. Drop by 1/2 teaspoonfuls 3 in. apart onto foil-lined baking sheets. Bake 5-7 minutes or until golden brown and lacy. Cool completely before carefully removing from foil., In a microwave, melt chocolate chips; stir until smooth. Spread 1 teaspoon melted chocolate on bottoms of half the cookies; cover with remaining cookies. Refrigerate 10 minutes or until set. Store between pieces of waxed paper in an airtight container.

TUILES

Steps:

• Sift the flour, sugar, and salt into a small mixing bowl. Add the egg whites and then the melted unsalted butter, and whisk until just combined. Set the batter aside to rest for 1 1/2 hours before using, or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Heavily butter 3 pieces of parchment paper, and place one each on three baking sheets. Using 1 1/2 Tbsps. per tuile, spoon the batter onto the baking sheets, 5 per sheet. The cookies should be at least 2 inches apart, as they spread during baking. Dipping a finger in the milk first, spread each cookie into a 3-inch round. To insure even baking, make the edges no thinner than the centers.
• Bake the tuiles 8 to 10 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the centers are just beginning to color. Remove the cookies from the oven. As soon as they are cool enough to handle, remove the tuiles from the baking sheets and drape them around rolling pins or wine bottles. If the cookies become too cool and stiff to bend, return them to the oven for a minute or so and they will soften up.