The Odd Fork

Chamomile tea may be consumed for its relaxing effects or before going to bed to improve sleep quality, but fresh or dried chamomile can also be used as a spice, especially in cake and cookie recipes. Dried chamomile flowers made these common butter biscuits something special, with a special aroma of course! 

To make them, you 'll need:

- 175 grams good quality milk butter, softened

- 1/2 cup granulated sugar (and some extra sugar for rolling biscuits)

- 2 Tbsp dried chamomile flowers
- 1/4 cup Kumquat Liqueur
- 2 & 1/3 cup soft flour
- 1 tsp baking powder

Start by processing sugar into your food processor together with the dried chamomile flowers, until sugar becomes fine and chamomile flowers turn to powder (as much as possible).
In a large bowl, add the softened butter, the chamomile-flavored sugar and Kumquat Liqueur. Whisk with a hand wire whisk (no need for electrical) until the ingredients are well blended. Sift flour with baking powder and add into the bowl, mixing softly with a spatula and hands just to combine and a dough forms. The dough should be soft, smooth and it should not stick to your hands, so shape it into a ball, cover well with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least an hour.

Preheat your oven to 170 degrees Celsius / 325 Fahrenheit. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out to 0,5 - 0,7 thickness. Using your favorite cookie cutter, cut out the biscuit shapes and place them on your prepared baking sheet. Optionally, you can roll them in extra granulated sugar before placing them onto the sheet. They will have a chunkier texture this way.

Bake for 10 - 15 minutes (depending on your oven), until they have taken on a golden color. Remove them carefully from the baking sheet, 10 - 15 minutes after. Enjoy them with chamomile tea or any of your favorite tea. Of course they are lovely with coffee as well, especially if you' re an unrepentant coffee addict, just like the Odd Fork 😏

This cookie recipe combines two big loves, coffee and Corfu! Well, not the island itself but a great local Corfiot product, Kumquats! Bittersweet candied kumquats balance perfectly with the coffee intense flavor. These brown babies are chewy, moist and addictive as hell!

For about 48 small cookies:

- 1/2 cup butter, melted

- 1/2 cup brown sugar

- 1/4 cup white sugar

- an egg

- 3 tbsp Kumquat Liqueur

- 5 tbsp instant coffee dissolved in 2 tbsp warm water

- 1/2 tsp baking powder

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1 and 1/2 cup flour

- 1 cup candied kumquats, chopped

Preheat oven to 180* C (350* F) Fan. In a large bowl, mix butter with the sugars until well-combined. Stir in kumquat liqueur, coffee mixture and egg until incorporated. Add the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix dough until just combined.
Dough should be soft and a little sticky, a little thicker than cake dough. Stir in candied kumquats and mix softly to incorporate.

Drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 5 - 10 minutes or until cookies are set around the edges but still soft in the center. Don't over bake.

Let the cookies cool and enjoy them with -what else- coffee of course!

The Odd Fork lately pinched these yummy vegan cookies and came here to share the recipe. Carrots, orange and candied ginger contained in the cookie dough paired excellent with Greek Red Saffron a.k.a. Krokos Kozanis (Kozani is a city in Greece where Krokos is produced), which is probably the best Greek aromatic herb.

The flowery and fruity aromas that emanated during baking time, made all kitchen forks come alive!

For about 50 small cookies:

- 2 shot glasses white sugar

- 1 shot glass olive oil

- 1 shot glass warm water

- a sachet of Krokos Kozanis in powder (0,25 g)

- 2 large carrots peeled and grated

- zest of an orange

- 1 tsp baking soda

- 1 1/2 cup self rising flour

- 1/2 cup candied ginger chopped in small cubes

Preheat oven to 180* C (350* F) Fan. Dissolve Krokos Kozanis in warm water, stir and let sit for 10 minutes until water color turns to deep orange. In a medium bowl, combine sugar, olive oil and Krokos infused water. Add baking soda, orange zest, carrots, mix well and add flour mixing softly with a spatula until the dough resembles a kind of thicker cake dough (you can add some more flour if necessary). Add candied ginger last.

Using two same teaspoons drop dollops of the dough onto a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes, until cookies are golden and firm around the edges.

Let them cool and store them in an airtight container. Enjoy with tea for a light, sweet breakfast or a delicious, vegan evening snack!

There are times that the Odd Fork tries to keep a balanced diet. It pinches snacks which are low in fat and often gluten-free while at the same time are nutritious, rich in protein and of course tasty! The cookies in the photo above, are another example that "less is more". They have everything you want from a cookie: Great taste, excellent aroma, a soft texture and almost zero fat and calories! What they do NOT have: Sugar, oil or butter, eggs, lactose and gluten! 

For the Odd Fork, black coffee and 2 - 3 cookies of these make the perfect fast and energy breakfast!

For 10 - 12 cookies all you need is a ripe banana and some of your favorite flakes (oat flakes, buckwheat flakes, quinoa flakes or millet flakes). Also add spices of choice, chopped nuts or dried fruit pieces, cocoa nibs... Variations are countless! 

For this version, mash banana in a bowl using a fork and add in the banana pulp the zest of a lemon and about 1/2 tsp of ground ginger (powder). Also add some coconut, some dried, sugar-free blueberries and last but not least millet flakes, as many as needed to have a mixture that resembles a cookie dough and you can use your fingers to shape the "dough" into cookies (if millet mixture is a little sticky, don't worry).

Put cookies onto a baking pan lined with a cookie sheet and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for about 15 - 20 minutes. Store them in an airtight container and enjoy in breakfast, before or after your workout, or just anytime you want a healthy, sweet snack!