Friday, July 30, 2010

Swedish rye cookies and vacation


I bet you know what I mean when I talk about being completely exhausted. About reaching that point in which you just keep on going because of pure inertia. When you just wake up because the alarm goes off and drag yourself to work with a sleepy face. When even if on the weekends you get to relax a bit, you're in constant motion, not a minute left for breathing. I certainly have reached that point.

It's been a year since I last was home, since my real last vacation. So right now, I really need to go home. Don't get me wrong. I just passed my second aniversary in the US and every day that goes by, I'm happier with the decision of moving here. Living 6000 miles away from your family is not easy, but for me it's totally worth it.


One of the reasons is that after two years of working like crazy both at MIT and at my current company, I will finally be a grad student. A PhD student nonetheless. I know it might sound boring to you, but I'm crazy excited. What can I say, I was born for research. And the teaching part, has me thrilled. I can't wait to have a bunch of students to guide through labs and classes.

But before that, I really need to charge batteries. That means being in Barcelona with my family and friends. Beers in the hot afternoons and delicious food. Then going with my parents to my dad's hometown. The smallest town in earth, or almost. I can picture myself waking up in the morning and baking some brioche for breakfast. Then going with my dad to the fields, to pick fresh fruit from those trees that have been in the family for generations. Maybe put some of that fruit in a galette or a tart. Certainly, hanging out with my friends until the moon goes down and the sun comes up. In a word, relaxing.



Don't worry, I'll be baking and posting!. Cleaning my pantry from flours and other ingredients has left me with a ton of baked goods that my coworkers and friends have been happy to receive. These Swedish rye cookies had been in my bookmarks for a long time and the only thing I'm sorry about is that I didn't make them earlier. They are tiny nice light cookies. Not overly sweet. In fact, if it weren't for the powdered sugar, they would barely be sweet at all. Perfect pairing for a cup of tea, they make a great afternoon snack. Plus the recipe makes a huge amount of them so you'll be able to share!


Swedish Rye Cookies
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks
Print this recipe

Note: I adapted the recipe by changing cane sugar for brown and skipped sprinkling the cookies with large grain sugar before baking. I used a small flower cookie cutter, less than 1 inch diameter and got 3 dozen cookies.

1 cup rye flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cream cheese
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar

In a bowl, combine flours and salt. With a hand mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy. Add the flour mixture and mix with a wooden spoon until combined. Refrigerate the dough covered in plastic wrap for about 30 min (you can skip this but it made it easier for me to work the dough in a really hot kitchen).

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Roll the dough to a 1/4 inch thickness and cut in shapes with a cookie cutter. Bake the cookies for about 7 minutes or until golden on the edges. Don't overbake or they'll become dry. Let them cool and dust with powdered sugar.

20 comments:

Gabriela, clavo y canela said...

Me encantan! me parecen muy lindas.
Gaby

Neus said...

Benvinguda a casa... quan arrivis segurament jo estaré apunt d'anar al altre costat...
M'alegro molt que ja que portes 2 anys fora de casa, hagin estat ben profitosos per a tu.
Disfruta dels teus i de la teva llar.
Ens veiem al septembre
Bon estiu maca!!!
i moltes graciés per la teva informació.
Un petonet

La cuina vermella said...

Estimada, si quan arribes a casa ens necessites, ja saps on som! Milions de petons i bona toranda a casa.

Maria said...

Guapaaa, aquestes galetones son ideals, ara que he provat la rye flour i m'encanta, trobo que es una recepta fabulous!
Descansa, que ja t'ho mereixes i...ens veiem a Barcelona!
Petonets

Sam said...

Nice understated looking biscuits for rye lovers! Enjoy your holiday home Adriana - sounds wonderful (and I do love Barcelona!) Sam :)

Carmen said...

M'encanten aquestes galetones, amb forma de flor t'han quedat maquíssssimes.
Que tinguis unes bones vacances i si nessesites quelcom, ja saps que pots comptar amb mi.
Petonets

Adriana @ Bittersweet Baker said...

I loved reading your post. Have fun on your vacation; I'm sure you will!

Sabores de Colores said...

Mmm deliciosas galletas!!! disfruta de tus vacaciones que siempre son bienvenidas :)

Un besote

Ague said...

Hola,soy nueva en tu blog,pero es muy interesante,así que me quedo en el,aquí me tienes como nueva seguidora,nos vemos en el blog cuando recreses de tus vacaciones.
Enhorabuena por tu blog,besooooosss¡¡¡¡¡

Patty said...

Que ricas galletas. :) Have a lovely time visiting your family - ¡buen viaje!

Jeannie said...

Adrina,
These cookies are beautiful! Your photography and writing are both so lovely! You're such a talented woman! I hope you have a GREAT time back home!

Anonymous said...

Lovely cookies! You had me drooling over the screen.

Y said...

Have you have a great holiday! We all need a break from things every now and then. I'm taking a mini one at the moment too, and am enjoying every moment of it. Those cookies look fantastic - I'm always on the look out for different things to make with rye flour, so am happy to have come across this recipe!

Torviewtoronto said...

these look beautifully delicious

redmenace said...

Is Barcelona home? I'm terribly jealous. What a glorious city!
I can't wait to hear what you cook/bake while you're home. Enjoy it. You deserve a recharge.

Love the cookies!

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