Hallongrottor – the Buttery Jam Biscuits You’ve Been Waiting For
I’m not Swedish, but fika is one of my favorite customs that I never grew up with. It’s a simple and enjoyable activity to drink coffee and sweet pastries with friends. It’s a purposeful invitation to enjoy life every day, plus the cookies. What’s not to like about it? Hallongrottor cookies are often part of classic Swedish fika and are in my top five favorite cookies. Full stop. I think it could also rise to the ranks of your favorites.
Even before I’d ever seen a single halongrotta, I’d always loved raspberry thumbprint cookies. Buttery, tender, with a hint of raspberry jam – I always needed two or three more thumbprints. In Swedish, “hallon” means “raspberry” and “grot” means caves. This makes these cookies “raspberry caves” and that’s what I’ve always wanted. The little fingerprint cookies are great for the fine-dining crowd, but I’m not a fan of fine dining. I need a buttery cave filled with raspberry jam, thank you very much.
More tender than shortbread
These treats are very similar to shortbread cookies with a little extra. Shortbread cookies are known for their easy preparation and incredibly soft, buttery texture. Hallongrottor has all the good things about shortbread, plus a bright, jammy center and the addition of two ingredients that lighten the texture even further: baking powder and potato starch.
A little baking powder creates bubbles while baking, and as the cookie dough bakes and hardens, those bubbles turn into tiny air pockets. Introducing additional starch into the dough actually shortens the gluten strands in the dough, breaking the gluten bonds. In addition, potato starch has the remarkable ability to absorb water and gelatinize, helping to hold the dough together without making it chewy.
Although potato starch is readily available in the baking section of most large grocery stores, you can substitute an equal amount of cornstarch in this recipe if you can’t get it.
How to cook Hallongrottor
The recipe is nicely simple, and although I modeled mine after the hallongrot from Fabrique Bakery (with the curled top), you can keep it classic, but with a round shape.
1. Prepare the dough
Using a rubber spatula, cream the softened butter and sugar in a bowl until smooth. Mix salt and vanilla paste (can be replaced with extract). In a smaller bowl, whisk together flour, potato starch and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix gently until a soft dough forms.
2. Fill the cups
Line a muffin tin with paper liners. Using a scoop or ice cream mold, divide the batter into seven cups. (This is a weird batch size, sorry.) The batter will puff up, so fill the cups about three-quarters full. For decoration, use a large piping bag with a large star tip. Fill the bag with batter and pour the batter into the cups, finishing with one final fan of the top.
3. Make crimson caves.
Using the handle of a wooden spoon or a wine cork, make a deep indentation in the center of each cookie. Fill the caves with raspberry jam. (It’s good to be generous here, since they will sink a little later.) Place the halongrottor in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes while you preheat the oven to 350°F.
4. Bake
Once the oven is hot, bake the cookies for 15 to 20 minutes or until the edges begin to take color. Cool them completely on a wire rack.
As it cools, the raspberry center will sink slightly. Don’t worry – this is all part of the cave’s development. It’s hard to resist, but I recommend waiting until the cookies are at room temperature or even chilled in the refrigerator to allow the butter to harden a bit. Finish them with a light dusting of powdered sugar and invite a friend over for fika.
Hallongrot Recipe
Ingredients:
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9 tablespoons butter, softened
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⅓ cup sugar
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¼ teaspoon salt
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1 teaspoon vanilla paste
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1 cup flour
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3 tablespoons potato starch
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½ teaspoon baking powder
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¼–½ cup raspberry jam (I recommend Crofter’s or St. Dalfour)
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Powdered sugar for decoration.
1. Using a rubber spatula, cream the butter and sugar in a bowl until smooth. Mix salt and vanilla paste. In a smaller bowl, whisk together flour, potato starch and baking powder. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir gently until you form a soft dough.
2. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with seven paper liners. Using a scoop or ice cream mold, divide the batter into seven cups. Fill the cups about three-quarters full.
3. Using the handle of a wooden spoon or a wine cork, make a deep indentation in each cookie. Fill the caves with raspberry jam. Place the halongrottor in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes while you preheat the oven to 350°F.
4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until at least a hint of color appears around the edges. Cool the hallongrottor completely on a cooling rack. Dust the top with powdered sugar before serving.