Welsh Fried Cookie Recipe Analysis, Please

[Italiancook]

My recipe for Welsh Fried Cookies came from my grandmother via my dad. I never enjoyed them as a child. I thought they were too dry. Maybe that's the way they're supposed to taste. The adults in my life liked them a lot. I'm thinking about making them, because I bought a box of currants that I haven't opened yet. Below is the recipe. Any ideas on how I might make them more moist?

The grandmother this recipe came from didn't like to share her recipes. She'd never refused to give a recipe if asked. She would just alter the recipe she passed along so no one knew the true way she made it. I wonder if she left something out of this recipe -- yet, my dad and mom both liked these, and this is the recipe my dad gave me. All the other recipes he gave me are great.

Welsh Fried Cookies

1 quart flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup currants
3 eggs, beaten

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt & nutmeg.

Mix in (as for pie crust) the shortening. Add sugar & currants & beaten eggs.

Roll out on floured board. Cut with biscuit cutter. Fry in skillet about 4 minutes on each side. Do NOT grease skillet.

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• This topic was modified 8 years, 2 months ago by Italiancook.
• This topic was modified 8 years, 2 months ago by Italiancook.

[cwcdesign]

My first thought is the flour. A quart would be 4 cups and if you weigh your flour (I do) that would equal 1 pound 1 ounce according to KAF's weight chart. I might start with that amount and see if it helps. Then you could add in a little more, if necessary

[luvpyrpom]

I agree with Cwc, that there is a lot of flour with so little liquid. KAF has a recipe for Welsh Cakes and it looks similiar to yours. I would either add another egg or add 1/4 cup of milk to your eggs. I tried the KAF recipe a couple of years ago and found them to be delicious. Unfortunalely I don't have a large skillet or electric skillet to fry the large quantities of cakes it makes. Hope this helps.

[BakerAunt]

Here is a link to a KAF recipe for "Welsh Cakes." I thought of it when I read your post because it is on my list of one to try some day. (Thanks, Luvpyrpom for saying they are good. I'd probably get out my several flat griddles, put them on the burners--as I do when I make English Muffins--so I can do a lot at once.)

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/welsh-cakes-recipe

Of course these are cakes and not cookies.

Back before I found my perfect Pfefferneusse recipe, and was trying various ones, my grandmother sent me one that she had never baked that had been given to her by a lady who had gotten it from her mother-in-law but had never baked it. Well it was the goopiest mess, and I had to keep throwing more and more flour into it (way too much liquid). It made me wonder how well those in-laws got along!

[Italiancook]

Thanks, cwcdesign & luvpyrpom for zeroing in on the flour issue. I don't know enough about baking to have figured this out.

BakerAunt, I appreciate the KAF link.

Luvprpom, you're right the Welsh Cakes and "cookie" recipe are similar. I think I'll try the KAF recipe first to have a feel for what the right recipe tastes like. My family may have simply been making them wrong all those years. After I make the KAF cakes, I'll work with the family recipe and see where it goes. cwcdesign's suggestion of weighing the flour is probably a good idea for Grandma's recipe. It'll probably be a week or two before I have time to try KAF's recipe, but I'll report back with my results.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 2 months ago by Italiancook.

[Italiancook]

I made KAF Welsh Cakes for breakfast this morning. They look and smell just like my childhood memory of them, even though my family called them cookies. They were not as dry as the family recipe, but they are still not very moist. Nevertheless, the were deliciously addictive.

When I made the family recipe, my husband did not like them. In one sitting, he ate 4 of the KAF Welsh cakes.

Using a griddle and 1 skillet would be the best way to tackle these, unless you have 2 griddles. I used 2 skillets.

The recipe says to refrigerate half the dough while handling the other half. If I make these again and have time, I'll divide the dough into 2, and refrigerate both balls for 30-60 minutes. I thought the butter was too soft in the half I cut and cooked right away.

[BakerAunt]

Thank you, Italian Cook for reporting back. I'll make a note on the recipe for when I try it. I'm glad your husband enjoyed the Welsh Cakes. Sometimes it just takes the right version of a recipe.

[Italiancook]

Another note you may want to make concerns the frying time. As I recall, the KAF recipe says to fry the Welsh cakes for 2-1/2 minute per side. I found it took the first side much longer than that, with the second side being a little less time. But I have a stovetop that leaves a lot to be desired. KAF does say to fry on medium-low. I burned three of mine, because I had the heat up too high.

[BakerAunt]

I wish that KAF would give an optimal temperature. I have an infrared thermometer that I can use to check pan temperature. I note that the pan gets hotter the longer I'm using it. Even low on my gas stove can get a bit too hot, so I find myself lifting up the various griddles to cool them a bit. When I do English muffins, it is a bit of a juggling act with cast iron pans or Le Creuset griddle.

[luvpyrpom]

When I made the Welsh cakes, I borrowed the electric skillet from my sister in law. And yes, they are very addictive. I'll have to try to make them again and this time try it with a pan. I have a crepe pan that I use mainly for pancakes - American and Swedish styles.

[Mike Nolan]

They make rings and simmer plates for gas burners that can help you control the temperature. I use one when making stock, because I want it to simmer for 12 hours, not get up to a full boil.

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