Bokkenpoten (Dutch Goat's-Feet Cookies)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Two baking trays
• •Parchment paper
• •Electric hand mixer or stand mixer
• •Piping bag with 1cm plain nozzle
• •Heatproof bowl for melting chocolate

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the trays

   Heat the oven to 160C, or 150C fan. Line two baking trays with parchment. If your piping hand is not yet a pastry-shop hand, draw 7cm guide lines on the underside of the paper, spaced well apart. No shame in a ruler; Dutch baking has always admired thrift, and wasted batter is not thrift.

2. 2

   Mix the almonds

   Stir the almond flour, 70g icing sugar, and plain flour together, breaking up any lumps with your fingers. The flour is not there to make a cake of it; it gives the almond meringue just enough spine to hold its goat-foot shape after baking.

   If your almond flour is coarse, pulse it briefly with the icing sugar, then sift. Stop before it turns oily, or the meringue will lose its lift.
3. 3

   Whip the meringue

   Beat the egg whites with the salt until foamy, then add the caster sugar a spoonful at a time. Keep beating until the meringue is glossy and holds firm peaks. If using bitter almond extract, beat it in at the end. Stop there. Dry, grainy meringue pipes badly and bakes into something more stubborn than crisp.

4. 4

   Fold and pipe

   Fold the almond mixture into the meringue in three additions, using a broad spatula and a gentle hand. The batter should be thick, glossy, and able to hold a line. Spoon it into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm plain nozzle and pipe 36 short logs, each about 7cm long, slightly plump in the middle.

5. 5

   Add almonds

   Scatter the sliced almonds generously over the piped logs and press only the loosest flakes down with a fingertip. Leave the rest where they fall. A bokkenpoot should look like it came from a baker, not a jeweller.

6. 6

   Bake the shells

   Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, until the shells are pale gold at the edges, dry on top, and just firm enough to lift from the parchment once cooled. Let them cool completely on the trays. Try to move them too soon and they'll tear at the belly, which is where the chew is hiding.

7. 7

   Make the cream

   Beat the softened butter until pale and smooth. Add the 140g sifted icing sugar, vanilla, milk, and a pinch of salt, then beat until light and spreadable. If it feels stiff, add a few drops more milk. The cream should hold the cookies together without squeezing out at the first bite.

8. 8

   Fill the pairs

   Match the cooled shells into pairs of similar size. Spread or pipe a narrow strip of vanilla buttercream on the flat side of one shell, then press a second shell against it, flat side in. Set the filled cookies on a tray and chill for 15 minutes so the cream firms before dipping.

   Pair before you fill. This small domestic act prevents the last two shells from becoming mismatched cousins, which still taste fine but look as if they met at the station.
9. 9

   Dip in chocolate

   Melt the dark chocolate gently in a heatproof bowl over barely simmering water, stirring until smooth. Stir in the neutral oil if you want a thinner dip. Dip both ends of each filled cookie into the chocolate, leaving the almond middle visible, then set on parchment until the chocolate firms.

10. 10

    Serve with coffee

    Serve once the chocolate is set and the buttercream has softened back from the chill. They belong beside coffee, not under a glass dome for admiration. One is polite. Two is Dutch birthday arithmetic.

Chef Tips

• •Use room-temperature egg whites. Cold whites whip eventually, but they rise with less grace; give them half an hour on the counter and they will repay you in volume.
• •Do not brown the shells deeply. Bokkenpoten should taste of almond first, with chocolate at the ends; too much color turns the meringue hard and toasty in the wrong way.
• •For a bakery variation, replace the vanilla in the buttercream with 1 teaspoon instant coffee dissolved in 1 teaspoon hot water. Mocha cream is common enough to sit honestly at this table.
• •Store filled cookies in a cool place rather than the refrigerator if your kitchen allows it. Cold buttercream goes firm and sulky; cool room temperature gives the better bite.

Advance Preparation

• •Bake the almond meringue shells up to 1 day ahead and store them airtight once fully cool. Fill and dip the day you plan to serve.
• •The finished cookies keep for 2 days in an airtight container in a cool place. If refrigerated, let them stand at room temperature for 20 minutes before serving.
• •The buttercream can be made 2 days ahead and refrigerated; beat it again until smooth before filling the cookies.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 48g)