My Childhood Butter Cookies–S Shape Butter Cookies (Kuih S)

Posted on by

IMG_93711

INTRODUCTION

Certain recipes that I blogged definitely is not trendy and at times, I doubt if there is any one who would try the recipes..These are usually cuisines that I grew up with.

IMG_93751

I told myself that I have an obligation to blog cuisines that are fast disappearing or unique to the State of Sarawak, Malaysia.. This is one of them..- Kuih S or S shaped cookies.

IMG_93531

I have a hard time to find a recipe in the internet for this cookie that was commonly found in Sarawak in the 1980’s or earlier…  After i posted in my timeline requesting for the recipe, one Facebook friend of mine – Ms. Diana Chiou kindly impart her precious recipe to me.. And the original recipe is in ounces… From here, one would know that this is a very old traditional cookies possibly influenced by the British Colonization.

IMG_93491

I am not unfamiliar with this cookie. It was one of the old school of cookies that was served together with Kuih Bangkit, kuih koya and Kuih kapit during Chinese New Year.

IMG_93651

Possibly because there is no mould then, all the cookies were hand shaped in the letter S…Don’t asked me why S? I do not know and I want to know too.. Can S represent the State of Sarawak? Is it uniquely Sarawak? I think yes as when I posted in Facebook, only Sarawakian seems to know about this cookie and members from other states or Singapore do not seem to recognise this cookie. Those who know made comments such as “have not prepared this for more than 30 years”, “Since my mum passed away, I can’t find this cookies any more”, “I almost forget about this cookie and it was not sold in recent Chinese New Years”…..

IMG_93551

While i was preparing the cookie, my wife specially “cautioned” me that the cookies have to be balanced for both ends. In addition, the cookies have to be buttery and aromatic…. She always witnessed her aunties did these when she was young.. As a man, this type of neat work really test my patience.. I cracked my head trying to simplify the preparation with the availability of modern baking gadgets.. I can’t but possibly readers can think of a way. I almost gave up in the preparation as it is rather time consuming and laborious… That, however, make me respect my elders the time that they spend and the gotong royong (cooperation) spirit of helping out each other when they prepared this delicious cookie.

IMG_93631

Taste wise, looking at the ingredients, you will know that it is a simple melt in the mouth butter cookie. It is addictive and one will definitely not be enough..

IMG_93731

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Recipe adapted from: Ms. Diana Chiou

Servings: About 100 S shaped cookies

IMG_9323

  • 150 grams of top flour or plain flour
  • 75 grams of butter
  • 60 grams of icing or castor sugar
  • 1 egg

IMG_93391

STEPS OF PREPARATION

  • Pre-heat the oven to 150 degree Celsius (You can preheat the oven towards the end of your preparation as the preparation can be rather time consuming).

IMG_9333

  • Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually add in the beaten eggs. Sift in the flour and stir until well mixed. Take a dough and shape it long using your hand, roll it into a S shape but pushing both ends at the opposite direction towards the centre. Bake in the pre-heated oven of 150 degree Celsius for 8-10 minutes or when the bottom turn slightly brownish. Cool completely and store in an air tight container.

IMG_93571

CONCLUSION

I am very happy to find this recipe and especially grateful to my Facebook friend – Ms. Diana Chiou for imparting her precious recipe. Thanks.. Ms. Chiou.. I hope readers who give a try to this fast disappearing traditional butter cookies. Trust me, the taste is awesome and if you find it tedious, feel free to cut into your desired shapes but just a small request, name it butter cookies and not Kuih S..

IMG_93611

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

IMG_93671

  • For more recipes, you can refer to my RECIPE INDEX (updated as at 15 October 2014)  here and you can follow me at PINTEREST or visit the blog’s FACEBOOK PAGE to keep abreast of my future posts.  

IMG_93411

 

 

 

 

.

Traditional Cookies That Bring Fond Memories– Melting Moments

Posted on by

IMG_4414

UPDATED POST ON 26-11-2014

Uploaded a new recipe -recipe 2 with only 4 ingredients of which potatoes starch can be substituted with plain flour. Easy to pipe too.

Processed with MOLDIV

Using Recipe 2

UPDATED POST ON 29-12-2013

I have not promote this post because the picture is rather blur. Therefore, today, I have decided to prepare some for picture taking purposes.

Processed with MOLDIV

Using Recipe 2

INTRODUCTION

This will be a relatively short post on MELTING MOMENTS. This is not a new cookie but a cookie that bring fond memories. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, there are not many cookies choices and this is one of the simple cookie that was served during festivals such as Chinese New Year and Hari Raya.

IMG_4406

It was not surprising that these cookies were served because the ingredients, preparation and baking methods were rather simple. Then, Malaysia economies just picking up and gradually introduced to Western cookies. Most people will not have an conventional oven and these cookies can be prepared even using an ovenette,  mini oven or toaster. Hand creaming was used as opposed to the current machine whisking. The ingredients then were only flour, sugar and butter. As times went by, the ingredients have started to include corn flour to better the texture of the cookie and shape have also change with more and more piping nozzles.

Processed with MOLDIV

Using Recipe 2

Frankly speaking, I am unsure what is the name of this cookie.  I knew people are calling it melting moments, but if you Google the internet, the cookie “melting moments” come in all shapes and decorations. The only common characteristic after analysing the ingredients of various recipes is that there are   flour, sugar and butter as the 3 main ingredients. As for flour, some have used  a mixture of corn flour and some even use custard powder.

IMG_4404

This recipe is a modified recipe, I have substituted part of the butter with ghee. I have briefly explained ghee, a type of clarified butter in my Indian Short Bread, Nan Khatai post. Any cookies made with ghee will definitely be more aromatic than those made with butter or margarine due to its slightly higher fat content. The trade off is that the cookies can become shapeless as the ghee melts (have modified the recipe to let it stay in shape).  Though the picture in this post may not be that appealing, I can assure you that the taste is superb.

IMG_4410

To create some visual effect and give a fresh feel from its traditional look, I have used Wilton 2D nozzle to pipe the dual colour batters and but this is optional.

IMG_28031

WHAT IS REQUIRED

IMG_2791

  • 180 grams of plain flour
  • 80 grams of potatoes starch
  • 60 grams of icing sugar
  • 100 grams of butter
  • 80 grams of ghee (optional – can substitute with butter)
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
  • 1 egg
  • Some pink/red permitted food colouring (optional)

Recipe 2

  • 100 grams of butter 
  • 100 grams of plain flour
  • 25 grams of potatoes starch (substitute with plain flour)
  • 25 grams of icing sugar 

 

IMG_4402

STEPS OF PREPARATION

  • Preheat the oven to 165 degree Celsius and line 2 baking trays with parchment paper

IMG_2796

  • Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs and vanilla essence , beat until well incorporated. Sift in the potatoes starch and plain flour, either use the machine at low speed or use a spatula to stir until well mixed.

IMG_2801

  • Take out half of the batter set aside. For the other half, add a few drops of the red/pink colouring. Stir until well mixed. In a piping bag fitted with nozzle 1M or 2D (Wilton categorization), transfer the pink and beige batter into the piping bag.

IMG_2806

  • Pipe the batter into the baking sheets in the pattern of a big swirl. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes. Let it rest in the baking tray for 5 minutes before transfer to the rack for cooling. Store in an air tight container.
Processed with MOLDIV

Using Recipe 2

CONCLUSION

Substitute part of the butter with ghee will help to enhance the buttery aroma of the cookies. Do give it a try and let me know if it meet your expectations.

IMG_4412

Hope you like the post today. Cheers.

IMG_4398

IMG_4416