These cookies are known in the Netherlands as “Bastognekoeken”. They were created about 60 years ago by Paul Parein and he needed a fitting name for the cookies. Bastogne is a village in Belgium in the Ardennes and the structure of the cookies reminded him of the hills and valleys there.

These cookies look nothing like the ones you get in the store, but they taste delicious!

Ingredients

• 300 gr flour
• 1 tsp bakingpowder
• 175 gr butter
• 100 gr brown rock sugar
• 100 gr caramel syrup
• 3 egg yolks
• pinc of salt
• 1 tsp instant coffee
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cloves

Soften the butter by taking it out of the fridge on time or by putting it in the microwave for a few seconds. Sift the flour in a big bowl and add the baking powder, salt, cinnamon, coffee and cloves.

Mix in the yolks, butter and syrup to create a soft dough. Then add the sugar and mix it thoroughly.

Preheat the oven to 175°C.

Add parchment paper to a cookie sheet and create dough balls of about 35 grams. Press them onto the cookie sheet. Leave enough space for the cookies to expand, so they won’t stick together.

Bake them for about 25 minutes, until the edges start to darken.

Let them cool completely on a wire rack and keep them in an airtight container.

Happy Baking!