Apple Shortbread Cakelets

This is basically a large thumbprint cookie. The Swedish name means "apple caves", and it's really more common to make these with raspberry jam, but for a nice autumnal touch, applesauce is great. Preferrably homemade, of course! I found the recipe in a Swedish food magazine recently, Allt Om Mat.

The cookies themselves use a little bit of custard powder. It's something I didn't discover until fairly recently - I had a recipe that called for it (Pistachio Buns), bought a box, and have since encountered many more uses for it, in other recipes. Not completely sure what it does, except impart a nice subtle vanilla flavor, but it seems to work so I'll go on using it. I haven't tried simpy omitting it here, but I *think* the cookies would still work out nicely.

A mini-muffin tin is not essential but really nice if you have one, since the cookies will hold their shape a lot better. The ones that were not baked in the tin is the ones you see above, and they tended to swell and expand much more. Oh, and you can totally freeze these - you can even eat them straight from the freezer. (How do I know that?)

Apple Shortbread Cakelets
makes about 36

280 g unsalted butter
150 g sugar
260 g flour
100 ml custard powder
1,5 tsp baking powder
100 ml applesauce
36 small paper cups

Beat butter and sugar until fluffy. It's easier if the butter is at room temperature, but it will still work if it's cold, just cut it into fairly small pieces.

Mix flour, custard powder, baking powder and salt in a bowl, and add to the butter. Mix until your dough comes together - it might still be a little bit crumbly but that's ok.

Place the paper cups in a mini muffin tin if you can, or just place them on a baking sheet. Take a small ball of dough and press into each one, make a largish dent with your thumb and fill the holes with applesauce.

Bake at 175°C for about 20 minutes.

Recipe in Swedish:
Äppelgrottor