Hertzog Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• 1. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Cream margarine/butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one by one and beat thorougly after each addition. Add dry ingredients and mix to form a soft dough. Add a little flour if dough is too moist, or a little water if dough is too dry. If you use large or jumbo sized eggs, this is normally not a problem.
• 2. Roll dough out thinly and press out circles. Line the base of greased patty pan tins with dough circles. Spoon a teaspoonful of apricot jam into the middle of each circle of dough.
• 3. Beat egg whites until soft peak stage. Add the sugar gradually, while still beating. Add coconut and spoon egg mixture onto apricot jam filling. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C (350F) for 20 - 25 minutes. Turn onto a wire rack to cool. Makes about 60 - 72 Hertzoggies.
• 4. Tip: To prevent the apricot jam from "leaking" during the baking process, add a teaspoon or two of flour to it. Festive Touch: Cut red or green glacé cherries into small pieces and add to coconut mixture.

Steps:

• Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Whisk sugar, shortening, corn syrup, eggs, and vanilla extract in a separate bowl. Stir sugar mixture into flour mixture until just combined. Refrigerate dough until chilled, 30 minutes to 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Scoop cookie dough using a cookie scoop or 1 tablespoon so all the cookies are uniform; shape dough into teardrop-shaped cookies. Flatten the pointed side of each cookie to form the 'face'. Arrange cookies on baking sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
• Pulse pecans in a food processor until finely chopped; transfer to a bowl.
• Melt chocolate chips in the top of a double boiler over simmering water, stirring frequently and scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula to avoid scorching.
• Dip the top of each cookie in the melted chocolate, spreading to fully coat the 'body' of each hedgehog. Press cookies, chocolate-side down, into the ground pecans forming the 'fur'. Arrange cookies on a sheet of waxed paper to set, about 30 minutes.
• Transfer the remaining melted chocolate to a piping bag or plastic bag with a corner snipped. Pipe chocolate onto the pointed end of each cookie for eyes and a nose.