Tejas De Tolosa

  So here is the first post of my blog dedicated to Braulia (my grandmother's cook).
Her love and passion for cooking and food itself was so immense she transmitted it to my mother, and so on my mother taught both my sister and I that love for the culinary world.

 Las Tejas de Tolosa (Tiles of Tolosa) are a traditional cookie from the north of Spain, to be more exact from the town of Tolosa in the province of Guipuzcoa (Basque Country). The name tejas is due to their resemblance to roof tiles.

They are very similar to a butter or sugar cookie, but with toasted almonds. Whenever travelling around the basque country you will find them in every bakery shop, or served after lunch as a "petit four" to have with coffee or tea.

So in honour of our beloved Braulia, my mother and I baked some delicious and crispy Tejas. Scroll down for the recipe!

For 40 Tejas, you wil need:
4 egg whites
250 grs powdered sugar
75 grs all purpose flour
75 grs butter at room temperature
200 grs sliced almonds plus 30 grs to decorate

1 - Preheat the oven at 200ºC (392 ºF) with the fan on.
2 - With an electric mixer beat the egg whites and sugar for about 1 minute or until you have a creamy mixture.
3 - Add the flour and butter, beat until well incorporated. Fold in the 200grs of almonds.
4 - With the help of a teaspoon drop small amounts of the mixture on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper lightly oiled (you can use any type of oil, olive, sunflower or even walnut as we did!).  
Flatten the small pile with the back of a fork dipped in water, this will help you get crispy and thin tiles. Sprinkle with a few pinches of almonds.
5 - Cook for 7 minutes aproximately or until golden. Take out of the oven and place them over a cylindrical tool such as a rolling pin in order to get the shape of a tile.

Et voilà! Enjoy!