Galette: French-Canadian Cookies

Since living in Quebec, I learned that there are two words for cookies:

Biscuit: referring to your usual flat round crunchy things, and

Galette: which is a larger soft cookie.

I don’t really know of an English equivalent.

But now with the big food companies making everything the same, Galette‘s are harder to come by. They are usually more home made and often qualified by ‘Grandma’s', as in Galette Grandmère.

So, I set out to make them according to Grandma. Also as something of a valentine to my husband and kids.

Not being of french heritage as the rest my family I get these recipes from a Quebec site, to be authentic, but in this case changed some ingredients to make them as Grandmère would have. Which means replacing the first ingredient of vegetable oil with lard. And the french have another word for lard: saindoux, break it up and sain means healthy, and doux soft. Sounds nice.

Mix a cup of lard (saindoux) with a cup of raw sugar (grandma’s sugar), an egg, a cup of molasses and a 1/2 cup of tea.

Then add the dry ingredients: 4 cups of flour, 1 Tbs baking soda, 2 tsp. cinnamon and 2 tsp. ginger.

Mix it all nice , drop with big spoonfuls, onto cookie baking sheet.

Bake for 10-15 min at 350 degF. Cool for a while on a rack, but then store tight, since they must remain soft (and big) to be qualified as Galette here.

Then enjoy, it made a nice valentine here, sharing the cooking with Coco, and eating with the boys.

I’m sharing this recipe with the Hearth and Soul Hop at a Moderate Life

and Real Food Wednesdays at Kelly the Kitchenkop

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