Hertzoggies/ Hertzog Cookies

8th December 2020

Hertzoggies or Hertzog Cookies are delicious little mouthfuls of coconut and apricot jam goodness. They literally melt in your mouth. Their strange name comes from South African prime minister J.B.M Hertzog (1924 – 1929). Bring some South Africa into your home this festive season with these awesome cookies!

(Makes 24)

Ingredients
Sweet Pastry:
2 Cups Flour
125g Butter
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 and a 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tbsp Custard Powder
1 Egg
Pinch of Salt

Filling:
A jar of Apricot Jam
2 and a 1/2 Cups Coconut
65g Butter
1tsp Vanilla Essence
1 Cup Sugar
4 Eggs
Pinch of Salt

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 deg.
Cream the butter, sugar and eggs. Sift the flour, baking powder, custard powder and salt and add to the butter and sugar mixture.
Roll the pastry out on a floured surface until it is about 5mm thick.
Using a biscuit cutter or lid of a jar about 6cm wide, cut out 24 rounds. You may need to re-roll the pastry to use it all up.
Grease a muffin pan (or two if you have two) and carefully press a round of pastry into each hole.
Put a teaspoon of apricot jam in the centre of each pastry round.
For the filling, separate the eggs and then cream the butter, sugar and egg yolks. Add the vanilla, salt and coconut and mix well.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff and carefully fold into the rest of the mixture.
Cover each pastry round with the coconut filling.
Bake in the oven for 15mins, or until the top of the cookies start turning golden.
Allow to cool for 5 mins in the pan and then carefully release each cookie to cool on a wire rack.
If you only cooked 12, repeat again with your last 12 cookies.