The word ‘mop’ refers to the shape of the cookie. In the 17th century it mend ‘baked stone’. But these cookies taste way better!
Are you serious? You’d rather watch reality TV shows than bake your own cookies? Now what is wrong with you? Watching reality TV will make you fat, lazy and depressed! Baking cookies will make you radiantly happy and svelte and loved by your friends! So, what are you waiting for? No, it doesn’t matter that it’s 10 o’clock in the evening. Fresh cookies smell wonderful at night. Believe me, you’ll sleep better after this. Start baking Goudse Moppen!
Ingredients for the original Goudse Moppen
makes approximately 30 cookies
200 grams of soft dairy butter
125 grams of soft white sugar (basterdsuiker)
1 egg yolk
zest of half an unwaxed lemon
2 grams of salt
250 grams of fine (bread) flour
sugar for rolling the dough
This is how you make the Goudse Moppen
Make the dough by creaming the butter and soft white sugar with a wooden spoon or spatula. Then stir in the egg yolk and lemon zest. Add the flour with the salt and combine until you have a cookie dough consistency (do not overwork the dough). Leave to rest in the fridge for an hour. Preheat your oven to 175ºC / 345ºF. Roll the dough into a sausage shape on a sugar coated worktop (divide in two if that’s easier) until it’s about 3,5 cm /1.5 inch ø. Cut the dough into slices about 1,5 cm/ half an inch thick. Bake them golden brown on a baking sheet in approx. 15 minutes and leave to cool on a wired rack.
As with all cookies, best eaten the same day or the next. So share generously with friends and colleagues, allowing you to bake even more and stay away from depressing fake reality. Drop that remote….I mean it!
NB: Goudse Moppen are traditional, sugar coated cookies from the city of Gouda in the province of Zuid-Holland, also famous for its cheese (kaas). When in Holland, go to a cheese shop and buy a piece of fresh cheese and take a bite! This is, next to our liquorice (drop), the thing we miss the most when abroad.
Have not made these but discovered a different “moppen” recipe in my German cookbook. Why are they called “moppen”? Dying to find out what the word means. I thought of a mop – my cookies are called Dutch (Holländische) Moppen. So tasty and easy – my kids and my class loved making them. Great for allergy kids, no dairy and they can be made with gluten free flour. I will try these out next. Just discovered the website and I will check in frequently. I made cookies last nigth and went to bed happy. Great website!
Hi Antje,
the person with the bump on his head is not laughing. Hope you like the information.
You must be of Dutch origin with such a name! The word ‘mop’ refers to the shape of the cookie. In the 17th century it mend ‘baked stone’ and from that derived ‘hard baked cookie’. The shape of the cookie is probably the same as the shape of a certain stone in masonry. Different cities/towns have their own ‘mop’ cookie. You have the Goudse moppen from this recipe from the town of Gouda. You have Weesper moppen from Weesp and Dierense moppen from Dieren (less well known). A ‘mop’ or ‘mopje’ nowadays almost always refers to a joke. I know a good joke / Ik weet een leuk mopje / leuke mop. There is a connection with the meaning of the word ‘mop’ as it is used today and the old meaning of the word. It is used in a metaphorical way now but I can’t quite put the meaning of hard baked stone, cookie and joke together. Could be at one point people thought it was funny to trow a mop or stone at someones head and then told someone about it. Don’t know if that’s a good joke
Wishing you lots of baking fun!
Marieke
Sí, sí, yo también prefiero hornear galletas que ver la televisión. Da mucha satisfacción. Estas se ven geniales.
Un saludo.
Hola Irmina,
)
Muchas gracias for your kind words in Spanish. Our understanding of your language is very minimal, but we know you are agreeing with us