Traditional Easter Recipe - Lababad
This is an addictive hard coconut biscuit...it packs a crunch, so the first time you try it, you might be surprised at how hard it can be!You can get Lababad in most supermarkets, from roadside vendors and all over these days, all year long too, but it is traditionally an Easter recipe and I've had a bunch of people ask me for a Lababad recipe recently and finally I have one to share with you, so enjoy!!!We will upload images soon - just had to get the recipe up as is - too many requests for this!
Ingredients
- 2 lbs flour not self-raising
- 1 lb brown sugar
- 4-6 oz grated coconut
- 1/4 whole nutmeg grated fine
- 1 oz ginger paste optional
- 1/2- 1 tsp vanilla essence to taste
- 1 tsp baking powder optional
- 2 Tbs lard or hard fat optional
- water for mixing
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 300-350F. Traditionally this would have been cooked in a wood-fired oven and temperature judged by acquired knowledge and skill. Prep your baking trays by greasing them well.
- Add dry ingredients to a bowl and mix to evenly distribute. Note that the addition of baking powder will make the Lababad less hard and dense. In true traditional lababad, there is no leavening.
- Mix in the lard (if used), vanilla essence and wet ginger, again, making sure to mix well. Lard will also soften the Lababad.
- Add water carefully until the mixture is a soft dough. No need to knead! Make it just liquid enough to allow it to be poured if you'd like to fill your baking tray rather than form separate biscuits.
- If you'd like to make separate biscuits, then keep the dough a little on the firmer side. Then scoop an amount that will give you the size biscuit you prefer. Traditionally, Lababad are quite big - about 4x6 inches, but if you like, you can go with smaller ones, just remember you might need to reduce cooking times.
- If you want to make a tray full then use a bit more water and pour the batter into the greased tray. You will cut the biscuits when it is half baked.
- Now, pop them in the oven and set your timer for 15 minutes (maybe 10 if you've made small biscuits).
Also keep in mind that if you have used more water, you may need a longer bake time and perhaps a lower temperature. Keep in mind this is a dry bisucit /cookie, so it's important not to get the dough/batter too wet. - If you have made a full pan of dough, then at this point, once the dough has lost its wetness, you will cut the cookies into the size you want, then return to the oven for the rest of the baking.
- Wait for the Lababad to cool for it to get to full hardness - and a tip from the older folk...dip into warm milk for a bit to soften before eating.Enjoy!
