It’s no secret; Belgian cookies her forte
Even though Gayle Van Vooren insists there is no secret ingredient to her Belgian cookie recipe, many locals beg to differ.
For last year’s Chocolate Affair in Minneota, Van Vooren baked and donated several of her Belgian cookies to the silent auction that benefitted the Friends of the Library.
“She does something different with her cookies,” one lady said to another while bidding on the cookies. “They are definitely better than any others that I’ve tried.”
“They’re perfect,” the other woman responded. “I’ve eaten a lot of Belgian cookies and hers are definitely the best.”
While Van Vooren feels humbled by the accolades, the retired newspaper reporter/editor claims her cookies are no different than some of those she has sampled. “The only thing I do different is make them as thin as I possibly can,” she said.
“I push the lid (of the iron) down as hard as I can when making them. By the time I’m done making a batch, my arms are pretty sore.”
Van Vooren’s “batch” consists of 30 dozen Belgian cookies. Over the course of the holidays, the outgoing Lake Benton native is preparing her fourth batch; or over 1,400 Belgian cookies.
But that’s just a portion of the holiday treats she prepares in the kitchen at her home on East Lyon Street. “I’ve been making lefse for many years, too,” she reveals.
“And I make caramels and a lot of other kinds of cookies.” Van Vooren will be selling her delectable delights from 8 a.m. to noon on Dec. 14 at This and That ReCreated in Minneota.
Among the things she will have on hand to sell will be Belgian cookies, lefse, homemade caramels, and six or seven different types of cookies. After her husband Pete passed away this past May, Van Vooren has been trying to stay busy by baking and spending time with friends and family.
“It’s been very hard,” she said about losing her spouse of over 52 years. “The quiet (in the house) is the hardest.” And Van Vooren’s family and friends have been understanding and supportive during these trying times.
Her three sons, Brett, Boyd and Brady are married and have two children each. Her younger sister lives in Pipestone and her older brother lives in North Dakota. “I have a bunch of friends that I have coffee with every morning,” she said.
“It makes me get up and get out of the house. They have been just wonderful.” Her time in the kitchen making treats to give away and to sell have helped consume some of that “quiet” time.
Each batch of 30 dozen Belgian cookies takes approximately 2 1/2 hours. “They used to take me a lot longer until Pete gave me an idea a few years ago for a way to make them in less time,” she noted.
“I used to mix the dough and chill it overnight. Then I would take the cold dough out and roll it into little balls.
” “Pete saw me doing this and wondered why I didn’t just put it in a 9-inch x 13-inch pan to chill it, and then cut the dough in rows, roll the rows up and then slice them each about half-inch wide.”
Gayle tried Pete’s suggestion and was amazed at how much better his idea worked. “When he first suggested it, I told him he was crazy,” she recalls.
“But he was right. It works just wonderful and it saves so much time.” Pete also helped Gayle develop her prowess in making lefse. “I started making lefse when we were first married in 1966,” she said.
“It was terrible; like shoe leather.” “But Pete was part Belgian and wanted me to keep trying, so he lied to me and told me he liked it. He then bought me everything I needed to make lefse for our first anniversary.” Van Vooren first began making Belgian cookies in the 1970s.
“I had never tasted (a Belgian cookie) before,” she said. “And then I tried one and really liked it, so I decided to try and make some. I got a recipe from Maxine Yeo and I still use it.”
Van Vooren, Sandy Tolk and Marilyn Kompelien all went together and bought a Belgian Lukken Yzer stovetop cookie iron. “It was cast iron and you could only make one cookie at a time on it,” Van Vooren laughed. “We bought it from the late Dan Verkinderen of Ghent for $27.”
Four or five years later, Van Vooren purchased her own electric Belgian cookie maker that allows her to make four cookies at a time. She’s been using that one ever since. Van Vooren’s love for cooking and baking came when she was a stay-at-home mom and cooked three square meals a day, plus an abundance of treats.
“The cookie jar was always full,” she laughed.
“I would make a double batch of chocolate chip cookies every week.” “I also always made sure the family had a hot breakfast and hot meals. I felt sitting around the table together was important.
That’s why I stayed home until Brady (the youngest) was in kindergarten; then I started working.” While all the goodies Van Vooren makes are delicious, it’s her Belgian cookies that have many convinced she is holding back some sort of a secret.
“The only thing it might be is the liquor I put in them,” she laughed.
“I use Peach Schnapp’s in mine. That way, when I’m all done making them, I can have a Fuzzy Navel at the end.”