Shortbread Hamantashen

I was heartbroken when my favorite bakery, the one that had the best hamantashen ever, closed a few years ago. It was The Bakery, in Plainview, Long Island, across the street from my contact lens eye doctor. They also had the best Mandel bread and the best Russian coffeecake, babka (both cinnamon and chocolate) and almond horns.

Also Jewish corn bread. And Chinese cookies.

I would call them in advance to place an order and after the visit to the eye doctor, would go get my stash, place it all (except for one hamantashen) in the trunk of my car and head home to Connecticut. I bought two freezer shelves worth, which was enough for six months (to time the next doctor visit).

I now buy hamantashen at Cafe Dolce, in Norwalk, CT. They’re awesome, like from The Bakery. Similar dough, same apricot and prune lekvar filling (but alas, no Mandel bread, babka, etc.)

Every year I bake a new hamantashen recipe to see how close I can come to those memorable ones. This year I came really close — these have a soft, crumbly, flavorful dough with just a hint of citrus. There’s a good balance of dough to filling. Lekvar of course. I didn’t have any jarred lekvar so I made my own (recipe is below the recipe for hamantashen, although I have made lekvar before using the recipe here.

But - this is a dairy recipe. My next venture is to try this dough using vegetable shortening. I’ll let you know how it turns out,

Meantime, these are delicious. All my tasters have said so.

Shortbread Hamantashen

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons grated orange or lemon peel

• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 10 tablespoons butter

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1 large egg

• lekvar (about half cup) or other filling

Combine the flour, orange peel, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer (or use a food processor) beat the butter and sugar together at medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until thoroughly combined. Add the egg and beat the ingredients to blend it in. Add the flour mixture and mix for 2-3 minutes until a soft, slightly sticky dough forms. Wrap the dough and refrigerate for 35-40 minutes or until cool. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll the dough on a floured surface to a thickness between 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch. Cut out circles with a 3-inch cookie cutter. Place a heaping teaspoon of lekvar in the center of each circle. Pinch the sides to close the filling and shape into a triangle. Pinch tight so the cookies won’t open during baking. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheet. Refrigerate again for at least 30 minutes. Bake for about 18 minutes or until beginning to brown.

Makes about 18

Prune Lekvar

• 1/2 pound pitted prunes

• 1 cup orange juice

• 2 tablespoons honey or brown sugar

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Place the prunes, juice and honey in a saucepan, bring to a boil over low heat, lower the heat to a simmer, cover the pan and cook for about 20 minutes until the prunes are very soft. Puree the ingredients. Stir in the lemon juice.

Makes about 2 cups

Back to School? Maybe. But there’s always Milk and Cookies, right?

Back in the day, when I was a young girl, I walked home from school and before I did any homework or piano practice I had a snack. My Mother was a cookie baker so invariably, the snack was milk and cookies. We didn’t have little bags of chips or puffs or granola bars back then.

I remember one time my mother veered away from her usual Fannies, peanut butter cookies and kichels. That was the day I brought my friend Joseph Lieberman (no, not that Joseph Lieberman) home to do homework together. I was happy my Mom had baked something new because Joseph had been to the house several times and maybe he was bored with the same old stuff. I had asked her if, sometime, she could bake something else. And so she did.

She made sugar cookies.

They were a great success. She made them occasionally after that but usually went back to the old favorites.

I’ve made my Mom’s recipe a few times over the years. Depending on the time of year I cut them into different shapes with cookie cutters (Hearts for Valentine’s Day usually).

This isn’t my Mom’s recipe though. I fiddled with it because hers included butter and I wanted to make it non-dairy. Also, I just bought some new jars of date honey (silan) and wanted to use that instead of the regular honey. She also added citrus peel and I didn’t.

But it is more or less her recipe.

Whether or not our children actually go back to school this season, milk and cookies is always a good treat.

In addition, these cookies, with the traditional holiday dates and honey, are a delicious choice for Rosh Hashanah (whether you use old fashioned honey or silan).

Shanah Tovah.

Date Honey Sugar Cookies

• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening

• 1/2 cup solid coconut oil

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 1/4 cup date honey

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1 large egg

• 1 large egg yolk

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• Confectioners’ sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Combine the shortening, coconut oil, sugar, honey and vanilla extract and beat at medium speed for 3-4 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add the egg and egg yolk and beat at medium speed for 1-2 minutes or until well blended. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, cornstarch, salt and cinnamon. Add the dry ingredients to the honey mixture and beat at medium speed until a soft dough forms. Roll the dough on a floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out shapes with 2-inch round or heart-shaped cookie cutters. Place the cookies prepared cookie sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes or until the edges are lightly brown. Let cool. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar.

Makes about 36

Coconut Cookies

Almost everyone I know is baking more these days.

Me too.

Also, everyone I know is complaining about gaining weight from all the stuff they are baking.

Me too.

But, okay, this Covid thing will be over one day and I can go on a diet then.

In the meantime I am baking more.

Because of all the extra baking I needed to branch out a little. I was overloaded with my usual Grand Finale cookies, Fanny cookies and peanut butter cookies. It’s like watching Casablanca or Tree Grows in Brooklyn again. I love those movies and have seen them a zillion times and will watch them again. But enough is enough — for a while anyway.

So I decided on coconut cookies. These are really really good. One of the grandkids said they are better than all the others.

That is a huge endorsement!

The recipe calls for shredded coconut but I actually used Bob’s Red Mill coconut flakes instead, because I happened to have some. But I’ve made them with shredded coconut too. Good either way.

Glass of milk — iced tea — iced coffee. Your choice.

Coconut Cookies

• 1 cup butter

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 3/4 cup brown sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 cup quick cooking oats

• 1 cup shredded coconut

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• confectioners’ sugar, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the butter, sugar and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat at medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until thoroughly blended. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat for another minute or until well blended. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, oats, coconut, baking powder, baking soda and salt until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Add this mixture to the butter mixture and beat for about 2 minutes or until well blended. Place blobs of dough about 1-inch in diameter (heaping tablespoon) on ungreased cookie sheets, leaving space between dough for the cookies to spread. Gently tap the tops of the dough blobs to flatten them slightly. Bake for about 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool and decorate with sifted confectioners’ sugar if desired.

Makes about 30

Kourabiedes

Years ago, before even floppy disks, I would bake zillions of cookies for the Hanukkah-Christmas season and give baskets of different kinds to the editors of the various local newspapers and magazines that I wrote for.

There were always: butter cookies, peanut butter cookies, chocolate chippers, oatmeal raisin, gingersnaps and Chinese cookies.

Occasionally: Dutch Butter cookies, St. Cupcake Brownie cookies, Orange Marmalade cookies and Fruit Roll cookies.

My house smelled as fabulous as any bakery. Various and sundry repair people, delivery people and dog walkers would occasionally stop by and ask if there were any “seconds” — you know, not pretty enough for the gift baskets — that they could sample.

I always gave away (still do!) a lot of food.

One year I added kourabiedes (Greek almond-butter cookies) to the assortment. They got rave reviews and I always included them after that.

Of course time passed and, thanks to technology, I no longer deliver hard or floppy disks to editors. Everything is sent over the internet. To places far and wide.

So, no more editor-and-media staff cookie baskets.

Less work (baking cookies, that is), but also less personal contact with the people I write for.

I still give away a few cookie baskets but I don’t bake the variety of cookies I once did. Hadn’t made kourabiedes for a year or three until a few days ago.

So glad I did! They are as delicious as I remember. A few simple ingredients. Not fancy or fussy. I like to think of them as “the coffeecake of cookies” — the kind you reach for with afternoon tea or coffee. Lightly sweet and buttery but not overly rich. Freezable. Perfect for giving away. Or not.

Kourabiedes

• 1 cup butter

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/3 cup ground almonds

• 1 egg yolk

• 3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• confectioner’s sugar for coating

• ground cloves, optional

Beat the butter with an electric mixer set on medium speed for 2-3 minutes, or until it is light and fluffy. Add the flour and almonds and mix for a minute or two until the ingredients are well blended. Add the egg yolk, confectioner’s sugar and salt and beat until ingredients are well blended and a uniform dough has formed. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Take off pieces of dough and shape them into balls about 1-inch in diameter. Place the balls on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for about 25 minutes or until they are lightly tanned. Let cool. Roll the cookies in confectioner’s sugar to coat the entire surface. Place on a serving tray and sprinkle with ground cloves if desired. 

 Makes 4 dozen

Chocolate Oat Bars

Back in the day — when I was a kid, that is — my brother and I walked home from school at 3:00 and knew it was our responsibility to practice the piano (our teacher required an hour a day), do our homework and get dinner ready.

Ours was a working Mom; she taught us how to set the table; she prepared the food and we put it in the oven at the appropriate time.

She was responsible for making sure there were cookies and milk when we got home — to feast on before said chores and stuff.

Sometimes she left us store-bought cookies. I have memories of fig bars, Hydrox and shortbread.

But mostly she baked. Butter cookies. Peanut butter cookies. Oatmeal-Raisin.

By the time I had my own children, life was very different. They took a school bus home and walked down the hill to our house. I was a working Mom, but my job as a food writer meant I worked at home.

I didn’t usually give them cookies and milk. Food styles had changed, so snacktime meant granola bars or those peanut-butter filled cheese crackers (I bought those because I mistakenly thought they were healthy). Sometimes a frozen burrito.

Looking back — I really like the milk and cookies thing. I miss those days. I miss the milk and cookies. Especially the dunking of cookies in the milk and then trying to bite off a soft milk-drenched piece before it fell into the bottom of the glass.

Cookies really are much better than frozen burritos and peanut-butter filled cheese crackers.

So, for all the parents of all the kids who are coming home from school now that the new term has begun — here are some cookies to consider for snacktime after school, before the piano practice or homework or whatever they have to do before the day is done.

Chocolate-Oat Bars

Cookie layers:

• 1 cup butter

• 2 cups packed brown sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 3 cups quick-cooking oats

• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

chocolate layer:

• 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 15-inch x 1-inch jelly roll pan.

To make the cookie layers: beat 1 cup of the butter with the brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium for 2-3 minutes or until smooth and well blended. Add the eggs and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract and blend them in thoroughly. Add the oats, flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. Beat for 1-2 minutes or until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Press about two-thirds of the mixture into the prepared pan.

To make the chocolate layer, place the condensed milk, chocolate, butter and salt in a saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring frequently, for about 2-3 minutes or until the chocolate has melted. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the vanilla extract and raisins. Spread this mixture evenly over the cookie layer. Sprinkle with the remaining cookie crumb mixture. Bake for 20-24 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool and cut into squares.

 Makes about 48

President's Cookies

Before there was such a thing as President's Day or President's Week, there was Washington's birthday, which was a school holiday on his real birthday, February 22nd. If you lived in the North, like in New York and Connecticut, you also got a day off on Lincoln's birthday, which is February 12th (the poor kids in the South weren't so lucky, although maybe they got Jefferson Davis' birthday off).

On Washington's birthday, everybody celebrated with cherry pie or cherry something else because supposedly Washington chopped down a cherry tree and didn't lie about it when someone asked if he did it.

Lincoln's birthday didn't have any particular food because he supposedly was a fussy eater and didn't like much of anything in particular.

At some point Mondays became an official holiday for most holidays and Washington and Lincoln's birthdays were merged into one big celebration and an entire week vacation from school.

I suppose that's progress.

Along the way, I discovered that Lincoln actually did have some favorite foods. Like sorghum, which is a sweet syrup similar to molasses. And he liked ginger cookies.

And so, in honor of Lincoln's birthday (which was on February 12th but will be celebrated on the 19th), whenever you celebrate and for how long, here's some sorghum-based ginger cookies to celebrate with. And by the way, if you don't have sorghum, you can use molasses instead.

 

Sorghum Ginger Cookies

• 3/4 cup vegetable shortening
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 laarge egg
• 1/4 cup sorghum syrup
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/4 cup sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet. Combine the shortening, coconut oil and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat at medium speed until well combined (about 2 minutes). Add the egg and sorghum syrup and beat until well blended. Add the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg and beat until the dough is well blended, smooth and uniform in color. Take off small pieces of dough and shape into small balls about one-inch in diameter. Roll the balls in the remaining sugar to coat the surface. Place the balls on the prepared cookie sheet, leaving an inch space between each ball. Bake cookies for about 12 minutes or until the cookies have spread and are flat and crispy, with lines on the surface.

Makes about 6 dozen

Valentine's Day Chocolate Fudge Brownies

I have told my husband not to buy me chocolate candy for Valentine's Day.

Sure, I love the thought, not to mention the taste (he knows how much I love buttercrunch!!!!!!).

But really, I need to NOT EAT candy for a variety of reasons including the number I see on the scale when I weigh myself each morning.

For Valentine's Day I am going to make brownies, which will be sufficient for the two of us to celebrate with a piece or two, then give the rest away to a friend of mine who loves sweets.

Then it will all be gone, we will have had a delicious, but calorie-limited Valentine's Day and that will be that until the next occasion.

 

Valentine's Day Chocolate Fudge BROWNIES

• 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 1/3 cup butter
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8" square baking pan.  Melt the chocolate and butter together in the top part of a double boiler set over barely simmering water. When the ingredients have melted, blend them thoroughly and remove the pan from the heat. Combine the eggs and sugar in a large bowl and beat them 2-3 minutes or until the mixture is thick and pale. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and stir this mixture into the chocolate mixture. Stir in the vanilla extract and nuts, if used. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool the brownies in the pan. Cut them into 16 squares.

Makes 16

Swiss Chocolate Almond Cookies

I know it's latke season and doughnut season. But in the larger world out there it's also cookie season.

Well, actually, for me it is always cookie season. When I was a kid my Mom baked cookies all the time and when we got home from school we had milk and cookies every day. That was the snack -- before the days of chips (potato, kale or otherwise in little bags) and frozen pizza.

My brothers taught me how to dunk.

So when cookie season comes around I feel nostalgic. Sure, I make the old family favorites. Fannies. Peanut butter cookies. Chocolate Chunk Grand Finale cookies. 

But occasionally I try something new. I'm not always happy with the results and most often I discard the recipe.

But these were wonderful. And also perfect for dunking.

 

Swiss Chocolate Almond Cookies

• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 cups finely ground almonds (8 ounces)
• 2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup sugar plus 2 tablespoons sugar for rolling
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or 1/2 teaspoon orange extract)

In a food processor, pulse the chocolate until almost ground. Add the cocoa powder, cinnamon, salt and cloves and process on pulse to incorporate the ingredients until finely ground and well mixed. Place the mixture into a bowl, add the ground almonds and mix to blend the ingredients thoroughly.

In the bowl of an electric beater, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add the 3/4 cup sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold in the extract and the chocolate-almond mixture.

Sprinkle a sheet of parchment paper with the 2 tablespoons sugar. Place the dough on top of the sugar. Place another piece of parchment paper on top. Roll or press the dough to a thickness of about 1/4 to 3/8 inch. Remove the top piece of parchment paper. Let the unbaked cookies air dry for at least 1-1/2 hours. 

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Cut out circles or shapes with a cookie cutter. Place the cut out cookies on the parchment paper, leaving room between each cookie for them to spread. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Let cookies cool on the sheet for 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 36 cookies

Cookies That Taste Like Home

I don't celebrate Christmas, but I do celebrate cookies. And cookies are a big part of the Christmas season. 

And so -- cookies.

When it comes to cookies, Lebkuchen is a seasonal special, with the magical fragrance of spices that make you feel warm and cozy when the weather's cold. I have tasted many many versions over the years, the best on a trip to Germany a few years ago.

So I tried my hand at baking some, a few recipes that were just okay. Then I baked these. My Hungarian friend Eva says they taste like "home." I took that as a win.

Happy holidays, whatever one you celebrate.

Lebkuchen Gingerbread Cookies

• 3 cups minus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh orange peel
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil (or shortening or butter)
• 1 tablespoon orange juice (or use lemon juice)
• 1 large egg
• all-purpose flour
• candied ginger, dried cranberries, etc, optional

Combine the flour, orange peel, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl (or electric mixer bowl), whisk to distribute the ingredients evenly and set aside. Place the honey, molasses, brown sugar and coconut oil in a saucepan and cook over low-medium heat, stirring to blend the ingredients, until the coconut oil has melted and the liquid is smooth and evenly colored. Pour the liquid into the mixing bowl with the flour mixture. Add the orange juice and egg and mix ingredients thoroughly to make a smooth, evenly colored dough (about one minute at medium speed). The dough will be soft. Sprinkle the dough with some flour, wrap the dough or place it in a covered plastic container and refrigerate for at least 8 hours. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease cookie sheets. Roll the dough (in portions) on a floured surface to a 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out shapes. Place the shapes on the prepared cookie sheets, leaving some space between the cookies. Garnish the center with optional ginger, etc., if desired. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove the cookies from the oven and brush with icing while they are still warm.

Icing:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Prepare the icing while the cookies are baking. Place the sugar and water in a saucepan and cook, stirring to dissolve the sugar, for 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the confectioners sugar and vanilla. Brush on the cookies while they are still warm.

Makes about 3-1/2 dozen 2-inch cookies

How to Substitute Ingredients: a Lesson for Kids and Everyone Else

Children learn a lot when they cook, and not just about food. You can ask the youngest ones to hand over the red pepper, not the green one. You can show them that a pie tin is round, a loaf pan is a rectangle.

Older kids can hone their measuring skills. Some begin to understand the difference between 1/4 cup and 1/2, what a dozen means, why a cake rises.

Recently my grandchildren, ages 3 and 5, learned another important cooking lesson: when and how to substitute ingredients. 

We happened to be baking Jam Cookies. 

I didn't have the chopped dates called for in my recipe. So we changed those to dark raisins.

I didn't have dried apricots, figs or cherries, so we used dried cranberries instead.

They wondered whether they could include chocolate chips.

Of course! Just throw some into the bowl.

Finally, we used a mixture of orange marmalade, rhubarb and apricot jam because I didn't have enough of any one kind except raspberry, which I couldn't use because of allergies.

The recipe worked.

But more than that, the cookies were absolutely delicious. Even the adults gobbled them. The children were happy, they learned more than they realized.

They want to cook with me again. I love that.

Jam Bars

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1-1/2 cups quick cooking oats

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 14 tablespoons butter or margarine

• 3/4 cup golden or dark raisins or chopped dates or a mixture

• 1/3 cup dried cranberries or chopped dried cherries or other chopped dried fruit

• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

• 1-1/2 cups jam

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9"x13" cake pan. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Add the oats and brown sugar and mix the ingredients thoroughly to distribute them evenly. Cut the butter into chunks and work into the dry ingredients (with fingers or process on pulse in a food processor) until the butter is completely mixed in and the mixture looks crumbly. Mix in the raisins, dried fruit and chocolate chips. Press the mixture evenly inside the prepared pan. Spread the jam evenly on top. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool in the pan. Cut into bars or squares. 

Makes about 24

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