Hazelnut Cookies

I want to thank my friend Gamze for sharing her recipe with me.

Ingredients

• 4 cups of flour
• 2 sticks of unsalted butter (8 oz)
• 1/2 cup of vegetable/canola/sunflower oil
• 5 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon wheat or corn starch
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup of crushed hazelnuts

Preparation

Take a large bowl and put butter, oil, powdered sugar and starch in it. After kneading them add one cup of flour and baking powder with the help of a strainer. This will allow baking powder to spread well. 

Then add vanilla and knead adding remaining flour slowly. You can add more flour if you feel it is sticky. 

Add crushed hazelnuts and knead one last time. Then give them round shape and put on a baking pan with some distance. 

Bake them 30 minutes 325-350 preheated oven. You can sprinkle cacao powder or powdered sugar on them. Enjoy!

Walnut Cookie

Note: You can make 20-25 cookies depending on size with these ingredients.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup of wheat/corn starch
• 1 stick (4 oz)unsalted butter
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup of crushed walnuts
• 2-3 cups of all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking cocoa (optional)

Preparation

In a large bowl mix powdered sugar, walnuts, egg yolk and butter and knead. If you do not know how to separate egg yolk and white, you can find it here Egg yolk.

In another bowl mix baking powder, flour and starch. Add this mixture to the other slowly while kneading. You can add more flour if it is necessary.

Make small balls from the dough and put them in a baking pan with distance as they will rise. You can separate the dough into two pieces and add cocoa to one of them. 

Bake in 350 F preheated oven about 30 minutes. You can scatter some powdered sugar on top of it while serving. Enjoy!

Date Cookies

The recipe of this cookie belongs to one of my friend's grandmother. She used to make this cookie during New year. Date cookies which is called 'Ma'amoul' in Muslim countries, are consumed during religious festivals. There are different versions in each country. Thanks to Nazli for this recipe.

Note: You will have 40-50 cookies, depending on size with these ingredients.

Ingredients

For the dough

• 8 cups of flour
• 3 cups of butter
• 1/2 cups of canola/vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon of dry yeast
• 1 cups of sugar
• 1 cup of powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 cups of water

For the fill

Date fill

• 1/2 table spoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground mahlab
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground anise
• 1/4 teaspoon fennel seed
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 cup chopped dates
• 2 tablespoon canola/vegetable oil

Walnut fill

• 1/2 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 cup crushed walnuts
• 1 desert spoon cinnamon

For decoration

• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Preparation

To prepare the dough first take a sauce pan and put sugar, powdered sugar and water in it and boil them together. You should wait couple of minutes after it boils and then take it from the heat. Then, take another sauce pan and put butter in it and melt all the butter.

Then take a large bowl and add flour and yeast in it. Add oil into the melted butter and slowly add it to the flour while kneading it. The butter should be neither too cold not too hot, it should be warm to help the yeast work.

After you are done with butter and oil, add syrup slowly and go on kneading. The same thing for syrup, it should be neither cold nor hot.

Knead the dough until it looks like this.

Then put it into freezer about ten minutes.
In the meantime to prepare the fills, put all spices into a small bowl and mix them together.

We will have two types of fill, one with dates and the other is with walnuts. For the fill with dates put chopped dates and 1 1/2 teaspoon spice mix.

For the fill with walnuts, put crushed walnuts, honey and cinnamon in a small bowl and mix them.

Take the dough from freezer. Make small and medium balls from it.Then take medium ball and make a bowl shape out of it. Put some fill into it. Take small ball and cover the fill with that.

After you give the cookie its shape with your hand, put some holes on it with a fork. Actually we did this to differentiate two types of cookies. You do not need to do that.

Bake it about 25 minutes in preheated oven to 375 F. To understand if it is baked, look at the bottom, if it is darker and cookies are not too soft it is baked.

After you take them from the oven, wait until it gets cold and decorate with powdered sugar. 

Salty Cookie

Most people think 'cookie' as a sweet treat. But the cookie recipe I will share is salty and it is served with afternoon tea in Mediterranean countries.

Ingredients

• 3-4 cups of all purpose flour (you can also use 3 cups of wheat and 1 cup of white flour)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter 
• 1/3 cup of sunflower/vegetable/ canola oil
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 eggs
• 5 tablespoons yogurt
• 4 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• Sesame, black seeds

Preparation

Take large bowl, add yogurt, oil, butter, vinegar, sugar and one egg. Separate the yolk and white of other egg and add just the white to the mixture. 

Knead the mixture while adding small amounts of flour slowly, add baking powder and salt as well. Knead it until it gets soft. 

Take a small piece from the dough and roll it in between your both hands and twist. 

Place them on a baking pan, leave a little distance between them as they will rise. Take the egg yolk that you have separated before and apply it on the cookies with the help of a brush. Sprinkle sesame and black seeds on them.I prefer to use both of them, but you can use either.

Bake about 35 minutes in 350-400 F preheated oven.

Enjoy

Old Fashioned Cookie

Ingredients

• 3 cups of all purpose flour
• 2 sticks of unsalted butter (8 oz)
• 1 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 6 tablespoons wheat/corn starch
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

Take large bowl and put butter (in room temperature), granulated sugar, sugar, starch and vanilla extract. Knead them until butter become soft. Then add the flour slowly while you are kneading. After you add the last cup of flour, kneading will be more difficult. But keep going until it become a dough. 

Take one piece of dough and start rolling on a cutting board or counter.If the dough do not stick at all, you can add a little bit of plain yogurt, it will help sticking. 

With the help of a fork, draw lines on the surface of the roll. 

Cut the roll diagonally into equal pieces with the help of a knife. 

Put them on a cooking pan and bake about 25 minutes in a preheated 325 F oven.

Enjoy!