| FOOD | |
| Memories of baking cookies | |
I know that these days it’s not that hard to find tasty kosher-for-Pesach cookies, but I prefer eating home-baked cookies that fill the whole house with the sweet smell of holiday desserts.
Many of us have wonderful memories of baking for Pesach with our parents or grandparents — and tasting a warm cookie that has just come out of the oven is like nothing else in the world. This year, I invited food blogger Orly Hermesh (brwsugar.com) from Kfar Veradim in the Galilee to join me for an exciting morning of baking in my kitchen. Hermesh’s blog is full of recipes for sweet as well as savoury dishes, alongside anecdotes and memories from childhood connected with the recipes. She grew up in a home where both her parents loved preparing fresh, tasty meals with spicy harissa and matbucha and roasting sunflower seeds and nuts in their oven at home. She also has many memories of her grandmother preparing dishes that were like works of art and made with lots of love.
Chocolate & Hazelnut Cookies INGREDIENTS
Preheat your oven to 180°C and line two pans with baking paper. Place the ground nuts in a medium bowl and then add the baking powder. Mix well. Add the chocolate spread to the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the egg and mix on low speed until smooth. Add the nut mixture gradually and continue mixing until smooth. Pour water into a bowl and dip your hands in the water. Take a bit of the dough and form balls with 2cm. diameters. Arrange them on the tray. Flatten the cookies a little and press a few chocolate chips lightly into the cookies. Bake for eight minutes. Remove cookies from oven while they are still soft — they will harden as they cool. Makes 40 cookies.
Peanut Butter and Jam Cookies INGREDIENTS
Preheat your oven to 160°C and line pans with baking paper. Add all the ingredients, except for the jelly and sugar for the topping, to the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix on medium speed until smooth. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and store in the fridge for 1 hour. Take a little dough and form balls with diameters of 2-3cm. Pour the sugar for the coating in a bowl and roll the balls in it. Arrange the balls on the lined baking tray with space between each one. Bake for eight minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and make an indentation in the centre of each cookie with the back of a melon baller or small spoon. Push halfway down the cookie. Fill the indentations with a little jam and then return the tray to the oven to bake another 5-6 minutes. The outside should be firm and the middle still soft. Place the cookies in the fridge for 10 minutes so they can harden. Makes 45-50 cookies.
Almond Cookies INGREDIENTS Dough:
Preheat oven to 160°C and line pans with baking paper. Add the butter and cream cheese to the bowl of an electric mixer and mix until smooth. Gradually add the sugar, egg and vanilla. Add the baking powder and ground almonds and mix until smooth. Transfer to the fridge and let dough sit for 2 hours. Add the raspberry jam and sugar to a small pot and heat over a medium flame for about 5 minutes, mixing all the time, until mixture thickens. Remove and let cool. In a separate bowl, mix all the cream cheese ingredients. Take the dough out of the fridge and form balls with 2-3cm diameters. Arrange the balls on the lined baking pan and bake for 7-8 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and make an indentation in the centre of each cookie with the back of a melon baller or small spoon. Push halfway down the cookie. Fill the indentations with the cheese filling and a few drops of the raspberry filling. Take a toothpick and swirl the cheese and raspberry together. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the cookies begin to brown. Let the cookies completely cool before transferring them to an airtight container. Store in the fridge until serving. Makes 50 cookies.
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