HURMALI KURABİYE

DATE FILLED COOKIES

Makes 40 cookies.

Ingredients:

3 cups of flour
1 stick of salted butter
2 eggs
1/3 cups of powdered sugar
1/3 cup of heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp of wheat starch
1 tsp of vanilla sugar
1 tsp of baking powder

Filling:
20 dates ( finely chopped )

Shift flour, baking powder and vanilla sugar, powdered sugar, starch all together in a large mixing bowl. Take soften butter, whipping cream, eggs in another large bowl and mix. Add shifted mix gradually to the liquid and make a soft dough.
Dust a large, flat surface with the flour (dusting will keep the dough from sticking). Place the dough onto flat surface and roll the dough until it reaches 1/5" thickness with a roller pin.
Preheat the oven 350F. Place a parchment paper on a baking sheet. Cut off the dough with a round cookie cutter.Place 1 tsp of chopped dates in the middle of the dough and close it up. Place them on a baking tray. Preheat the oven to 350F. Bake them until golden brown.
When they are cooled, sprinkle powdered sugar on top of them and serve.

TAHİNLİ & CEVİZLİ KURABİYE

TAHINI &  WALNUT COOKIES

This recipe belongs to my friend Meryem. Everyone who tasted these cookies just loved it so it deserves to be published:)
Thank you Meryem...

Makes 34 cookies.

Ingredients:
1 cup of tahini
1 cup of vegetable oil
1+1/2 cup of powdered sugar
1 cup of chopped walnut
1 tsp of baking powder
all purpose flour ( approx. 4 cups )

Take powdered sugar, vegetable oil and tahini in a large mixing bowl and mix it with a whisk. Add walnut baking powder in to the bowl. Start to knead by adding flour slowly and stop adding it until the dough reaches a soft consistency. Take small parts ( about the size of walnut ) from the dough and give them the shape of small balls and press the middle of the cookies with your thumb. Preheat the oven 350 F. Bake the cookies until they are golden brown about 15 minutes.

ANTEP FISTIKLI KURABİYE

PISTACHIO COOKIES

Makes 19 cookies.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 stick of butter
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
• 1 cup of all purpose of flour
• 1/3 cup of chopped pistachio
• 1 tbsp of plain yogurt
• 1/2 tsp of baking powder

Melt butter. Stir in brown sugar and granulated sugar. Add yogurt and stir. Add sifted flour and baking  powder. Mix it with a spatula.Take one tablespoon of cookie dough and place it on a greased baking tray. Leave some room between the cookies. Preheat the oven 350 F. Bake the cookies for 10 to 15 minutes.

DEREOTLU & ÇEDARLI TUZLU KURABİYE

SAVORY DILL & CHEDDAR CHEESE COOKIES

Ingredients:

• 3/4 stick melted butter
• 1/2 cup of plain yogurt
• 2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp of vinegar
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1 tsp of dried dill
• 2 tbsp of shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 tsp of baking powder
• 1 egg white

Glaze:

• 1 egg yolk
• nigella & sesame seeds

Take butter, yogurt, egg yolk, vinegar, cheddar cheese and dill in a large mixing bowl and whisk it well. Add baking powder, salt. Add flour slowly (to make very soft dough ) and start to knead.
Stop adding flour when you reach soft consistency.Make the dough one big ball, cover with plastic wrap. Place it in the refrigerator and let it rest for two hours.
Take some all purpose flour in a bowl and dip the dough ball into the flour. Dust a large, flat surface with the flour (dusting will keep the dough from sticking). Place the dough onto flat surface and roll the dough until it reaches 1/5" thickness with a roller pin. Keep dusting the dough with flour while you are rolling.
Preheat the oven 350F. Place a parchment paper on a baking sheet. Cut off the dough with a round cookie cutter.
Take the egg yolk and nigella-sesame seeds in a separate bowls.
Brush them first with egg yolk  and then sprinkle sesame and nigella seeds on top.
Place them on the baking sheet.
Bake them golden brown.

BALLI KURABİYE

HONEY COOKIES

Makes 26 cookies.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of honey
• 1 stick of butter ( melted )
• 1 cup of finely chopped walnut
• 3 cups of all purpose flour
• 1 tsp of vanilla sugar
• 1/2 tsp of baking soda

 Take melted butter in a large mixing bowl. Add honey and stir. Add walnut, baking soda and vanilla sugar and stir. Start to knead by adding flour slowly and stop adding flour until the dough reaches a soft consistency. Take small parts ( about the size of whole walnut ) from the dough and give them the shape of small balls. Place them on a greased baking tray. Preheat the oven 350 F. Bake the cookies for 15 to 20 minutes.

ÇİKOLATA DOLGULU KURABİYE

CHOCOLATE FILLED COOKIES

Makes 35 cookies.

Ingredients:

• 2 stick of butter
• 1 cup of powdered sugar
• 2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1 tsp of vanilla sugar
• 1 tsp of baking powder

Filling:

• 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips 
• 3 tbsp of milk

Take melted butter and powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl an stir. Gradually add flour, vanilla sugar and baking powder. Knead it until the dough reaches a soft consistency. Take small parts ( about the size of whole pecan ) from the dough and give them the shape of small balls. Press an indentation into each ball with your finger. Place them on a greased baking tray. Preheat the oven 350 F. Bake the cookies for 15 to 20 minutes. 
Meanwhile, take chocolate chips and milk in a sauce pan  over medium heat. Stir until it is smooth.
When the cookies are done, fill the indentations with chocolate sauce.

HİNDİSTAN CEVİZLİ KURABİYE

COCONUT COOKIES

Makes 20-25 cookies.

Ingredients:

• 1+1/2 cups of all purpose flour
•  1/2 cup of coconut oil
• 1/2 cup of powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup of finely shredded coconut
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/3 tsp of vanilla sugar
• 1/4 tsp of baking soda
• a pinch of salt

Topping:

• 1 egg white
• 1/3 cup of finely shredded coconut

Whisk butter, powdered sugar, egg yolk, in a large mixing bowl. Add flour,vanilla sugar, baking soda and coconut and knead. Cover with plastic wrap and rest the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Take it out and knead again. Take small parts ( about the size of an walnut ) from the dough and give them the shape of small balls. Dip them ( just one side of the cookies )  first into egg white and then coat them with coconut . Preheat the oven 350 F. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes at this tempature and decrease the heat to 300F. Bake it another 10 minutes or until golden brown.

KURU ÜZÜMLÜ & CEVİZLİ KURABİYE

RAISINS & WALNUT COOKIES  

My son and I made these cookies together. He loves chocolate chip cookies.
That day I was out of chocolate chips and we decided to make our cookies with raisins and walnut instead. He loved it this way too...

Makes 26 cookies.

Ingredients:

• 1+ 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup of light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of raisins
• 1/2 cup of finely diced walnuts
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup of plain yogurt
  
• 1 stick butter ( softened )
• 1/3 tsp of baking soda
• 1/3 tsp of vanilla sugar
  
• a pinch of salt
  

Sift flour, baking soda, vanilla sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl. In another bowl, whisk egg, melted butter, yogurt, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Add sifted mixing and mix it with a spatula. Add raisins and walnut to the bowl and mix. Take one tablespoon of cookie dough and place it on a greased baking tray. Leave some room between the cookies. Preheat the oven 400 F. Bake for 5 minute at this tempature then turn it down to 350F. Bake the cookies for 10 more minutes or until light brown. 

FINDIKLI KURABİYE

 HAZELNUT COOKIES


I like hazelnut a lot...
I searched for a good hazelnut cookie recipe for a while and I just couldn't find a good one. Finally, I ended up making my own:)
I decided to use hazelnut meal for the dough to reach max hazelnut flavor and coated them with chopped hazelnut. With the coat, cookies became very crunchy and tasty.
If you are like me, you will just love these cookies.

Makes 18 cookies.


Ingredients:

• 2+1/2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup of hazelnut meal
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1 stick melted butter 
• 2 tbsp of plain yogurt
  
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp of vanilla sugar
  
• 1/2 tsp of baking soda

For the topping:

• 1/2 cup of chopped hazelnut
• 1 egg white
  

Whisk sugar, egg yolk,yogurt in a large mixing bowl. Add butter and whisk. Add flour,vanilla sugar, baking soda and hazelnut meal and knead. Cover with plastic wrap and rest the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Take it out and knead again. Take small parts ( about the size of an walnut ) from the dough and give them the shape of small balls and press them gently while they are still between your palms and  dip them ( just one side of the cookies )  first into egg white and then coat them with chopped hazelnut .Rest in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes. Preheat the oven 350 F. Bake the cookies for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

SAKIZLI & LORLU KURABİYE

MASTIC GUM & RICOTTA  COOKIES

Makes 26 cookies.

The recipe belongs to Sibel who has a very nice Turkish food blog.

These cookies are so popular in Turkey. Most of the Turkish food bloggers have tried and recommended it to anyone who wants to try. I tried and liked it too. The smell of mastic gum is just perfect and it is a very healthy snack for kids too.

In order to make these cookies you should have a special Turkish cheese which is called "lor peyniri" and mastic gum. Ricotta cheese could be substituted for the cheese and the gum could be bought online.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of ricotta cheese
• 4 small pieces of mastic gum
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 2 eggs
• juice of a half lemon
• 2+1/2 cup of all purpose flour
• 1 cup of granulated sugar
  
• 1/2 tsp of baking soda
• 1/2 cup of sesame seeds

Take 1 cup of ricotta cheese in a strainer and cover it with plastic wrap. Place a deep cup under the strainer to let the liquid out and let it sit in the refrigerator for two days. This way ricotta cheese become more thicker just like " lor cheese."

At the end of two days, take ricotta cheese from the refrigerator and place it in a large bowl. Add olive oil, sugar and eggs ( set one egg white aside for the topping ) in the bowl and whisk it. Dissolve the baking soda in the lemon juice and add it into the bowl. Place the mastic gum in the freezer and let it sit there for 10 minutes and then take it out. Grind it in the coffee grinder until ground to the point of flour. Add ground mastic gum into the bowl. Mix it well.

Start to add flour into this mixture and knead it. The original recipe calls just for 2 cups of flour but my dough was too juicy and I needed to add  a half cup of more flour. The dough should be so soft and a little bit sticky because of the mastic gum. If it sticks to your hands do not add any flour. Just wet your hand before giving them the shape.

Place the sesame seeds and the egg white in separated bowls. Take small parts ( about the size of walnut ) from the dough and give them the shape of small balls and dip ( just one side of the cookies ) them first into egg white and then coat them with sesame seeds. Place them on a greased baking tray. Preheat the oven 350 F. Bake the cookies for 20 to 25 minutes.

TUZLU SİMİT

SESAME RINGS

Ingredients:

• 1 stick butter ( in room temperature )
  
• 1/3 cup of vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup of plain yogurt
• 1 tsp of vinegar
• 1/2 tbsp of salt
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 tsp of baking soda
• all purpose flour
  

topping:

• 1 egg white
• 2 cups of sesame seeds

Take butter, yogurt, vegetable oil, egg yolk, and vinegar in a large mixing bowl and whisk it well. Add baking soda, salt. Add flour slowly (to make very soft dough ) and start to knead.
Stop adding flour when you reach soft consistency.
Preheat the oven 350F. Place a parchment paper on a baking sheet.
Take small parts ( about the size of a half walnut ) from the dough and give them the shape of ring (about 2 inch diameter).
Take the egg white and sesame seeds in a separate bowls.
Dip the rings first into egg white and then dip them into sesame seeds.
Place the rings on the baking sheet.
Bake them until the rings are just golden brown.

PİKANLI KURABİYE

PECAN COOKIES

When my very close friend Sophie baked these cookies for us for the first time, it became my son's favorite. I took the recipe and tried but it is not the same. She is the professional:)
Here is her recipe;

 Ingredients:

• 300 gr all purpose flour ( ~2+2/3 cup )
• 1/2 cup of pecan meal
• 150 gr sugar ( ~3/4 cup )
• 150 gr melted butter ( ~11 tbsp )
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp of baking soda
• 1/2 tsp of baking powder

Whisk sugar, egg, baking soda in a large mixing bowl. Add butter and whisk. Add flour, baking powder, and pecan meal and knead. Cover with plastic wrap and rest the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Take it out and knead again. Rest for another 30 minutes.Take small parts ( about the size of an egg ) from the dough and give them the shape of small balls and press them gently while they are still between your palms. Place them on a greased baking tray.Place a half pecan on top of each cookies and gently push. Preheat the oven 350 F. Bake the cookies for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

ELMALI KURABİYE

• 

COOKIES WITH APPLE FILLING

These cookies from Rabia's blog. I can easily say that it is so delicious and very easy to make. The dough is very easy to work with which is very important when you are making these kind of cookies.

Ingredients:

• 1 stick of butter (melted )
  
• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
• 1 cup of milk
• 1/3 tsp of baking soda
• 1/2 tsp of vanilla sugar
• 4 cups of all purpose flour ( approx )

Filling:

• 4 large size off apples
• 1 cup of finely diced walnut
• 1 cup of granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp of ground cinnamon

Peel and grate apples. Take sugar and the grated apple in a medium pot over medium heat. Cook until it absorbs all of its juice.Then add walnut and cinnamon to the pot. Turn the heat off.Stir and set a side.
Shift flour, baking soda and vanilla sugar all together in a large mixing bowl. Take melted butter, vegetable oil, milk and sugar in another large bowl and mix. Add shifted flour gradually to the liquid and make a soft dough.
Take a small piece of dough ( about the size of an egg) and make it flat with your hands. Place 1 tbs of filling in the middle of the dough and close it up. Place them on a baking tray.When putting the cookies to the tray, the closed part of them should face up. Preheat the oven to 350F. Bake them until golden brown.

HURMALI&CEVİZLİ KURABİYE

DATE&WALNUT COOKIES

I didn't think I would post this recipe until I had my first bite. It is very tasty. The combination of walnut and date is just perfect.

Ingredients:

• 1+ 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup of light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of chopped dates
• 1/2 cup of finely diced walnuts
• 1 egg
• 1/2 stick butter ( softened )
• 1/3 tsp of baking soda
  
• a pinch of salt
  

Sift flour, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl. In another bowl, whisk egg, melted butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Add sifted mixing and mix it with a spatula. Add chopped date and walnut to the bowl and mix. Take one tablespoon of cookie dough and place it on a greased baking tray. Leave some room between the cookies. Preheat the oven 350 F. Bake the cookies for 20 to 25 minutes.

PORTAKALLI KURABİYE

ORANGE COOKIES

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks salted butter ( melted )
  
• 4 tbsp of sugar
• Juice and zest of 1 orange
• 1/2 tsp of baking soda
• 1 egg yolk
• all purpose flour
  

Topping:

• 1/2 cup of finely chopped blanched almonds
• 1 egg white
• orange jam
  

Take melted butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl an stir. Add egg yolk, orange zest, orange juice, and baking soda. Gradually add the flour and knead the dough until the dough reaches a soft consistency. Take small parts ( about the size of walnut ) from the dough and give them the shape of small balls. Press an indentation into each ball with your finger. Dip ( just one side of the cookies ) them first into egg white and then coat with almonds. Place them on a greased baking tray. Preheat the oven 350 F. Bake the cookies for 15 to 20 minutes. When it is completly cool fill the indentations with orange jam.

KANDİL SİMİDİ

 SESAME & MOLASSES  RINGS

Ingredients:

• 1 stick butter ( melted )
  
• 1/4 cup of vegetable oil
• 1 tsp of vinegar
• 2 tbsp of plain yogurt
  
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1/3 tsp of baking soda
• 1 tsp of ground mahaleb
• all purpose flour
  

Topping:

• 1 cup of sesame seeds
• 5 tbsp of molasses
• 1 tbsp of water

Take melted butter, yogurt, vegetable oil, and vinegar in a large mixing bowl and whisk it well. Add mahaleb, baking soda, salt. Add flour slowly (to make very soft dough ) and start to knead.
Stop adding flour when you reach soft consistency.
Preheat the oven 350F. Place a parchment paper on a baking sheet.
Take small parts ( about the size of walnut ) from the dough and give them the shape of ring (about 2 inch diameter).
Take the molasses and and 1tbsp of water in a large bowl and whisk it. Take the sesame seeds another large bowl.
Dip the rings first into molasses and then dip them into sesame seeds.
Place the rings on the baking sheet.
Bake them until the rings are just golden brown.

TAHİNLİ KURABİYE

TAHINI COOKIES

These cookies are delicious, if you like the taste of tahini. The original recipe is in Turkish and belongs to a very famous Turkish food site. The only change that I made is adding baking soda after baking them several times.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 cup of tahini
• 1+1/2 sticks of butter ( in a room temperature )
  
• 1 egg yolk
  
• 1/2 tsp of vanilla
  
• 1/2 tsp of baking soda
  
• enough flour ( approximately 4 cups )

Topping:

• 1 cup of crushed walnut
• 1 egg white

Take sugar and tahini in a large mixing bowl and mix it with a whisk. Add butter, egg yolk, vanilla, and baking soda in to the bowl. Start to knead by adding flour slowly and stop adding flour until the dough reaches a hard consistency. Take small parts ( about the size of walnut ) from the dough and give them the shape of small balls and press them gently while they are still between your palms. Dip ( just one side of the cookies ) them first into egg white and then coat with walnut. Place them on a greased baking tray. Preheat the oven 350 F. Bake the cookies for 15 to 20 minutes.