At this time of year, I’m reminded of an event we hosted three years ago. The title of the event was “Ukrainian Film & Food Evening.” The aim is to understanding each other through culture and stomach 😊 At that event, I cooked with volunteers, learned how to make borscht, and I also started making oreshki — those walnut-shaped cookies.
Coincidentally, my daughter’s class has a project where each team researches a European country. My daugher and her good friend from Ukraine chose to present on Ukraine. When my daughter said she wanted to bring something for the presentation, I suggested to make oreshki together. Yes, we have our own oreshki pan we bought for the event.
I think about writing post also as my memo for the future. Here is the recipe and how!
Recipe (Makes about 50 pieces)
Interestingly, I found several recipes that use mayonnaise. But since I don’t always have mayonnaise in my kitchen, I adapted recipes without it.
- Soviet Oreshki "Walnut" Cookies (Орешки) - Sasha Cakes Chicago
- Oreshki – Walnut Shaped Cookies with Dulce De Leche - Let The Baking Begin
Also as some conventional powdered sugars may not be vegetarian/vegan-friendly, I substituted a confectioner’s sugar made for baking. Since the dough felt a bit sticky, I adjusted the flour and butter accordingly.
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour: 300 g
- Fine confectioner’s sugar: 80 g
- A pinch of salt
- Cold butter: 200 g
- Egg: 1
- Vanilla extract (optional)
- Filling: caramel cream or chocolate spread (there are recipes to make your own, but I opted for a shortcut 😉)
- Finishing: sifted powdered sugar or chocolate for coating
Direction
- Mix flour, sugar and salt.
- Cut the cold butter into cubes and add to the mixture. Mix just until it resembles coarse crumbs. Using a stand mixer helps.
- Add the egg (and vanilla if using) and mix just until the dough forms.
- Chill in the fridge for about an hour.
-
Roll small balls roughly half a teaspoon to two-thirds teaspoon of dough, place it into the pre-heated mold, and press/bake until done. (Note for my stove: medium heat at setting 5.5; bake about 2 min 20 sec per side.)
-
Once baked, let it cool and trim off any excess. (I keep the trimmings for yogurt toppings.)
-
Fill with cream, sprinkle with powdered sugar or coat in chocolate if desired — done!
Variations worth exploring
While making oreshki with my daughter, we were talking about other cookie-filling conbinations: matcha cookie shell with chestnut filling, Anko (sweet red-bean paste) and butter filling… and suddenly I’m eager to make them again soon.
I also want to try a vegan version. For butter, I already have my favorite vegan butter, but the egg is still a question. That’s my winter homework. Maybe I’ll research it for “Veganuary” in January.
Another thing I would like to try is to bake the cookie with a beautiful baking tin like those from Nordic Ware ... It can be too large for oreshki though.
I hope my daughter will enjoy the oreshki in class with friends, and that their presentation goes well 😊
Have a nice start of the week everyone!
🌻 🌻 🌻 🌻 🌻 🌻
日本語の記事は、今回noteに書きました。よかったらのぞいてみてください☺️