Here’s another round of new cookies from around the world that start with the letter T. We’ll be visiting Switzerland during the Christmas season with these classic holiday cookies, tirggel, which usually have ornate festive or biblical patterns imprinted on them. In our case, we’ll make things easy and just use whichever moulds are available at home. Then there are tahini cookies from Israel that are warm and sesame-forward. Finally, we’re going to enjoy some tropical goodness from Brazil with tareco, which are super simple cookies made with flour, sugar, and eggs. Keep reading to read the recipes and recreate them in your kitchen!
Tirggel
Ingredients:
- 245 g pastry flour
- 215 g honey
- 40 g powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp rosewater
- ½ tsp cinnamon powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ⅛ tsp ground ginger
- ⅛ freshly grated nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp ground cloves
Instructions:
- In a saucepan, warm honey, rosewater, spices, salt, and sugar on low heat. Keep the saucepan on the stove until all of the sugar has dissolved. This should not take too long.
- Transfer all of this mixture into a large bowl and fold in the flour and mix. You can use a spatula or your hands to form a dough.
- In case the mixture is too sticky, add more flour. If it’s too dry, then you can loosen it with a few splashes of water.
- Wrap it in cling film and refrigerate overnight.
- To bake the cookies, preheat the oven at 220°C and line your baking tray with parchment paper. Alternatively, you can use silicone baking trays too.
- When the dough is still chilled, roll it out on a floured surface to ⅛ inch thickness. These cookies are usually very thin and have a snap, so try your best to roll them to the prescribed thickness.
- At this point you can use a tirggel stamp, if you’re able to find one, or a regular cookie cutter to create cookies. Place the prepared cookies on the baking tray.
- Bake in the oven’s top most rack for about 3 to 5 minutes. The top should be brown, but the bottom should look pale. Preferably bake in batches, especially if you have cut out large cookies.
- Cool them on a wire rack and enjoy.
Tahini Cookies
Ingredients:
- 140 gm flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp cinnamon powder
- Pinch of salt
- 75 gm unsalted, room temperature butter
- 80 gm granulated sugar
- 100 gm tahini
- 24 almonds per cookie (you can also use pecans)
- 3 tbsp + 1 tbsp cinnamon powder
Instructions:
- Sift the flour, cinnamon powder, baking powder, and salt into a mixing bowl.
- Next, beat the softened butter, sugar, and tahini till you get a soft, pasty and creamy consistency. Ensure that the butter is softened and not melted.
- Add the flour and spice mix slowly and using a spatula, give this a good mix until you get a cookie dough. Be sure not to overmix because that will lead to the overproduction of gluten.
- Scoop out the dough, flatten it and wrap it in cling film. Chill the prepared dough in the fridge for half an hour to two hours. This step is essential for the cookies to retain their shape and not spread out too thin.
- Just half an hour before taking the dough out of the fridge, preheat the oven to 175° C.
- Create cookie balls that are about an inch in diameter, roll them into the powdered sugar and cinnamon, and place them onto a parchment-lined baking tray. Keep them a few inches apart so they have enough space to grow and spread. You can also shape them into rectangles.
- You may have to bake in multiple batches because the dough yields about two dozen cookies. Else, you can create as many cookies as you require. Freeze the remaining dough in cling film and use later.
- Press an almond in the centre of each cookie and bake them for 12 to 14 minutes until the surface has cracks and they begin to gain some color around the edges.
- Let them cool on a wire rack before digging in.
Tareco
Ingredients:
- 180 gm flour
- 240 ml milk
- 50 gm sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp baking powder
- A pinch of salt
- Butter
Instructions:
- Mix one egg with 50 gm of sugar, and then add salt, and milk to this.
- Sift the flour and baking powder in a bowl, and then incorporate this slowly into the wet ingredients. Use a spatula or get messy with your hands to mix and knead until you get a cookie dough.
- Melt butter in a pan and then measure out each cookie using a tablespoon. Let both sides cook and get crispy and golden.
- Continue with this step until you run out of the dough.
- Let the tareco cool before enjoying them.