Peanut Butter Cookies

I have baked peanut butter cookies exactly three times. I once made them when Dick and Rochelle visited, and Dick ate them with such gusto that it made a big impression. When I went to visit when Ram was a baby, I baked them to bring with me (though with SunButter), and Thaer liked them so much they were gone in an evening. I just went for Dick's 80th and Ram's 2nd birthdays, and you guessed it. I brought them peanut butter cookies.

I took two to Eyal and Nadav before my trip, so they could taste test, and they gave them big 👍👍.

1 1/3 c flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/2 c unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/2 c packed light or dark brown sugar,
1/4 c regular sugar + [1/2 c. sugar for rolling later]
1 egg
3/4 c creamy peanut butter (spray the measuring cup first!)
1 t vanilla

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt.

In a mixer, or a large bowl with a hand beater, beat the butter for 1 minute on high til creamy. Add in the sugars until incorporated, about 2 minutes. Add in the egg. Add the peanut butter and vanilla until mixed.

Add the dry ingredients and beat until combined. Dough is creamy and soft. Chill the cookie dough for an hour or two, or up to a few days.

Heat oven to 350. This will fill two greased cookie tins.

Put the extra 1/2 c sugar in a bowl. Roll each cookie, a scant tablespoon (think, large grape) in the sugar, and put ot on the tin, leaving space for expanding during baking. Using a fork, make criss-cross tops. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes until edges are set and browned. 

Cool for about five minutes before removing with a spatula onto a cooling rack.

This is from Sally's Baking Addiction.

Goose Foot Cookies

From 2025 New Years: Steinrichs, TeutschRosens,

and WeisbEnnens

We do have a lot of geese in Chestertown, but not sure I know what their feet look like.

This recipe calls for 8 oz of farmers cheese (1/2 package) and egg yolks, some things that pop up occasionally and need to be used. No need for a mixer. They are kind of a cross between kichel and rugelach. 

Perfect with coffee. 

Found it at Olga's Flavor Factory. 

1 c butter (chilled) - that's 2 sticks!
7.5 – 8 oz farmer’s cheese (ricotta or cottage cheese can be substituted)
2 c all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 egg yolks

Lemon zest to taste
2 T(cold or chilled)
1/2 c granulated sugar

Over a large bowl, grate the chilled butter on a box grater.
Add the farmer’s cheese and mix to combine. Add the flour and salt.
Whisk the eggs yolks and water slightly, then add to the dough. Use your hands to quickly knead the ingredients together. 
Form the dough into a disc, cover, and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. No need to grease, with all that butter.

Let the dough sit for 10-15 minutes and cut the dough into quarters, then, working with one portion at a time, roll it out thinly on a well floured surface. Take the time to roll it thin as you can.

Use a biscuit cutter (about 3 inches), or an overturned cup or glass (preferably with thin edge) to cut through the dough and press out as much circles from the dough as possible.

Put the sugar into a saucer and press one side of the circle of dough into the sugar.

Fold it in half to form a half moon shape. Press one side into the sugar again, fold it in half and press one of the sides in the sugar. Also dip the folded edges into the sugar.

Place the cookies sugar side up on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes. Check 2/3 of the time
and flip, if the bottoms are burning. Bake the cookies till they are puffed up and golden brown. 

S'more Meringues

Shula had this idea and we found a fun recipe by Jamie Geller. It worked perfectly. We did have leftover melted chocolate and graham cracker crumbs, which we combined and spread out thin. Here's our double recipe.

4 egg whites
2/3 c sugar
1 c graham cracker crumbs (smash in a bag if you don't have them already ground.) - for Passover, sugar and matzah meal would probably be good
6 oz Hershey's chocolate bars

Heat oven to 215 degrees. Spread a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. These don't spread much at all, so just leaving a little space is enough.

Beat the egg whites, slowly adding the sugar, until stiff an glossy.

Drop a tablespoon of batter and pull up the spoon so it has a nice twisty top. Shula took a butter knife and made shapes and designs.

Bake for 90 minutes. Leave in the oven overnight if you do these in the evening.

Melt the chocolate on the induction burner set at 2. Stir while melting; it goes fast.

Set the cracker crumbs on a small plate. It's fine if there are some bigger pieces. Dip each meringue in the melted chocoate and then set it on the crumbs. Put them on their sides to harden. You can refrigerate.

For Passover, just leave off the crumb layer, or try sugared matzah meal for some crunch.

Very pretty! 

Cranberry Bars

Bars are faster than cookies, and I like that you can cut them in various sizes. These are from a cookbook I picked up for $1 at the Seattle Public Library, Favorite Recipes from Quilters. The book is from 1992; lots of recipes call for margarine or shortening. But a good recipe is a good recipe. These were good. I anticipate having lots of other berries in Chestertown from Micah's garden. These are a little simpler than the crumble recipe. Contributor is Irma H. Schoen.

Note there is no baking powder - this makes a dense bar.

I learned that a 9" x 13" pan is equivalent to a quarter sheet pan, meaning you can bake these in the Breville.

1 stick softened butter (if it's winter and the butter doesn't soften, grate it ahead and let it sit)
1.5 c sugar (if you use a different berry, you could cut back on sugar)
1.5 flour (half whole-wheat works fine)
2 eggs
1 c. chopped nuts - best if done by hand
1.5 c whole cranberries (a half bag)

salt, cinnamon to taste

Grease a quarter sheet pan well.

Cream the butter and sugar.

Add the flours, eggs, salt and cinnamon and mix. It's very stiff. You can use a wooden utensil and then your hands.

Add the cranberries and chopped nuts.

Spread out in the pan, wetting hands to fill in all the spaces.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. Don't overbake or they're hard to cut.

Cool and cut. Recipe says 8x8. 

Chocolate Chip Meringue Bars

I am baking for Zeke Hausmann's bar mitzvah. Now that I ditched kichel, we need new traditions!

I never bother baking chocolate chip cookies, since such good varieties are available commercially. These bars were a recipe my mom got from my friend Joan Wambheim's mother Carol. Apparently it's a popular recipe from mid-20th century church and community cookbooks, sometimes called Halfway to Heaven Bars. 

Mom's recipe calls for shortening, very mid-20th century for sure. Back to butter! Be sure to put the butter out to get to room temperature

I like to chop nuts with a big knife now, instead of a food processor or hand chopper.

Recipe says a 9 x 13 pan. That's very similar in size to a quarter sheet, and it worked fine.

Cookie base layer

1 stick butter, softened
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar
2 c. flour (half or 1/4 whole wheat is fine)
1 t. salt
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
2 egg yolks (you'll use the whites for the meringue)
1 T water (or more if needed)
1 t. vanilla

Mid Layer:

1 c. chocolate chips
1/2 c. chopped nut (walnuts or pecans)

Meringue

2 or 3 egg whites (the extra egg white would give a little lift to the top layer).
1 c. brown sugar (white seems to be OK too)

======

In large bowl, cream butter and sugars. It's not necessary to use a mixer, just a good spatula and some effort.

Add the rest of the ingredients and mix til smooth. Spray the quarter sheet pan with oil and pat down the dough, with wet hands. 

Spread the chocolate chips and chopped nuts, pressing in gently.

In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until glossy with stiff peaks. The volume increases so make sure the bowl is big enough! Slowly add the sugar until incorporated.

Spread over the chocolate/nut layer. Drop it on in a few different places, as it's thick and a bit hard to spread.

Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 until browned. Cook and cut in small squares. I use a pizza cutter. Cutting 6 x 7, it made 42 bars.

One recipe says they don't freeze well -- we'll see!

 

Lemon Cream Cheese Tarts

This recipe came from Susan Schuman, a Schechter mom wtih a son was named Eric. These are very rich, but since you make them as individual little tarts, they are perfect. Nice for Shavuot. Since COVID, people are doing more individual baked goods, and they're also just right for a tea. Be sure to allow for the hour to chill the dough.

8 oz cream cheese - softened at room temperature
2 sticks of butter - softened at room temperature
1 c. flour
2 T sugar
salt to taste
1/2 t cinnamon
optional: grated lemon zest to taste

1 can of lemon pie filling (or another flavor if you prefer)

1 pint raspberries or small strawberries (like from the Strawberry Lady of Broadneck Road!)

Add the butter and cream cheese to a large mixing bowl. Mix with a pastry blender (a hand tool.) Slowly add flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon and optional lemon zest. Knead til smooth, by hand. Refrigerate for one hour.

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Pinch 1" balls of dough and place in silicon muffin cups. Press into place making saucer shapes, with dough creating sides.Fill each with a spoonfullof pie filling.

Bake for 35-45 minutes until browned, checking they aren't burning.

Cool in the pans. Eventually pop them out and cool on racks. Refrigerate before serving. Add rasperries or strawberries for decoration. A few blueberries each would be pretty too.

Makes about 30.

Cranberry Pistachio Icebox Cookies

These are based on a Martha Stewart recipe for Cranberry Noels. They are easy to make and swapping pistachios for her original pecans, really colorful.

They barely spread so you can get a lot on a tin - but the do spread some. Don't bake too long or the bottoms burn. They are lovely with white icing drizzled over them.

1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature -              this is challenging if it's a cold day!
3/4 cup sugar
2 T milk
1 t  pure vanilla extract or orange or lemon zest
2  c all-purpose flour

1/4 c whole wheat
1/2 t salt
3/4 c dried, chopped cranberries
1/2 c chopped pistachios

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. [Unless the butter is soft, this doesn't work!]

Add milk and vanilla or zest. Beat until just combined. 

With mixer on low, gradually add flour, salt, cranberries, and pistachios; continue beating until fully combined.

Turn dough out onto a clean work surface, and divide into 2 equal pieces. Shape each piece into  8-inch square or rectangular logs, about 2 inches in diameter. No need to cover. Refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Using a sharp knife, cut logs into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Transfer to oil-sprayed baking sheets, fairly close together, but leave some space. Bake until edges are golden, 16 to 18 minutes, rotating baking sheets halfway through. They crisp as they dry, so resist the temptation to overbake.

When cooled, compact them on a cookie tin and drizzle royal icing. The fancy way to make it is with meringue powder but you can just use powdered sugar, some vanilla, and a little milk. Use a heavy ziplock. The hard part is transfering the icing into the ziplock. Put a pinhole in the tip of the ziplock, and squeeze & drizzle. One cup of powdered sugar with as little liquid as you need is plenty. Add the liquid 1/2 t at a time. 

Or, drip with a spoon. I am still working on this. The icing glops from the spoon and then flows smoother....

I brought these to Frieda Naumburg's bat mitzvah, mostly in a tent in Judy and Chayim's backyard as it was still COVID. These were a big hit with Chayim, David, and Zach.

One Bowl Blueberry, Strawberry Rhubarb, or Cranberry Crumble Bars

I saw these online and had a real craving for them - I knew they would be similar to the datebars of my youth, but way easier. It's a quick recipe and perfect when blueberries are abundant.   In 2022 when we gathered in Chestertown for Thanksgiving, Zach and Becca brought several quarts of CSA cranberries that people had failed to pick up, or left behind. We experimented making Cranberry Crumble bars (fun to say!) and they were such a hit I made a second batch. Super easy, and so pretty.

You make the same dough for the bottom layer as the streusel topping - super easy. I cut the sugar, as my first version seemed sweeter than needed.

Crust and Crumble Topping
1/2 c (1 stick) butter, melted (microwave on low power, in a big bowl that you then use to mix the dough). For vegans, use parve margarine.
1 c flour (half WW, half regular, as I always do)
3/4 c old-fashioned whole-rolled oats
1/4 c granulated sugar
1/4 c light brown sugar, packed

salt to taste

Blueberry (or Cranberry) Layer
1 pint washed blueberries or 12 oz. cranberries (1 1/2 c)
1/3 c granulated sugar
For blueberries: 2 T lemon juice (1 lemon's worth) - omit for cranberries
2 t cornstarch

• Preheat oven to 350. 
• Line an 8 or 9-inch square pan with a parchment paper sling.
• Altrnatively, to make individual tarts (as I just did during COVID), spray a silicone muffin tin. I made 12. You could make 16, just use 2 trays and leave 8 empty. It's a little more work but a dozen big wows! Wait until cooled to remove, by popping them out from the bottom of the tray.
• In a large, microwave-safe bowl melt the butter.
• Add the flour, oats, sugars, optional salt, and stir to combine. Mixture will be dry and sandy with some larger, well-formed crumble pieces.
• Set aside 1 heaping cup mixture for the top crumble layer.
• Transfer remaining mixture to prepared pan, and using wet fingers, pack the mixture to create an even, smooth, flat crust; set aside.
• In the large mixing bowl (same one!), add blueberries, lemon juice (not for cranberries!), sugar, and cornstarch, stirring to combine. If sugar hasn’t dissolved fully that’s okay because it liquifies while baking.
• Evenly distribute blueberry mixture over the crust.
• Sprinkle with the reserved heaping 1 cup crumble topping mixture. squeezing the mixture to shape bigger crumble pieces.
• Bake for about 45 minutes (in the Breville), or until edges are set and center has just set. Crumble topping should appear set and very pale golden. 
• Place pan on a wire rack and allow bars to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving. If you try to slice bars before they’ve cooled completely, they’ll be extremely messy and could fall apart. 
• To cut when cooled, pull out with the sling onto a flat cutting board. Cut 4 x 5 or even 5 x 5 with a pizza cutting wheel or sharp, wet knife. These are messy-ish, so small bite-size bars are great.

another scrumptious, spring version: Strawberry Rhubarb

Same recipe, but a pint of strawberries and about two stalks of rhubarb, both finely chopped. Include sugar. It is DELICIOUS. Very distinct flavor profile.

Make double like I did here!!

Lactation Bars

Gifts for Asia and Donya, 2021.

These make enough for a half-sheet pan. If you're using a 1/4 sheet, either bake it in two shifts, or bake a half recipe.

A 1/4 sheet pan is enough to fill a jar.

Most lactation bars feature Brewers yeast, flax seed, oats, and other nutritious ingredients like wheat germ. I modified this by baking the dough in the Breville in a 1/4 sheet pan, which works well.

It's easy to slice into even portions. They're a nice gift to a new mama!

It makes about 5 dozen bars or cookies. 

Recipe By:kfwarden

2 T flax seed meal
¼ cup water
1 c butter, softened
1 c white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1½ t pure vanilla extract
2 c all-purpose flour (can be half whole wheat)
¼ cup brewers' yeast
1 T wheat germ
1 t baking soda
½ t salt
½ t cream of tartar
2 ½ cups old-fashioned oats
1 c chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix flaxseed with water in small bowl and let soak for 5 minutes.

Beat butter, white sugar, and brown sugar together in a large mixing bowl until creamy.

Add eggs and vanilla extract; beat to incorporate. Stir flax seed mixture into the butter mixture.

Mix flour, brewer's yeast, wheat germ, baking soda, salt, and cream of tartar in a separate bowl; add to butter mixture and stir until just combined. Fold oats and chocolate chips into the dough.

Press half the dough into the greased 1/4 sheet pan, using wet hands to spread the dough evenly. (Or bake the whole batch in a large jelly roll tin.)

Bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Cool and slice. Repeat.

Presentation is important if you're baking these as a gift. I was pleased to find glass jars which are perfect and something, of course, that can be reused.

1. 
   
2. RVED © 2019 Allrecipes.com

Almond Flour (Parve) Brownies

Not vegan, but really good. And super easy. Pesadik! From the King Arthur flour website. These are Abba's favorites and I like them straight from the freezer for an after-dinner shot of fudgey deliciousness.

Heat oven (I use the Breville) to 350. Spray an 8" or 9" square pan. 

DO NOT DOUBLE THE RECIPE IN A LARGER PAN! I tried this in 2023 and it made a big mess - the brownies were not baked through, and impossible to get out of the pan.

5 T melted butter or parve margarine. (1/2 cup if you use vegetable oil, also fine)
1¾ c sugar
½ t salt
1 t vanilla extract
¾ c cocoa powder (Fairtrade!). Dutch-process or natural; sifted if particularly lumpy
3 large eggs
1½ c. almond flour
1 t. baking powder (It's optional and omitted for Pesach)

Melt margarine in large bowl. Add sugar to absorb heat (so it doesn't cook the eggs) and then add everything together with a spoon, whisk, or spatula. It's more like a paste than a batter.

Bake 33-36 minutes. Test with a toothpick.

Easily doubled, but DON'T BAKE IN ONE BIGGER PAN. These are hard to cut neatly. On Passover 2020, I made a double batch and froze a lot. When they were slightly defrosted it was easy to cut them into very small, neat squares. They are so rich, I recommend this strategy!

Mustachados - Walnut Macaroons

These lasted about 5 minutes - 2021

Mustachados are Sephardic cookies from Gloria Greene's original cookbook, The Jewish Holiday Kitchen. It was a gift from Judy Herzig-Marx and I used it a lot, and still go back to look for ideas. It's less complicated/pretentious than Joan Nathan and some of the other more recent Jewish cookbooks.

These are similar to Italian "Ugly but Good" cookies, which are hazelnut. These are not vegan, since they have an egg, but they are gluten free. I don't generally bake cookies but these are good, chewy, not-too-sweet cookies that pass the Passover test: I would enjoy them if it WEREN'T Passover.

Unlike a lot of Pesadik recipes, this doesn't require beating egg whites, so you don't need a hand mixer or egg whip.


1 large egg (does not need to be separated!)
1.5 cups (about 6 oz) ground walnuts.
      Food processor is fine, or you can buy them at Passover already ground.
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. cinnamon

pinch of salt

Optional: chocolate for dipping

Shula - 3rd grade, 2024

Grease one large or two small cookie sheets very well. It makes about 20-24.

Heat oven to 325.

In a medium bowl, beat the egg with a fork. Add the other ingredients to form a thick paste.

These spread. Wet your hands and shape into scant teaspoon sized balls, about 3/4", flattening into domes.

Bake for 20 minutes or so until the edges have browned.

Pry under them with a spatula to cool. You can stick two together when they are just removed, they way they are served in Istanbul.

Using the induction setting of 1, leave the chocolate in a frying pan for 5-10 minutes and it will melt. Dip away. (In Philly, at 1 it says MELTING.)

Jane Brody's Best Bran Muffins

Jane Brody's cookbook was my favorite for many years. I make these once or twice a year. It's a double batch. Lately I have been baking half in muffin tins and the other half* in a not quite quarter-sheet that fits in the Breville. Way easier - instead of muffins, squares.

3 C shredded *bran cereal (e.g. All-Bran, 100% Bran, etc.)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 C raisins
1 C boiling water
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 C buttermilk
1/4 cup molasses
2 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour
4 t sugar
2 1/2 t baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. In a large bowl, combine the cereal, oil, and raisins, and pour the boiling water over them. Set the mixture aside to cool slightly.

2. In a small bowl, combine the eggs, buttermilk, and molasses. Add this to the partly cooled cereal mixture. 

3. In another small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the cereal mixture, stirring just enough to moisten the dry ingredients. Cover the batter with plastic wrap, wax paper, or a damp towel, and let it stand for at least 15 minutes, preferably for 1 hour. 

4. Preheat the oven to 400. Grease *24 muffin portions, and divide the batter among them filling each cup about three-fourths full. 

Bake the muffins for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the muffins from the oven, and, when they are slightly cooled, turn them in the tins and tip them to cool.

Jane Brody's *All Bran crust for blueberry pie uses the same ingredient.

Kamishbread - Mandelbrot, Dorothy Goodman's recipe

 Kamishbread, so called (I'm sure the Yiddish is Kamishbrot - Joan Nathan says it is the Ukrainian Jews' name for mandelbrot. It was a Fargo specialty served for onegs and other social events.  Elsewhere it is called Mandelbrot, which means almond bread.  It is a heavy biscotti, twice-baked. When I baked these ahead of Tasha's new baby Felix in Des Moines, I realized I didn't have my nice old recipe from Dorothy Goodman on the blog. It's a keeper!

Fast forward to 2025, when we met up w the Hausmann 5. I asked them to choose something for me to bake, and they picked mandelbread. The vacuumed it up, which made me so happy.

Dorothy and Fritzie were dear friends. Fargo Jewish women were bakers - the local bakeries were very uninspiring.

[Another food writer/historian says Kamishbrot is the simpler variety, mandelbrot has more additions.]

½ c. oil
1 c. sugar
3 eggs
1 heaping t baking powder
1 t. vanilla or grated orange rind
3 c. flour [I always use half whole wheat for most everything I bake]
½ c. chopped or ground almonds or chopped walnuts
1/2 t. salt (or more to taste)

Bake a second time in a 375 oven until crisp - 5 to 10 minutes. 

optional: 4 oz. mini chocolate chips

Cream oil, sugar and eggs in a large bowl. A stand mixer is good.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.

Add flavoring and nuts, and optional mini-chips.

Chill for about an hour.

Preheat oven to 350.

Grease a large cookie tin. Divide dough into thirds, making long rolls about 2" wide.  Leave space between rolls, since they will spread. these don't rise much, just enough to look like biscotti.

Bake for about 30 minutes until lightly browned.  

Remove and cool a few minutes and cut into 3/4” horizontal pieces.

Roll both cut sides in a cinnamon/sugar mixture - you don't need much, it goes a long way.

Maxine's Secret Egg Kichel Recipe

Maxine Liszt had a flair for the dramatic, being a red-headed, large, funny lady with a passion for Picasso. She painstakingly painted copies of his famous paintings, seriously. They were hanging all over her house.  Her husband Lawrence owned a ladies dress store, The Mary Elizabeth Shop. Maxine felt it was her responsibility to be very well-dressed to advertise the store, and she did that with flair.  She was an exceptionally accomplished baker, devoting a lot of time and effort to crafting cookies. Women had way too much time on their hands in the 50's and 60's, so that's one of the ways they spent it.
Maxine's kichel (pl.kichelach, but we never used the plural) were legendary. In a semi-secret cupboard in her very modern house, which I now realize was influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright, was a stash of kichel, in a large plastic bin. They kept a long time. When friends dropped in, out came the kichel. I don't remember seeing them anywhere but Maxine's kitchen. You had to be on close terms with the Liszts to merit kichel. It was a big deal when she baked them for our wedding - they couldn't come, but sent a huge box.

On one of my trips home to Fargo in my early married years I talked Maxine into giving me a kichel demo, where I watched and took notes. I then went back to my parents' house and replicated her technique. When Dad saw the kichel, he couldn't believe his eyes. That I had baked kichel that basically was indistinguishable from Maxine's? A feat! I don't think anything else I ever did impressed him in quite the same way.

These are an enormous amount of work.  But they are fun, and oh yes, they are incredibly delicious. Just the right sweetness, nice and crunchy, chewy and satisfying.  And pretty.  Maxine always said the burnt ones were the real delicacies.  I baked them for the family b'nei mitzvah. Helen Koslow Sweig remembers Maxine and her kichel well. They served them at the party for Aunt Sally and Uncle Rob when they got married in Fargo, 40 years ago! The Liszts hosted the bridal dinner. It was Dec 25th and not a restaurant was open in Fargo in those days.

This recipe is actually half of what Maxine baked.  For Jed and Anne's wedding I did the whole dozen eggs and it took FOREVER.

All ready to take these to
Shulamit Zissel's naming!
(this is a double recipe)

6 eggs, at room temperature
2 T. sugar
a dash of salt
2 T. vegetable oil
2 T. brandy, sherry, or bourbon
~3 to 4 cups flour - it depends on how much the eggs absorb
+ Extra oil and sugar for the rolled out dough

In a large bowl, beat the eggs.  Beat in the other ingredients.  Add flour until it forms a stiff, stringy dough suitable for rolling out.  Unless you're using a MixMaster you will probably wind up doing this stage by hand.

Heat oven to 425° - though you might want to wait awhile, as the roll-out takes some time.

I tried using our marble counter, flouring the counter first, and it worked perfectly. Otherwise, flour a large board. It is handy to have some sugar and a dish of flour - your hands will be full of sticky dough.

Divide the dough into thirds or quarters, rolling one out at a time. You need to stretch it by hand as well as roll it, as thin as possible.Then comes the fun part.  Generously schmear oil over the flat dough plane. Then pour sugar over it, spreading evenly and generously.  It is what gives the cookie flavor, and it carmelizes, so the surface needs to be nicely covered.

With a sharp knife or pizza wheel (saw that on YouTube!) make parallel cuts about 1.5 inches apart.  Then start cutting in the opposite direction to create diamond shapes.

Spray about 3 large cookie tins with oil.  Using the pizza wheel, lift up diamond and place the kichel on the tins.  You can dip them in sugar first to get more on the cookie surface. No need to worry about stretching them out, they puff up but don't really spread so you can put them pretty close together.


Put one filled tray on a lower rack.  Keep an eye on it while you repeat the roll out and cookie tin process.  When the cookies are puffy and starting to brown, move them to a higher rack, and add the new ones to the bottom.  Watch carefully because some will start to burn before the last ones are browned.

For the final cookie tin full, you can turn off the oven and leave them in another five minutes or so - a larger number of them will caramelize without burning.

PS One of the versions I saw online said you can use a pasta rolling machine to get really thin dough. That would be perfect.

Rose Beloff's Sesame Cookies

These cookies are shaped, not dropped. Crunchy, not very sweet, and high-protein, they are the perfect accompaniment for coffee or tea, and not too guilt-inducing.
Rose Beloff lived in Grand Forks, North Dakota, where I would travel to visit Debi Osnowitz who moved there when we were about 10. It was an hour and a half bus ride and I was allowed to travel alone, which passed for exciting in my childhood.
This recipe is from the Grand Forks Sisterhood Cookbook.  Fargo Jews were more modern and GF Jews were more traditional.  It turns out they had more refugees and immigrants, being closer to Canada, but I didn't know that at the time.  We just thought they were weird.

6 T. oil
6 T. sugar
6 T. flour (can be part whole wheat)
3 eggs
2 1/2 C. sesame seeds. This is about 12-13 oz. You can substitute ground almonds for up to 1/4

1/2 t. salt

Mix ingredients. Let stand for a few hours until thoroughly chilled, to make the paste easier to shape.

• Heat oven to 325°.
• Spray cookie tins well.
• Fill a flat dish with water to dip your hands and/or utensils - the mixture is very messy.
• Wet a spoon and drop tight spoonfuls of sesame mixture onto the tin. With wet hands, shape into crescents. They don't expand much in baking, so they can be quite close together on the tin.  You need to keep wetting your hands.  After shaping the cookies (this is two tins' worth), there will be sesame mixture all over the tins, so wet your hands some more and just kind of sweep them these crumbs into the closest cookies.  When they bake, they hold together.

Bake 20-30 minutes until nicely browned.

Iced Ricotta Cookies

My mouth waters just thinking about these cookies - the recipe is from an old Family Circle magazine.  I have tweaked it a bit, and only bake a half recipe, which is still a generous amount.
I like to make them for teas, since they are not super sweet and look colorful, and also for Hanukkah, with a dusting of goofy blue sprinkles.  This makes about 3 dozen.  Note the recipe suggests refrigerating the dough for a few hours, so plan ahead.

Cookie Dough

¼ c (= half stick) butter, softened

5/8 c. sugar

1 egg

1 t. vanilla

1 c part-skim ricotta (7-8 oz) - this is ~half a 13 oz container

2 c. flour (as you know by now, I usually put in ~ ¼ whole wheat)
1 t. baking powder
½ t. baking soda
½ t salt

Cookie Glaze
1 c. confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 to 1½ T orange juice or eggnog.  GO EASY ON THE LIQUID.  It's easier to add more than to work with runny icing.  I make this mistake most every time.

In large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar on medium speed - I have always just used a  handmixer. Beat about 3 minutes until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs, vanilla and ricotta until well blended.

In a second medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Stir flour mixture into wet ingredients until well-blended.  Cover and refrigerate and hour or two for easier shaping.

To bake:  heat oven to 350.  Spray baking tins or mini-muffin trays.  If you use trays, shape level tablespoons of dough about 1" apart.  You could do a combination of both.

Bake about 10 minutes or until the bottoms are lightly browned.

In the meantime, prepare the icing.  Stir the confectioners sugar with the liquid until smooth, adding the liquid very sparingly and incorporating it before adding more.  Add just a drop at a time.  Really!

When the cookies are slightly cooled,  pick up each cookie/mini-scone and dip it in the icing, and then the sprinkles, orange zest, lavendar, or slivered almonds.

The icing hardens - what a treat, and so pretty, too!

Other ideas for color on the icing: lavender, or tiny orange zest peels from a microplane zester.

Sinfully Scrumptious Toffee

I saw this recipe and made it for Sheva Brachot for Zach and Becca. It is easy and incredibly, sinfully scrumptious. It's a cross between candy and bars.

The recipe was in the Inquirer, but I adapted it some.

1/4 lb saltine crackers (About one sealed sleeve of them).

2 sticks butter = one cup

1 c brown sugar

2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 c. finely chopped nuts - walnuts, pecans, or almonds

Spray an 11 x 17 jelly roll pan well.

Preheat oven to 375-400

Cover the bottom of the pan with the saltines. You can break them and put the pieces if you have leftover space. Tighter is fine.

In a medium sauce pan combine butter and sugar. Head over medium heat to boiling, stirring often. Boil 3 minutes without stirring. Pour over crackers and spread evenly. Don't worry about the mixture going under the crackers.

Bake in the oven for about 5 minutes. They will be bubbling.

Take out and sprinkle the top evenly with the chocolate chips. After about 5 minutes, take a flat spatula or knife and spread the melting chips. Pour and finely chopped nuts into the melting chocolate, pressing down.

Cool completely. When it's set and hardened, it's not hard to pull apart. The saltines work as perforation. You can freeze these.

I believe you can substitute matzah and do this at Passover.

from the Inqy's version:

Per serving: 236 calories, 2 grams protein, 25 grams carbohydrates, 19 grams sugar, 15 grams fat, 21 milligrams cholesterol, 109 milligrams sodium, 2 grams dietary fiber.

Of course, what is a serving of this?!