I believe that each family has a recipe of delicious plain cookies that moms and grandmas would bake. My recipe’s in my Mom’s handwriting but has been adapted from my Godmother Maria.  

So, I baked these cookies last night. They turned out great and reminded me of the tranquil moments of my childhood!

Do you want to bake them?

For 18 cookies, you’ll need—

250g flour

100g sugar

4g baking powder

lemon zest from 1 organic lemon

2 tbsp milk

1 egg

50g butter

Mix all the ingredients in the above-specified order. Knead well. You’ll feel like you can’t incorporate all the flour, but you will.

The dough will be balanced, so you won’t need flour when you roll it out (its thickness should be 4-5mm).

Use the cutters of your liking and place the cookies in a baking pan lined with baking parchment.

Bake in the preheated oven at 180⁰C for 15 minutes.

So, how are they? J

16 brânzoaice

Dough

450g flour

1 egg

40g dry yeast

350ml sana or yoghurt

Filling

250g cottage cheese

1 yolk

a pinch of salt

150g sugar

raisins (as many as you like)

+1 egg white for brushing, flour for rolling out the dough

I used to love brânzoaice as a child – we could find them in all pastry shops around Romania. So, I wanted to bake them myself. I found an old recipe and I adapted it. It wasn’t as hard as I thought – and it never is when we do it with love.

If you like raisins, hydrate them in a cup of water a few hours before baking the brânzoaice.

Make the dough combining the flour, the whole egg, the yeast, and the sana (=fermented milk found in Romania) or the yoghurt and then knead a bit. Cover the dough and let it rise for one hour in a warm place.

Meanwhile, make the filling by mixing the cottage cheese, the yolk, the salt, the sugar, and the raisins.

On a baking mat, cut the dough into four pieces and roll out each sheet of dough adding as much flour as needed. From the centre of the sheet, cut out a rectangle and split it into two squares. Fill each square with the cottage cheese mix and stick the corners of the square in the middle, by also sticking together the dough on the sides, like a rag bag. Roll out the remaining dough – it will make two more brânzoaice; that’s four for each sheet of dough.  

After you finish rolling out all the dough sheets and shaping the brânzoaice, brush them with the egg white and place them into two baking pans (that’s what I needed) covered with baking parchment. Bake them in the preheated oven, at 200°C, for 12-13 minutes.

I really hope you like them! J

32 cookies

550g sweet soft cheese

230g sugar

lemon zest from 2 organic lemons

2 eggs

1 drop of vanilla extract

½ sachet of baking powder

350g flour

+ flour for rolling the dough

I had lots of urdă (=Romanian sweet soft cheese that I love) /the closest equivalent is ricotta, but you can use any sweet soft cheese). And I also had my mother’s cookie recipe – which listed, however, butter.

So, I replaced butter with sweet soft cheese.

First, mix the sweet soft cheese with the sugar and the lemon zest and let the bowl sit in the fridge for 10 minutes.

Then, add the eggs, the vanilla extract, the baking powder, and the flour.

Knead until the dough absorbs all the flour and it isn’t soggy anymore. Then, transfer it from the bowl onto the baking mat.

Divide it into 4 pieces and shape a 15-16cm-long roll from each piece of dough. Cut 2cm-thick slices from this roll of dough. Round the slices a bit and place them into 2 large baking pans.

Bake the cookies for 10-11 minutes in the preheated oven, at 200°C.

120ml water

3 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp cocoa powder

100g biscuits

75g almonds or walnuts

15 sour cherries

Make a syrup using water, sugar, and cocoa powder; mix the ingredients and let them simmer on low heat for 5 minutes.

After removing the pan from the heat, add the chopped biscuits and almonds (or walnuts).

Knead a little to homogenise the dough; then, take bits of it, flatten them, add a sour cherry to the middle, and shape them into bombs.

Let them sit in the fridge for one hour before munching them.

Enjoy them and enjoy every single day!

Makes 10

330g flour

5g dry yeast

½ sachet vanilla sugar

125g sugar

100g butter (at room temperature)

1 egg

1 tbsp of yoghurt

80ml water

Filling

140g ground walnuts

1 teaspoon of cocoa powder

3 teaspoons of sugar

1 tbsp of milk

+

1 egg white

1 teaspoon of sugar

+ honey for serving

Here’s a dessert that I wished to prepare for a long time. My Mom used to bake it when I was a little girl. It seems pretty autumnal to me!

Knead a dough from flour, yeast, vanilla sugar, and sugar. Add the butter at room temperature (it will crumble), the egg, the yoghurt, and the water. Let the dough rise for 1 hour.

Add the cocoa powder, sugar, and milk into the ground walnuts.

Cut the dough into two equal parts. Roll out the first sheet (30x20cm); brush the walnut mix onto it. Roll out the second sheet and place it on the first sheet. Beat an egg white with sugar until stiff and brush it onto the second sheet.  

Then, roll both sheets, stick them with a few drops of water and brush the roll with the egg white and sugar mix that will be left. Cut 2 cm-thick pieces and place them into a baking pan lined with baking parchment. Bake in the preheated oven, at 200°C, for 10-12 minutes.

They are wonderful with honey! ♥      

Makes 4

2 eggs

330ml milk

120g sugar

3½ tbsp cornstarch

a drop of vanilla extract

25g whipping cream (+ 1 tbsp sugar)

28 sour cherries

I was thinking about a summery dessert for Marcel. He likes those that are easily eaten. Well, he did return with sour cherries from the market and with a smile on, so...

First, wash the sour cherries. I used a metal straw to remove the stones.

Mix the yolks with 2/3s of the sugar amount until you get a foamy cream.

Add 1-2 tablespoons of milk and mix again. Add the cornstarch and immediately pour into the milk (simmering with the vanilla extract). Stir continuously until it boils. Remove from heat and add the egg whites beaten until stiff with the remaining sugar and then the cream whipped with 1 tablespoon of sugar.

I used Martini glasses for the pudding, 6 sour cherries between the pudding layers and a proud one on top. Let the puddings sit in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before devouring them.

Because that’s what’s going to happen. J