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

1. Mix flour, sugar and salt.
2. Cut the cold butter into cubes and add to the mixture. Mix just until it resembles coarse crumbs. Using a stand mixer helps.
3. Add the egg (and vanilla if using) and mix just until the dough forms.
4. Chill in the fridge for about an hour.
5. 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.)

1. Once baked, let it cool and trim off any excess. (I keep the trimmings for yogurt toppings.)

1. 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☺️

久しぶりに作るウクライナのオレシュキ