Cookies for Yom Kippur
Sep
28
Cookies for Yom Kippur
Tonight, I have been invited by my best friend’s family to attend their Yom Kippur celebrations at their home. Yom Kippur is The Day of Atonement, a holiday of reflection and reassessment. For this occasion, I decided to try my hand and baking Jewish Holiday treats. Flipping through my copy of A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking by BetterBaking.com’s Marcy Goldman, I went straight to the baking section for Yom Kippur. I love how each chapter of the book is devoted to each holiday occasion, starting from Breaking Bread and Shabbat, to Shavuot.
I contemplated between making a Sour Cream Marble Cake, Yom Tov Shortbread and eventually settled on making the Egg Kichel, using the Marcy’s variation by adding cinnamon sugar on top of each cookie. It was one of the easiest cookie recipes I have ever made, and it tasted delicious when I pulled them fresh out of the oven, and sampled one straight from the pan. Mixing the entire batter took 10 minutes at most and since I lacked a rolling pin or pastry board in my lame studio apartment, I settled for rolling the dough into little balls and then into cinnamon sugar. Because the cookies were so light and delicate, I had to watch the baking time carefully as not to burn them-it depends on the type of oven you use. The result? A delicate, crunchy little cookie that melts in your mouth and is not too sweet. I hope everyone at dinner tonight likes it as well!
Egg Kichel
Makes 5 dozen cookies
A classic. A glass of wine or schnapps and a kichel cookie is a traditional treat for holidays, a birth, a wedding, or after Sabbath services.
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
21/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a mixer, beat the eggs, oil, and sugar until very light and voluminous, about 5 minutes. Fold in the flour, salt, and baking powder.
Adding as little extra flour as possible, roll the dough to between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. Cut it into circles, squares, or diamond shapes 2 inches in diameter. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and bake until lightly browned (25 to 30 minutes).
VARIATION: For Cinnamon Sugar Kichel sprinkle the cookies with 1/2 cup sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon before baking.
I contemplated between making a Sour Cream Marble Cake, Yom Tov Shortbread and eventually settled on making the Egg Kichel, using the Marcy’s variation by adding cinnamon sugar on top of each cookie. It was one of the easiest cookie recipes I have ever made, and it tasted delicious when I pulled them fresh out of the oven, and sampled one straight from the pan. Mixing the entire batter took 10 minutes at most and since I lacked a rolling pin or pastry board in my lame studio apartment, I settled for rolling the dough into little balls and then into cinnamon sugar. Because the cookies were so light and delicate, I had to watch the baking time carefully as not to burn them-it depends on the type of oven you use. The result? A delicate, crunchy little cookie that melts in your mouth and is not too sweet. I hope everyone at dinner tonight likes it as well!
Egg Kichel
Makes 5 dozen cookies
A classic. A glass of wine or schnapps and a kichel cookie is a traditional treat for holidays, a birth, a wedding, or after Sabbath services.
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
21/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a mixer, beat the eggs, oil, and sugar until very light and voluminous, about 5 minutes. Fold in the flour, salt, and baking powder.
Adding as little extra flour as possible, roll the dough to between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. Cut it into circles, squares, or diamond shapes 2 inches in diameter. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and bake until lightly browned (25 to 30 minutes).
VARIATION: For Cinnamon Sugar Kichel sprinkle the cookies with 1/2 cup sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon before baking.
